The WTO has launched a new booklet highlighting ten key results from the latest annual review of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement. The booklet outlines how WTO members are implementing the Agreement.

The TBT Agreement aims to ensure that technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures are non-discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. At the same time, it recognises WTO members' right to implement measures to achieve legitimate policy objectives, such as the protection of human health and safety, or protection of the environment.

The booklet focuses on members' compliance with notification requirements under the TBT Agreement and the concerns raised in the TBT Committee, often in response to these notifications. Governments are required to “notify” other members, through the WTO Secretariat, of proposed measures that may have a significant effect on other members’ trade and that are not in accordance with relevant international standards.

By the World Trade Organization