Technical Barriers to Trade Report

Dear Member,

With reference to the letter sent to our Chamber by the Ministry of Trade Directorate General of Product Safety and Inspection: As you are aware, within the framework of international agreements, countries have the right to put into force the measures they deem necessary in accordance with legitimate objectives such as ensuring the conformity of products on the market with legislation and their safety, protecting consumers and the environment, and ensuring national security. These measures are implemented through standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Although standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures contribute to industrial, economic and commercial development, they are regarded as a “technical barrier to trade” when they are applied, contrary to their purpose, to protect domestic production and industry, when they are directed at objectives not considered legitimate, when they restrict trade more than necessary even if they have legitimate aims, or when they lead to discrimination between producers/countries. While these measures aim to increase social welfare when applied in accordance with the rules and legitimate objectives, they cause serious problems hindering the flow of international trade when used contrary to their purpose.

In this context, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) was prepared within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) against technical barriers to trade that adversely affect international trade. The TBT Agreement is an agreement that sets out international rules aimed at preventing technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures established on a legitimate basis from creating arbitrary/unnecessary obstacles to international trade or leading to discrimination.

Our country is also one of the parties to the TBT Agreement, and the implementation of the said agreement, its coordination at national level and the performance of the duties of the TBT Enquiry and Notification Point are within the responsibility of our Ministry's Directorate General of Product Safety and Inspection.

Within the scope of the work carried out to eliminate technical barriers to trade, a Technical Barriers to Trade Report covering 15 countries has been prepared by our Ministry for the first time this year, in order to provide guidance in preventing our export products from encountering technical barriers in target markets and in facilitating their market entry.

The TBT Report has been made available to you, our valued stakeholders, and to all interested parties on our Ministry's website at https://ticaret.gov.tr/urun-guvenligi/ticarette-teknik-engeller-raporu.

In the coming period, it is planned to update the said report every year by developing and enriching its content. In this context, we would be pleased to receive any contribution you may have towards the development of the said report.

Kind regards,

Elazığ Chamber of Commerce and Industry

 

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Date Added :2022-12-20 02:35:00