Category: TBT

Standards, regulations and trade in goods — a primer

As import duties fall, other trade barriers appear. Some have compared this to rocks emerging at low tide. Among the most important of these ‘non-tariff barriers’ are standards and regulations. How do they work?

Crash test | Pexels | CC0

By Peter Ungphakorn
POSTED SEPTEMBER 5, 2018 | UPDATED AUGUST 29, 2023
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON UK TRADE FORUM, MAY 8, 2018

“Standards” and “regulations” are critically important for trade and have entered the public discussion about Britain’s future trade relationship with the EU and the rest of the world. But what are they? Are they the same? Are they compulsory or voluntary?

This is an attempt to explain as simply as possible how they work in international trade. And to keep it simple, it only deals with standards for goods — key, for example, to what happens on the Irish border after the UK leaves the EU — even though standards also exist in services.

Continue reading “Standards, regulations and trade in goods — a primer”