Regulatory Barriers to Trade

Regulatory Barriers to Trade

Subject :Economy

Section: External Sector

It is a type of Technical Barrier to Trade that countries use to restrict imports from other countries. Broadly trade barriers are tariff and non-tariff. Non-tariff barriers include subsidies, anti-dumping duties, regulatory barriers and voluntary export restraints.

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement aims to address this problem by ensuring that any technical barrier is backed by legitimate policy objective and is not used just for purpose of making trade difficult. For example, in name of consumer interest or environment countries will have complex requirements of labeling or testing thereby discouraging trade. India and Japan signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2011 giving free/low duty market access to most products but India has been unable to take advantage due to TBTs.