What is the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)?
The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) is an international agreement that seeks to ensure that technical regulations, standards, and policies do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade. This agreement is particularly important in Washington, as it ensures that Washington businesses are able to export their products to overseas markets without having to meet regulations that may be prohibitively expensive or time consuming to comply with. The TBT Agreement requires that technical regulations, standards, and policies should not be more trade-restrictive than necessary to fulfill a legitimate objective, such as protecting human health or the environment. This means that countries are allowed to set reasonable regulations, so long as they don’t go beyond what is needed to achieve the desired objective. The TBT Agreement also encourages countries to work together to harmonize their technical regulations, standards, and policies in order to facilitate international trade. This allows countries to have similar standards, which helps reduce uncertainties and makes it easier for companies to comply. The TBT Agreement also prohibits the use of discriminatory measures as well as technical requirements designed to create unnecessary obstacles to international trade. This helps ensure that Washington businesses can compete in an open, fair marketplace, which makes it easier for them to increase their exports and profits.
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