What is a Trade Barrier?

Trade Barriers / Barrier to trade Also known as trade barriers. The artificial restrictions on foreign goods and services exchanges mainly refer to the various restrictions imposed by a country on the import of foreign goods and services.

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General points

In 1981, the Danish government decided that all beer and soft drinks must be placed in recyclable bottles before they can be sold. The background of this decision is: Traditional well-functioning glass recycling systems are threatened by an increasing number of non-recyclable beer bottles and other container bottles. The Commission of the European Communities considers that the law adds a higher cost to imported goods than Danish goods and thus constitutes a trade barrier that prevents the free movement of goods within the Union. The case was heard by the European Community Arbitration Tribunal in 1986.

The Community Commission claims that Danish law violates the basic law that a good can automatically flow through the countries of the Community once it is sold in one country. Although the movement of overseas containers and bottles is not directly prohibited, foreign cargo suppliers are facing greater difficulties in constructing reusable bottle processing systems. The Commission considers that the law discriminates against foreign manufacturers. The Committee also considers that the law is not equivalent to environmental benefits and that the environment can be adequately protected by other means, such as voluntary collection systems and recycling.

In September 1988, the court ruled that Denmark was allowed to retain its mandatory container reuse law. The court confirmed that exceptions to the general rule on the free movement of goods were allowed for environmental protection as a starting point. If the European Union does not contain special laws for a particular field, it will cause trade disruption due to different regulations adopted by different countries. The court held that the use of recyclable beverage packaging was necessary in order to ensure a high recovery rate of beverage packaging, so that the regulation was "appropriate proportion" with the target.

However, Danish requirements for the approval of container and bottle types were not passed. After 1984, the goods of foreign producers must be contained in bottles produced or approved in Denmark (used only during the inspection phase of the goods and there are limited quantities). The motivation for implementing container and bottle approval regulations is that if many types of containers appear on the market, it is impossible to establish an effective recycling system. By controlling the type of bottle, you can control the diversity in its category.

The court found that although recycling containers and bottles did not guarantee the maximum level of recycling, it did protect the environment. As a result of the court decision, very few drinks were imported into Denmark. Then the court found that the environmental benefits obtained from the compulsory recognition of the bottle types could not be proportional to the huge losses of foreign suppliers.

The emergence and continuous strengthening of trade barriers is not accidental. It is the product of the continuous development of international economy, society and technology. analysis

International trade barriers are divided into tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers. The purpose of their establishment is to protect the country s economy from foreign products. However, excessive trade protection is not conducive to the economic development of a country. The WTO, that is,

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Agreement was reached through long-term negotiations.

Based on ourselves, we must do a good job in the construction of quality and reputation in the enterprise. Familiarity with international trade laws means that we are familiar with the rules of the game. Adjust yourself in time when encountering barriers

With the traditional trade barriers gradually diverging. Barriers such as tariffs, quotas, and permits have gradually weakened. Although traditional trade barriers such as anti-dumping have continued to exist for a long time, new trade barriers centered on technical trade barriers will continue to develop and will gradually replace traditional trade barriers as international trade The main body in the barriers has become the main means and advanced form of protectionism. Therefore, the development of technological barriers in international trade deserves our special attention.

From production and trade to service trade and investment

Technical barriers to trade (TBT) are manifested in a wide range of forms, including not only compulsory measures such as international or regional agreements, national laws, decrees, regulations, requirements, guidelines, guidelines, procedures, but also voluntary measures formulated by non-governmental organizations. Sexual rules. The coverage of TBT is getting wider and wider. In the new round of WTO negotiations, issues such as trade and environment, trade facilitation, intellectual property protection, and agriculture will all involve new technical barriers to trade.

Voluntary measures are trending towards mandatory regulations

In the field of technical trade barriers, there are many voluntary measures, such as lS09000, lS01 4000, various environmental label certifications, HACCP certifications, organic food certifications, etc. The decision to apply for certification is based on the principle of voluntary producers.

Extend from the specific product to the entire process of production and operation

The most typical example is the mandatory implementation of the HACCP management system. HACCP is the English abbreviation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. Its purpose is to eliminate possible food safety hazards in the production process, rather than rely on post-hoc inspection to ensure product reliability. The HACCP-based food safety system, called the HACCP system, originated in the United States. Originally used to ensure the safety and health of aerospace food.

Enforcing labor standards on the production process of labor-intensive industries and animal welfare standards on the production process of livestock and poultry products will also have serious negative impacts on the economic development of developing countries.

Influence and diffusion effects are becoming more and more obvious

The impact of TBT is more extensive and far-reaching than tariffs and general non-tariff barriers. Many TBT measures may directly lead to restrictions or even bans on imports. In addition, technical barriers have significant diffusion effects. TBT measures often produce a chain reaction, involving one product involving all related products; expanding from one country to multiple countries and even the world. On January 30, 2002, the Council of the European Union decided to suspend imports from China on the grounds that the content of chloramphenicol in frozen shrimp from Zhoushan, China exceeded the standard. The ban on animal-derived products for human or animal consumption has been extended from shrimp to all animals and more than 100 products containing animal ingredients. This measure by the European Union quickly caused the United States, Hungary, Russia and even Saudi Arabia to follow suit.

Increasing restrictions and more demanding requirements

With the advancement of science and technology and the deepening of technological innovation, new technical standards will continue to emerge and be adopted in new technical regulations. Technological innovation has made the testing equipment, methods and methods more advanced. The level of TBT used by some countries, especially developed members of the WTO, has risen accordingly, and the standards for imported products have become more and more detailed. People are concerned about the safety of human life and the world's environmental problems. The technical standards and technical regulations of developed countries have increasingly demanded these aspects. The amendments to the Food Sanitation Law proposed on November 8, 2002, strengthened the inspection system for imported agricultural products, and will suspend the circulation of imported agricultural products containing pesticides with no set residual standards.

Cross-use of technical barriers and patent barriers

On the one hand, the European Union and the United States set up technical barriers, requiring the products of importing countries' enterprises to meet their set technical standards or technical standards; on the other hand, they have applied for patents on the core technology in this standard. This is the cross use of technical barriers and patent barriers. This method can protect the interests of enterprises in the country to the greatest extent. If other countries' enterprises want to export such products, they must pay the other party a very high patent fee. Setbacks and even cost issues make it difficult for the product to go abroad.

Alternative use of technical barriers to trade and anti-dumping

With the continuous development of science and technology. Various technical issues involved in trade will become more complicated. At the same time, consumers' requirements for the quality, hygiene and safety of goods are becoming more and more stringent, and the requirements for the environment are constantly increasing. Development also provides more accurate data for some countries to use technical barriers to trade to restrict international trade and even trade discrimination. At the same time, the increasingly fierce international market competition brought about by economic globalization has also made the country's trade protection measures renovated. All these factors will escalate the relevant technical barriers to trade and become more and more important factors affecting the development of international trade.

Developed members remain the mainstay of technical barriers

Developing countries also pay more and more attention to technical barriers to trade

Due to different levels of technological and economic development, the development and implementation of TBT varies greatly from country to country. Generally speaking, developed members dominate, and many international standards are developed with the participation of developed members. But in recent years, developing members have paid more and more attention to the introduction and implementation of technical barriers. TBT notifications from developed countries accounted for 2429, accounting for 56.21% of the total, while 1892 notifications from developing countries accounted for 43.79%. Since 1999, the number of TBT notifications in developing countries has surpassed that in developed countries, and they have tended to rise afterwards.

However, in general, developed countries are still in an advantageous position. The number of SPS notifications from developed countries was 1,516, accounting for 54.99% of the total, and 1,241 notifications from developing members. Accounted for 45.01%. The number of SPS notifications in developed countries has grown faster than that of developing members. TBT / SPS notifications from developed countries totaled 3945, accounting for 55.74% of the total, while developing countries were 3133, accounting for 44.26%.