ETLW #2 chapter 10

sanitary and phytosanitary measure

a government rule or regulation that protects or enhances food, animal, or plant safety or quality, including preventing the spread of pathogens and disease.

technical regulation

a law or regulation affecting a product's characteristics, such as its performance, design, construction, chemical composition, material packaging, or labeling that must be met before a product can be imported or sold in a country

trade in services

includes areas such as professional services (law, accounting, architecture, engineering, and others), travel, recreation, and tourism; health care, transportation and distribution, finance, banking, and insurance, computer and data processing services ect.

the principle of least restrictive trade

states that WTO member countries, in setting otherwise valid restrictions on trade shall make them no more onerous than necessary to achieve the goals for which they were imposed. They made not be a trade barrier in disguise.

technical barriers to trade

technical regulations and standards that apply to imported foreign products even if they apply equally to domestic products.

performance standards

that describe how a product should function.

Codex Alimentarius

the "food code" for the protection of the world's food supply developed slowly over most of the last century. Whenever possible countries must rely on internationally accepted standards or recommendations for the protection of their plants, animals, and foodstuffs

transparency

the ability of the public particularly foreign firms, to have open access to government rules or private standards that are published and made readily available to foreign firms

procurement offsets

this agreement also prohibits a procuring agency from awarding a contract to a foreign firm on the basis of certain condition.

International Organization for Standardization(ISO)

based in Geneva, is a non-governmental organization comprising the national standards institutes of 163 countries. Has developed over 19500 standards for goods, services, manufacturing and technology in many industries. Voluntary and not legally binding and the organization has no legal authority to enforce them. However the standards have been accepted by businesses and entire industries and are legally enforceable in countries where they have been incorporated into a treaty or into national law.

design standards

characteristics that govern how a product should be designed.

prior approval

countries regulated products must undergo testing and inspection by an approved laboratory, receive a technical certification of compliance with standards, and then receive prior regulatory approval before sale.

domestic subsidies

distort markets by causing overproduction and suppressing prices while protecting the incomes of farmers.

The WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)

establishes rules for international trade in services. It is part of the WTO system and is overseen by the Council for Trade in Services. The agreement is largely patterned after the concepts that GATT applies to trade in goods. Covers trade in most services.

CE Mark

internationally recognized symbol for quality and product safety for many different types of products, such as children's toys, gas appliances, machinery, and medical and electrical equipment.

Farm Bill

is enacted every five years. It established US agricultural and food policies programs and funding for that period.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

maintains an online "standards portal" that gives firms access to English translations of standards and technical regulations in China, India, and Korea, as well as various US standards in English, Mandarin, Chinese, and Korea

Corollary

national laws and regulations passed for purely internal purposes, such as the protection of the general health, welfare and safety, must also pose the fewest barriers to trade as possible.

Section 301

one of the most important legal weapons in the US arsenal against foreign trade barriers and unfair trade practices is commonly known to businesspeople and lawyers alike. The law permits the US Trade Representative (USTR) to take retaliatory trade action against other countries whose trade policies toward the United States are unreasonable or discriminatory.