As part of its work on regionalism, the OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate has completed a series of
studies that compare rule-making provisions in regional trade agreements with those in the World Trade
Organisation (e.g., in the area of services, investment and competition). This paper aims to complement
existing studies, by examining legal provisions regarding "technical barriers to trade" (i.e., technical
regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures) in selected bilateral and regional trade
agreements, and their degree of similarity and convergence with the WTO Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade, and with each other.
The study reveals that most provisions regarding technical barriers to trade (TBT) included in bilateral and
regional trade agreements converge towards the multilateral trading system. When implemented
effectively, agreements seeking deeper economic integration and regulatory cooperation, in particular, can
complement and strengthen the implementation the WTO Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade by
setting the pace for improved regulatory practices and TBT-related infrastructure in member countries
(e.g., through regional consultation fora and joint standardisation and accreditation bodies). Some caveats
however remain. When overlapping agreements promote different criteria for the harmonisation of
standard-related measures and when bilateral or regional initiatives are conducted in isolation from
international efforts and divert attention from multilateral trade and standards-related negotiations, new
obstacles may arise both for regulators and businesses. Such constraints are further magnified for low
income countries afflicted by administrative and technical capacity-related problems. To remedy these
potential problems, the study proposes a number of policy recommendations.
