아프리카ㆍ중동

Over the years, non-tariff measures (NTMs) have become a key area of focus in trade policy, given the impact they can have on international trade, either through an impact on price, quantities traded, or both. NTMs can be technical measures or non-technical measures such as quotas and price control measures. In particular, the relevance of technical measures, including sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT) has garnered a lot significance. Embedded in national regulations to protect consumer safety, public health and national security, these measures are generally imposed to address market failures. However, they can be costly to design, implement and comply with. As such, they affect business costs and make it difficult for traders to access international markets. When imposed on imported intermediate goods, such NTMs can indirectly affect national export competitiveness. Further, they tend to affect small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) disproportionately. Yet, eliminating such NTMs can have serious ramifications for the environment, public health or even national security. This makes it critical to review and streamline such NTMs to attain a balance between costs and benefits, through adoption of good regulatory practices in NTMs design, implementation and compliance.