The meeting was conducted over 2 days at the Vansana Hotel Vientiane Capital. The meeting was hosted under the honorable chairmanship of Mr. Siaosavath Svengsuksa, Vice Minister, Ministry of Industry and Commerce together with Mr. Erik Wijkstorm, Trade and Environment advisor from the World Trade Organization (WTO) with the participation of technical officers from related sectors. Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) are essential for many member countries of the WTO but they must be compliant with the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement. Also in Lao PDR, various related sectors are aiming at developing an understanding in order to implement Non-Tariff Measures which do not conflict with WTO regulations.
Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs), Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) adhere to the common principle of being transparent and avoiding the necessity of technical Barriers to Trade. Therefore, there is a requirement for technical authorities of all concerned sectors to appraise the situation especially Lao’s Exports to member countries of WTO, the export of industrial processed products, agriculture and others in order to meet the requirements of WTO, the regulations. Product standardization and the creation of application forms are require to achieve transparency in order to remove various difficulties that form a barrier for import-exports of Lao PDR and also it is necessary to improve manufacturing and processing procedures in Laos in order to gradually match international standards.
WTO member countries, to comply with the TBT Agreement on Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) need a 3-way approach of negotiation, implementation of the exiting agreement and resolution of conflicts that may occur. In trade recently, tariffs have continued to decrease but Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) has been increasing denying the benefits of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement to the public in WTO member countries.
The meeting also listened to the presentation on the experience on technical support projects in term of amended laws relating to TBT and SPS and other related tasks. Furthermore, topics such as change management and capacity building, inspection of national standard, the role and obligations of ISO, the benefit of applying international standards, the main challenges of TBT-SPS and the way forward for business sectors were also covered.
Information Source: Lao Economic Daily Newspaper, Issued on 23 Jan 2014
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