The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has designated Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) as the Inquiry Point for Pakistan. According to a news report appearing in this newspaper, the WTO feels that a single central government authority should be designated to handle matters in respect of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).
It also requires that the central government take full responsibility for ensuring compliance with all WTO agreements by the member countries. For, as it is, expanding global market access is resulting in reduction in tariffs, while standards have been constantly improving due to continuous scientific research with a view to ensuring that imported products are sold under the same conditions as locally manufactured goods, as this happens to be of vital importance to exporters.
In so as this new development is concerned, the US WTO/TBT Inquiry Point, Gaithersburg, is stated to have requested the PSQCA, being the Inquiry Point for Pakistan, to forward them a copy of the full text of the recent WTO/TBT notification, PSQCA standards relating to refined mustard oil and three-wheeler auto vehicles. Similarly, the EU International Strategy Branch is also stated have asked PSQCA for copies of draft notification relating to refined sunflower oil.
It will be noted that the WTO's agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade is one of the major legal documents that advance its objective of ensuring a rules-based global trading environment. As for the scope of its coverage it encompasses all the industrial and agricultural products traded between members, and have their impact on the industry, the trading community and the consumers. As an agreement concluded at government-to-government level, of course, the rights under it are exercisable through official channels and its obligations fall upon governments.
Hence the government of a member country is expected to implement policies and to adopt measures to ensure compliance with all of its provisions. It goes without saying, as such, that effective implementation of the agreement by all the members can alone help create an environment for free and open trade with elimination of unnecessary trade barriers arising from misapplication of standards and technical regulations.
As for relevance of this exercise to the advantages of globalisation to the business community, that it would reap the benefits from removal of trade barriers and the opening of markets. For these reasons, effective communication and co-operation between businesses and national governments is an essential part of the implementation of the agreement and for exercising rights and reaping benefits.
This should leave little to doubt that exporters from WTO member countries stand to benefit from the agreement in as much as products imported from other members are required to get the same treatment as to products of national origin.
Again, from requirements of transparency under the agreement, exporters benefit from assured access to information on importing members' technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures. All in all, designation of PSQCA by WTO as its Inquiry Point for Pakistan will be seen as a well deserved recognition of its capacity for the task now assigned to it.
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