TECHNICAL MEASURES

Technical Measures

I .Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures: SPS measures are applied to protect human, animal or plant life from risks arising from additives, pests, contaminants, toxins or disease-causing organisms and to protect biodiversity.

These include ban or prohibition of import of certain goods, all measures governing quality and hygienic requirements, production processes, and associated compliance assessments. For example; prohibition of import of poultry from countries affected by avian flu, meat and poultry processing standards to reduce pathogens, residue limits for pesticides in foods etc.

II Technical Barriers To Trade (TBT): Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) which cover both food and non-food traded products refer to mandatory ‘Standards and Technical Regulations’ that define the specific characteristics that a product should have, such as its size, shape, design, labelling / marking / packaging, functionality or performance and production methods, excluding measures covered by the SPS Agreement. The specific procedures used to check whether a product is really conforming to these requirements (conformity assessment procedures e.g. testing, inspection and certification) are also covered in TBT. This involves compulsory quality, quantity and price control of goods before shipment from the exporting country. Just as SPS, TBT measures are standards-based measures that countries use to protect their consumers and preserve natural resources, but these can also be used effectively as obstacles to imports or to discriminate against imports and protect domestic products. Altering products and production processes to comply with the diverse requirements in export markets may be either impossible for the exporting country or would obviously raise costs hurting the competitiveness of the exporting country. Some examples of TBT are: food laws, quality standards, industrial standards, organic certification, eco-labeling, marketing and label requirements.