TRADE PERSPECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE WTO TBT ENQUIRY POINT

Apr 22, 2018 Features / Columnists, Standards in Focus

It’s been more than 23 years since the establishment of the World Trade Organisation -Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO-TBT) Agreement. This agreement is one of the most important agreements established under the WTO and today, and it creates the need for the establishment of WTO Enquiry Points in countries around the world including Guyana.
Small developing countries like ours are tasked with ensuring trade policies are coordinated with policies in other areas such as health, environment and consumer protection so that measures put in place are necessary for the health and safety of consumers and not to easily cloak a protectionist intent.
This is one of several reasons that Guyana remains committed to the multilateral trading system and the rules under the TBT Agreement which provide a single undertaking to which all WTO members subscribe. It also creates a degree of accountability and transparency to which governments have submitted their regulatory regimes. This Agreement provides a framework to align our regulations with legitimate policy objectives.
The launch of the WTO Enquiry Point at the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) on April 9, 2018 is the operationalization of the notification that was made to the WTO on March 15, 2010 of our obligations under Articles 10.1 and 10.3 of that Agreement.
The Enquiry Point will help Guyana to implement recommendations of its last WTO Trade Policy Review in 2015 that Guyana would participate more fully in the multilateral trading system if it expanded its economic infrastructure, and further strengthened governance and the regulatory environment.
In the broader scheme of things, Guyana’s TBT Enquiry Point fits into the Government of Guyana policy of economic diplomacy. It serves as an economic instrument in the conduct of relations at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. The Enquiry Point will be a mechanism for addressing matters of everyday commercial and social significance.
The Enquiry Point will also serve as an interface on a huge range of issues which are very important for both citizens and consumers. And not only at the local level but also internationally where investors, entrepreneurs and other private sector actors can gain access to information on Guyana’s regulatory system to learn more about the over 500 national standards and 22 technical regulations that are in place.
One of the first tasks for the Enquiry Point will be to notify our outstanding technical regulations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its capacity as the WTO Notification Authority, will collaborate with the GNBS to fulfill our WTO obligations.
The Enquiry Point presents a significant opportunity for the Private Sector to be engaged in shaping the regulatory landscape of Guyana. By being involved in the processes, the Enquiry Point enables the views of small and large firms to be heard about the effects that proposed standards, both local and international, might have on their businesses.
It is businesses that will drive economic growth and development, and therefore, the private sector is encouraged to be active in aiding the enquiry point in its pre-emptive function in providing guidance on measures that are being taken.
This will require the private sector to have the infrastructure to identify, inventorize and report market barriers to our exports but also to be able to address similar situations when complaints are made against us.
This will complement efforts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies to monitor, manage and make representation at the national, regional and multilateral levels, for good regulatory practices and market conditions that we desire to see.
Finally, as we grapple with more and more non-tariff measures, the role of the Enquiry Point and the TBT Agreement will be more important than ever. It is for key stakeholders in Guyana to support the work of the Enquiry Point and to build on this excellent initiative.
Partial Message by Sherwyn Naughton, Senior Foreign Service Officer 1, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For further information, please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 219-0065, 219-0066 or visit the GNBS website: www.gnbsgy.org

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