The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in its report on March 21 that technical barriers to trade (TBTs) have increased at an annual average of 11 percent since the establishment of the WTO in 1995.

“More than 3,000 TBTs were set up in each of 2018, 2019 and 2020, the number of global TBT notifications jumped from 897 to 3,354 from 2005 to 2020, and South Korea’s top 10 export destinations increased their regulations from 164 to 849 in that period,” it explained.

The TBT notifications reported to the WTO include 13,638 related to health and safety matters such as bans on the use of harmful substances, followed by 4,575 related to quality and technical standards, 4,401 related to consumer protection such as false indications, and 3,444 related to environmental protection.

The TBTs include 1,847 set up by the United States, followed by China (1,460), the European Union (1,360), Israel (1,230) and Uganda (1,227). South Korea ranked ninth with 1,014. The 11 countries consisting of India and the member states of the ASEAN set up 1,866 TBTs in total.

According to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the latest technical barriers to trade are characterized by strengthening digital economy- and environment-related regulations, increasing mainly in emerging economies and tightening based on new free trade agreements.

“Examples of the digital economy- and environment-related TBTs include the EU Cybersecurity Act, the Federal Information Security Management Act of the United States and China’s Network Security Law implemented in 2019, 2014 and 2017, respectively,” it pointed out, adding, “In addition, the eco-design regulations of the European Union will cover product durability and recyclability assessments as well as energy efficiency and technical regulations for more use of renewable energy and the like are acting as new barriers.”

As for the TBTs in emerging economies, the ratio to the total jumped from 65.1 percent to 75.6 percent from 2005 to 2020. Those of underdeveloped countries have exceeded those of developed countries since as early as 2017 and the former are currently taking advantage of the barriers in order to grow their industries and protect their consumers. Major emerging economies are currently concentrating their regulations more in the automotive and related industries than in the environmental and public health sectors.

“Examples of the barriers strengthened based on new FTAs include the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which includes technical standards not included in any FTA of South Korea,” the report went on to say.

Source: Business Korea