Building bridges across trade barriers

2011-06-22

Originally published in ISO Focus+ magazine, June 2011

By John Walter, SCC Executive Director

Over the years, Canada has been involved in a range of capacity building projects with developing countries. We believe our efforts have made a positive difference on the infrastructure of the organizations and countries that we have supported, while also contributing to Canada’s own broader trade-related objectives.

Most developing countries encounter similar challenges to integration and involvement in the global marketplace, including how best to tackle technical barriers to trade. International development agencies now recognize that standards and conformity assessment bodies are among the pillars of economic development and international trade. To successfully participate in global markets, all countries need to establish and maintain national standardization and accreditation frameworks.

Membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) requires countries to identify a national Notification Authority and Enquiry Point for information concerning regulatory and standardization changes that may impact trade. The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) - Canada's National Notification Authority and Enquiry Point – has valuable information to share with developing countries and has helped some like Ukraine to meet WTO’s organizational requirements.

As part of the Canada Americas Trade Related Technical Assistance programme (CATRTA), the SCC is also helping countries in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) establish the necessary standardization infrastructure to become active participants in the global trading system. A 17 million USD programme, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and managed by the Conference Board of Canada, CATRTA, is designed to help countries and sub-regions with trade-related technical assistance.

Eliminating trade barriers through improved regulations, standards, testing, certification and accreditation procedures is key to establishing a region’s economic and social sustainability. The CATRTA project is expected to enable participating Latin American and Caribbean nations to enhance trade with other economies and generate the necessary investments to reduce poverty and create new wealth.

Studies conducted by CIDA show that capacity building efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean countries have resulted in solid GDP growth and declines in poverty rates in recent years.

Another Canadian-led project,the Réseau Normalisation et Francophonie (RNF) was launched in 2007 as a result of efforts by the Bureau de Normalisation du Québec (BNQ). The RNF aims to provide a support network for Francophone countries in developing regions that are involved standards initiatives. Developing countries constitute 90 % of the 37 RNF members – representing an active presence in French-speaking communities all over the world. In addition to Canada’s contribution, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia have lent their support to this network.

The RNF aims to improve the availability and timeliness of French versions of ISO standards. The project will also provide opportunities for greater participation of Francophone experts in standards development activities. The RNF has already achieved some success in promoting standardization in Africa, and in demonstrating the economic impact and contributions of standards to developing countries.

Canada remains committed to building bridges across the trade divide by assisting developing countries in their efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth through standardization-related knowledge-sharing and training.

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