Standards in the multilateral trading system

This Section focuses on standards-related WTO legal texts and relevant jurisprudence. The Section begins with a discussion of the texts themselves. This is followed by a detailed discussion of some of the key concepts relevant to standards in the TBT and the SPS Agreements as well as GATT 1994. The Agreements are then placed in the context of the economic discussion presented in the previous Sections and reference is also made to accumulated standards-related jurisprudence. Since the focus of the Report is on product standards, only WTO legal texts and jurisprudence bearing on “goods” will be discussed. It is important to note though that the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) also contains standards-related provisions on services, specifically, in Article VI paras. 4 and 5.