Markets working to support sustainable development

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Regulatory

(norms and standards, environmental liability, environmental control and enforcement)

WTO TRIPS Agreements

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement claims to be the ‘most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property’.

It covers a host of intellectual property rights and claims including copyright, trademarks, geographical indicators, industrial designs, patents, layout designs for integrated circuits, and undisclosed information (trade secrets and test data). The Agreement sets out principles that govern WTO member states and their national Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) legislation

Category: 
Norms and standards, Regulatory
Region: 
Africa, Asia, Central America, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America, Europe
Sector: 
Agriculture, Communications, Construction, Finance, Fisheries, Forestry, Manufacturing, Mining and metals, Oil and gas, Services, Transportation, Utilities

WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) SPS agreements looks to cover ‘how governments can apply food safety and animal and plant health measures’ without creating unnecessary ‘obstacles to trade’.

The agreement looks to reconcile two positions:

1)    Ensuring  that food is safe (in a culturally appropriate context) for consumers to eat

2)    Ensuring  that such measures do not hinder trade and are not used as an excuse to favour domestic producers.

Category: 
Norms and standards, Regulatory
Region: 
Africa, Asia, Central America, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America, Europe
Sector: 
Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, Manufacturing

WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) looks to limit the protectionist effect that technical regulations and standards may have on free trade. It was agreed upon at the establishment of the WTO in 1995.

Category: 
Norms and standards, Regulatory
Region: 
Africa, Asia, Central America, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America, Europe
Sector: 
Agriculture, Communications, Construction, Finance, Fisheries, Forestry, Manufacturing, Mining and metals, Oil and gas, Services, Transportation, Utilities

CITES

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a voluntary international agreement signed by 175 national governments. It provides a framework for subjecting the international trade of certain specimens to monitoring and control. It is legally binding and signatories must ensure that adequate national measures are undertaken to comply to it.

Species covered by the convention can be categorised into three main types (detailed in Annexes).

Category: 
Environmental control and enforcement, Regulatory
Region: 
Africa, Asia, Central America, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America, Europe
Sector: 
Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, Transportation

EU Organic

Council Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007 outlines standards of production and labelling of products produced and sold as 'organic' within the EU.

  • At least 95% of agricultural ingredients must be organic
  • No GMO’s
  • Must use the new logo

Member States accredited certification bodies carry out inspection and certification on producers and processors.EU regulation is designed to give consumers confidence when buying organic products.

Category: 
Norms and standards, Environmental control and enforcement, Regulatory, Information
Region: 
Europe
Sector: 
Agriculture, Manufacturing
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