Third of all is regional integration through the lowering of market and technical barriers between countries.

This is of particular relevance in the case of technical barriers to trade.

The reduction of trade barriers, technical barriers and other forms of protectionism would enhance competition and contribute to enterprise development.

In addition, the measure would remain NTB specific, and assessing the full range of impacts of NTBs might be quite cumbersome, technically speaking.

And they threw up walls political walls, trade walls, transportation walls, communication walls, iron curtains which divided peoples and nations.

The strengthening of supply side capacity encompasses also the identification of export products and those that encounter technical barriers to trade.

In particular, one approach would certainly call for refining the rules and disciplines in the TBT and SPS Agreements to make them more precise (for example, to clarify the key concept of unnecessary obstacles to international trade in the TBT Agreement).

While recognizing that tariffs were playing a decreasing role in the electronics sector owing to multilateral and regional trade liberalization, participants focused mainly on non tariff barriers which affected this sector, particularly technical barriers such as technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment systems.

NTBs may also reduce access to the latest technology by consumers in smaller economies burdened by redundant requirements because companies seek out the largest markets with the fewest regulatory barriers to entry.

Overall, NTBs have almost replaced tariff barriers in manufacturing sectors.

Their estimates are based on core NTBs (price and quantity control measures) and non core NTBs (according to UNCTAD's classification), namely technical regulations and monopolistic measures, as well as agricultural domestic support.

For instance, WTO Members may choose to categorize non tariff barriers affecting EPPs as those that are more issue specific, e.g. technical barriers to trade (TBT), customs procedures and rules, or more sector specific.

It has also been proposed that the TBT Committee should undertake a study of the potential trade effects of certain international standards.

436. It must also be pointed out that in 1980 Tunisia acceded to the agreement on the technical barriers to trade (Standards Code) and opted for harmonization of standards at the international level in order to encourage the reciprocal recognition of national certification systems and prevent the use of standards as a technical barrier to international trade.

The main obstacles to SMEs' internationalization may be grouped as internal or external ones.

Also, while tariff barriers were coming down, non tariff barriers were going up many times over.

Internal obstacles include informational barriers (e.g. unreliable data on the international market), functional barriers (e.g. lack of competencies and trained personnel), product and price barriers (difficulty in matching competitors' prices) and lack of bargaining power, distribution and logistics barriers (e.g. complexity of foreign distribution channels).

Participants emphasized that the rising tide of non tariff barriers such as technical barriers based on environmental and health considerations in the electronics sector was a matter of growing concern for developing countries and required attention from UNCTAD and other relevant international organizations in terms of increased technical assistance for adjustment and capacity building measures.

With regard to trade capacity building, UNIDO should utilize its expertise to help enterprises in developing countries to conform to international technical regulations and standards and thus overcome technical barriers to trade.

Price reductions are closely linked to government policy measures that lead to the reduction of tariff barriers and barriers created by regulations.

Would the ISO 14000 standards be considered as relevant international standards in the context of the TBT Agreement and its Code of Good Practice?

Transportation walls came tumbling down.

Technical barriers to trade (TBT) have also arisen when standards, regulations and assessment systems intended to ensure safety are not applied uniformly.

UNIDO should strengthen its investment promotion activities and at the same time, do more to remove barriers to information and technology transfer to the developing countries.

However, there is very little follow up on alert messages, both by TBT inquiry points or private sector associations.

A number of other areas of WTO work are relevant to the distribution sector, namely trade facilitation, SPS measures, TBT, non tariff barriers, subsidies and tariffs, all of which give rise to complex questions and the need for further analysis.

Trade walls began to come tumbling down.

There is a wide range of NTBs.

These barriers continue to keep people in poverty.

Actual or potential trade barriers

The existence of preferential customs barriers.

TRADE IN GOODS BARRIERS AND CONSTRAINTS

Another World Trade Organization agreement relevant to biotechnology is the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, which is premised on the right of members of the organization to develop and enforce product regulations.

Under the Uruguay Round Agreements, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) set out such international standards.

Where social barriers are sufficiently strong, economic barriers are certain to appear. These can range from protectionist trade policies and increasingly strict immigration controls to religious wars and ethnic cleansing.

Addressing them, including in the context of GSTP, can therefore help increase South South trade.

In my opinion, one way of transcending these cultural ghettos is through the art of storytelling.

Market access Tariffs and non tariff barriers

Two broad groups of measurement methods can be identified one can be defined as NTB specific and one adopts a more indirect consideration of NTBs.

Such tariff barriers and non tariff barriers (NTBs) can be very high in specific product areas, making it extremely difficult for exporters to penetrate markets.

80. The difficulties faced by developing countries in seeking access to trade, labour and finance flows were exacerbated by protectionist barriers raised by the advanced countries because of the unfounded fear that globalization was one of the major causes of the high unemployment rate and growing wage differentials between skilled and unskilled labour.

The rise of private involvement in the establishment and servicing of infrastructure has additional implications for strategic planning.

In the area of cooperation and development, we must recall long standing problems and again draw attention to trade and tariff barriers, agricultural subsidies and technology transfer and training.

It was suggested that the operationalization of the SPS and TBT Agreements, insofar as they concerned standards and quality requirements, should be anchored in three principles.

Furthermore, market barriers resulting from environmental standards and technical, sanitary and phytosanitary regulations affect export sectors of export interest to developing countries.