國際 技術貿易障壁과 WTO 論議動向

초록

As tariffs have diminished in general, non-tariff impediments to international trade have gained increased significance at least in relative terms. Product standards and regulations, although originally developed in large degrees to facilitate and promote standardization across different geographic areas, have become subject of questions for being disguised discrimination to international trade. This paper overviews the progress of the WTO discussions on technical barriers, from the Tokyo Round to the Doha Development Agenda; outlines recent discussions on operation and improvement of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade; and examines in detail, the issues and views on eco-labelling. This paper further goes on to offer recommendations for Korea with regard to current WTO discussions on technical barriers to trade, and calls for, inter alia, a more active engagements in WTO discussions as well as harmonization of related domestic rules and regulations. Finally, the current article emphasizes the importance of developing global standards in areas of cutting-edge technologies, where Korean industries already enjoy substantial technical superiority.