Sri Lanka is moving to set up the first national level mechanism to overcome export quarantining and other technical barriers.
“The Commerce Department is ready to set up a ‘National Committee on SPS and TBT’ to overcome our export compliance issues specially Sanitary and Phytosanitary and Technical Barriers to Trade,” Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen said after inaugurating the Colombo info session with WTO experts for Lankan officials in the field.
“This SPS info series launched by my Ministry with two WTO experts in September 2014 has today grown to include a bigger number of experts and SPS subject officials in Sri Lanka.” “As I stressed in 2014 more and more countries around the world continue to reduce their border tariffs especially through an increasing number Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs).”
Since 1995 over 400 additional arrangements have been notified to WTO. In this background SPS and TBT measures have begun to create a significant impact on international trade impacting Sri Lanka negatively as it is a Small and Vulnerable Economy.
Currently FTAs are being negotiated with China and Singapore and present FTA with India too could expand for which talks are going on. Accordingly it is necessary for SPS and TBT measures to ensure the quality of Sri Lankan exports without restricting our trade and avoiding
unnecessary disruptions.”
WTO Trade and Environment Counsellor Erik Wijkstrom said SPS and TBT compliance has become a great need in exports of developing countries such as Sri Lanka. “Across the world, average trade tariff is at 9%. Tariff reduction is not so much important anymore as those days. What is now important for trade is overcoming non-tariff barriers such as quality compliance, SPS and TBT. Compliance in these is especially beneficial for agricultural exports of countries such as Sri Lanka.”
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