Strengthening the Compliance of the OIC Member States
to International Standards
15
One way of dealing with this problem is through mutual recognition of conformity assessment
procedures. In that case, the importing market accepts tests completed elsewhere as equivalent to those
conducted locally, so exporters are free to have conformity assessed in their home market, or in a third
market, without the requirement for re-testing in the importing market. For example, electrical products
produced in Malaysia can be tested there for conformity with international standards and, if conforming,
can be exported to Indonesia without re-testing under the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Agreement on
electrical and electronic equipment.
Clearly, this approach can be beneficial in combination with standards harmonization, but it requires a
high level of trust between regulatory agencies. In addition, it is typically important for testing
laboratories in the exporting country to have international accreditation, so that they operate on the
same (international) procedures as laboratories elsewhere, an important guarantee as to the reliability
of their results. Achieving certification can be very costly for small, low-income countries. As a result,
mutual recognition agreements are most often concluded among countries at relatively similar
development levels, or in particular cases where there is reason to believe that tests conducted
elsewhere are equally valid. Much work is required to upgrade national quality infrastructure before
benefitting from mutual recognition on a broad basis can be a realistic policy option in most developing
countries.
Many developing countries experience difficulties in taking part in the work of international
standardization bodies, due to lack of technical expertise and financial capacity. In some cases,
assistance is available, but developing countries typically participate to a lesser degree in international
standardization efforts than do their developed counterparts. This asymmetry can give rise to an
impression that international standards are made to suit developed country conditions, and may not
necessarily be applicable to the very different environments that prevail in developing countries.
However, notwithstanding this point, many developing countries are eager to adopt international
standards as the basis for their own rules, as they realize that there is a two-fold imperative to do so:
WTO rules, and export competitiveness. Both of these factors represent strong reasons why OIC member
states should be interested in international standards. They are now addressed in turn.
2.3 WTO Rules on Product Standards
The WTO Agreements deal with product standards under two frameworks: the Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) and the Agreement on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures (SPS
Agreement). The former is of general application, while the latter applies to protection of animal and
plant life and health, and thus primarily concerns the agricultural sector and food products (which are
also covered in some cases by the TBT Agreement).