Handbook: “Technical Barriers to Trade” provides an overview of the objectives and scope of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), the types of measures covered by the Agreement, and its key principles. Prepared by the WTO Secretariat, this latest edition of the handbook is part of the series on “WTO Agreements”, which aims to enhance understanding of the TBT Agreement.

The TBT Agreement seeks to ensure that product requirements set out in regulations and standards relating to safety, quality, health, the like and the procedures for assessing conformity with those requirements (such as testing, inspection, certification, etc.) are not applied in an unjustifiably discriminatory manner and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.

This handbook sets out the core principles of the TBT Agreement and discusses how these principles have been addressed in recent disputes brought under the Agreement. The publication examines transparency requirements, which form the backbone of the TBT Agreement, and describes the mandate, role, and work of the TBT Committee.

The publication includes the full text of the TBT Agreement, a compilation of decisions and recommendations adopted by the TBT Committee over the past 25 years, and a list of observers to the TBT Committee.

The publication is attached below:

• Handbook: Technical Barriers to Trade