Keeping Abreast of Technical Barriers to Trade

Differing technical standards and government regulations may be among the greatest challenges affecting Wisconsin firms seeking to sell their products in multiple countries. Countries that are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to report all proposed technical regulations that could affect trade with other member countries. The WTO Secretariat distributes this information in the form of "notifications" to all Member countries.

The U.S. government has created Notify U.S., a free, web-based e-mail subscription service that offers U.S. entities (citizens, industries, organizations) an opportunity to review and comment on proposed foreign technical regulations that can affect their businesses and their access to international markets. This service and its associated web site is managed and operated by the National Center for Standards and Certification Information (NCSCI), an organization within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration.

U.S. entities can subscribe to the Notify U.S. Service and receive e-mail, notifications of drafts or changes to domestic and foreign technical regulations for manufactured products. At this time, the Notify U.S. Service is only available to subscribers who are U.S. citizens and individuals that are part of U.S. based organizations and industries. More information on Notify U.S. is available on-line at http://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/index/index.cfm.

-- Stanley Pfrang