Trade & Regional Integration

Standards play an increasingly important role in international trade, and may have important implications for ACP imports and exports. The requirement in the TBT Agreement that international standards be used as a basis for a WTO Member’s technical regulations (when effective and appropriate) means...

Quality infrastructure (QI) refers to the public and private institutional framework needed to implement standardisation, accreditation and conformity assessment services including inspection, testing, laboratory and product certification. Governments often play an important role in QI. Governments...

The International Organization for Standardization defines “ certification ” as the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It defines “ accreditation ” as the formal recognition by an...