Over the years, the Committee has developed a series of decisions and recommendations to facilitate the implementation of the TBT agreement. The Committee`s latest decisions and recommendations are available here. A technical regulation is a document that sets binding conditions. Measures may include terminology, symbols, packaging or labelling requirements and may apply to a product, process or manufacturing process. The WTO-OBT agreement is the result of the GATT `standard code`, which came into force 40 years ago. On this anniversary, the WTO`s Department of Trade and Environment is holding a series of dialogues on OEE issues. The case for harmonizing technical rules is well known. Harmonization is needed for the connection and compatibility of product parts, i.e. telecommunications equipment or auto parts. Otherwise, the lack of technical compatibility could create barriers to international trade. For example, TVs adapted to the U.S. market would be unsellable in Europe due to different color transmission formats (NTSC vs.

PAL or SECAM). To be marketable in the UK, French or German vehicles must also be adapted to right-hand driving. The costs of designing, manufacturing and delivering the same product in different configurations can be high. As a general rule, compliance with technical requirements must be confirmed. This can be done through testing, certification or inspections by laboratories or certification bodies, usually at the company`s expense. In recent years, the number of regulations and technical standards adopted by countries has increased considerably. A strengthened regulatory policy can be seen as the result of a higher global standard of living, which has increased consumer demand for safe and quality products, and increasing problems of water, air and soil pollution, which modern societies have encouraged to explore environmentally friendly products. The TBT agreement recognizes that no government should be prevented from adopting technical rules and standards in order to achieve a legitimate objective. The agreement cites the following lists as examples of legitimate objectives: national security, the protection of human, animal or plant life or health or the environment, and the prevention of deceptive practices. However, when taking steps to achieve these goals, governments should ensure that they do not create unnecessary trade barriers. For a government, avoiding unnecessary trade barriers means that negotiations must not be more restrictive than is necessary to achieve the legitimate objective of developing a technical regulation to achieve a particular political objective, be it the protection of human health, safety, the environment, etc.