Recent years have witnessed an ever-increasing resort to export restrictions in the markets for raw materials, causing heightened uncertainty about supply availability together with friction among trading partners. Poor transparency can amplify and compound the effects of restrictive trade...

Governments appear increasingly inclined to resort to border and domestic measures that restrict the export of raw materials. For industrial raw materials, the OECD is constructing an Inventory of measures that have been applied since 2009. The underlying survey covers some 100 countries, some...

The incidence of export taxes, prohibitions and other measures that raise export prices, limit export quantities or place conditions on exporting is on the rise. Transparency can help mitigate the negative effects of export restrictions by enabling affected stakeholders to better understand and...

Since the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) came into force, Members have invested considerable efforts in adopting and promoting the use of measures intended to reduce conformity assessment (CA) related barriers to trade. Our knowledge of the impact of specific trade...

This paper discusses trade barriers that SMEs are likely to encounter in export markets and available policy tools aimed at their reduction or elimination. Drawing on recent work in the Trade Directorate and elsewhere, key types of barriers are identified based on a review of business surveys...

This analytical report presents findings from a survey conducted in 2005/2006 of conformity assessment bodies (CABs) and exporting companies from the OECD region. The survey was conceived to gather primary data from key players in the field on perceptions of conformity assessment (CA) barriers:...

Focusing on consumer demands in OECD markets and voluntary initiatives taken in the private sector, this study investigates how consumers are informed about the social and environmental conditions under which products have been produced. Consumers of OECD increasingly attach importance to how...

To what extent are governments drawing on relevant international standards in their technical regulations, as mandated by the WTO TBT Agreement? A number of sources of data exist, including electronic databases maintained by governments, but they cannot be used to obtain systematic,...