While there is a large literature on the economic theory of international standards, and their presumed effects, we … know much less about how international standards work in practice. This paper reviews the body of empirical work that has … investigated the specific question: How international standards impact on international trade? Do they help or hinder trade? The …

"technical barriers to trade" (i.e., technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures) in selected bilateral … and regional trade agreements, and their degree of similarity and convergence with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers … strengthen the implementation the WTO Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade by setting the pace for improved regulatory …

principles and provisions of the WTO Agreement on TBT as a yardstick for analysis, this paper examines whether and how eight … issue in Sub-Saharan African RTAs. Only one of the 8 agreements surveyed refers explicitly to the WTO TBT Agreement … levels of living standards favour weak product standard, and this acts as a barrier to upgrading product standards for export …