According to the industry letter, the European proposal restricts flexibility and choice of international standards by designating a short list of specific organizations as international standards developing organizations and suggesting that only the standards developed by these organizations are relevant internationally within the context of the WTO
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. Current WTO policy encourages its 153 member countries to eliminate unnecessary barriers to trade by ensuring that international standards utilized for trade and regulatory purposes are developed with open, impartial and transparent principles that afford an opportunity for consensus among all interested parties.
Commentary is provided on the
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, both negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the WTO and in force since 1995.