Vietnam Launches First Technical Barriers to Trade Handbook

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

HANOI, December 3, 2008 -- The Vietnamese Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ) today launched the world’s first handbook on standards, metrology, conformity assessment and the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (the TBT Handbook). 

This handbook is unique, as it is the first document to bring together key information from global sources and networks on standards. It will enable agencies, organizations, and businesses to speak a common language on standards, metrology, conformity assessment, and the technical barriers to trade. It was developed with technical expertise from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) STAR-Vietnam project at the request of the Government of Vietnam.

The TBT Handbook will allow Vietnam to better implement a modern system of standards and technical regulations as a part of the legal reform required by Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in early 2007.

The TBT Handbook will provide the reader with a general understanding of metrology, standards and conformity assessment, and how they can enhance trade and export competitiveness in accordance with rules set in the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. 

Not only does it disseminate information for government, businesses and consumers throughout every province in Vietnam, allowing exporters to reach new markets around the world, but it also provides in-depth information from vast hyperlinks and reference materials for the user. Its electronic version will serve as a living electronic help desk, which will be updated regularly.

USAID Representative Frank Donovan participated in the conference titled “Summing Up 3-years Implementing the TBT Project” in Hanoi and observed: “Vietnam’s efforts on standards and technical regulations allow Vietnamese consumers to benefit by the increased safety and reliability of domestic and imported products that meet world standards.”

Ed Nemeroff, the Senior Technical Advisor for the TBT Handbook, spoke at the launch today.  He pointed to the extraordinary work that STAMEQ has achieved in the areas of metrology, standards and conformity assessment (MAS-Q).

“What Vietnam has already done in terms of meeting WTO TBT requirements far exceeds what other countries have achieved in the same amount of time,” Mr. Nemeroff said. “Not only is there a will in Vietnam, but there is a true desire to do things properly. As I worked on this project, I realised that this is an internationally recognized sentiment. The number of mutual recognition agreements already signed with Vietnam over the last few years further proves Vietnam’s commitment to meet its WTO obligations and become a major competitor in the global market place,” he added.

The TBT Handbook is available from the USAID-funded STAR-Vietnam project (www.starvietnam.org) and the Vietnam TBT Office (www.tbtvn.org) websites in English and Vietnamese.

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