WTO Accession and Required Product Standards: The Case of Ethiopia

Abstract

The word ‘standard’ has become a common term in all sectors of business. The desire towards having the best standards in goods and services is progressively increasing. Participants in all business undertakings do not negate the idea of having the best quality. Consumers look for a product or service with high standards. And, transactions are expected to result in the satisfaction of the parties, with a special concern that consumers need to be protected from any possible harm that would occur from the normal consumption of any goods or services. The future of the world, borrowing the words of the US president Barrack Obama’s address to the 62nd United Nation General Assembly, is established on pillars, one being the expansion of global trade with opportunities to people in all countries. At present time, global trade has become an essential element in the proper functioning of the world as it caters for the economic needs of nations. More than half of the nations in the world are members of an international trade organization whose primary aim is fostering global trade and expanding market access by reducing and eliminating trade barriers. As the significance of trade is increasing in countries that have embraced the multilateral trade regime, many nations including Ethiopia, are in the process of joining this trade regime. When countries welcome the products and services of other nations in international trade, a responsibility resides in importers to monitor the ‘standards’. The first point of focus in this regard is to make sure that the safety and health of people are not affected negatively. The protection of animal and plant life, plus the concern about the environment will be major issues of concern. The next step will then be assuring that imported products and services fulfill the standards required by domestic consumers. This envisages availability of different alternatives to choose from. These concerns exist whether a nation is importing or exporting.