Abstract: Discusses the technical barriers have gradually replaced tariffs and other non-tariff barriers, become the main body of today's international trade barriers, and will be a long period of time and continue to develop; discusses the important role played by technical standards in international trade; puts forward to strengthen China's construction of the technical standards system, and to improve and formulate the recommendations of China's technical standards.
Keywords: technical standards, technical barriers, international trade
With the development of economic globalization and trade liberalization, especially after the accession to the WTO, China's international trade is more frequent, and the volume of enterprise exports is growing rapidly. However, China's enterprises in the enjoyment of trade liberalization brought about by the convenience of the same time, but also y felt from the technical standards of the obstacles are getting bigger and bigger, a considerable number of products frequently encountered in foreign technical standards-based technical barriers to exports have been blocked, and some were even forced to withdraw from the market. Survey shows that in 2002, 71% of China's export enterprises, 39% of export products by foreign technical barriers to restrictions, resulting in losses of 17 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 5.2% of the year's exports. Technical standards-based technical barriers have become the main barriers to international trade today.
1 Trends in the development of international trade barriers
1.1 Today's international trade trade barriers are undergoing structural changes, technical barriers have become the main body of international trade barriers
In international economic exchanges, the main factors affecting international trade are trade barriers. International trade barriers are divided into tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers, technical barriers is a major form of non-tariff barriers. Technical barriers are mainly supported by technology, referring to some technical measures taken by a country on the grounds of national security, safeguarding human health and safety, protecting the ecological environment, preventing fraudulent behavior, and ensuring product quality. Technical barriers in the form of technical standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, its main content and main form is the technical standards. Standards and intellectual property rights technical barriers have the rationality, hidden, complexity, flexibility and other characteristics.
Today's international trade, the role of tariff barriers are increasingly restricted, trade protectionism from the tariff barriers to non-tariff barriers side, tariff barriers gradually replaced by non-tariff barriers. And in the non-tariff barriers, such as direct use of import quotas, import licenses and other measures to restrict imports, and often subject to international public opinion condemnation, and vulnerable to reciprocal retaliation, and therefore less and less. However, technical barriers because of its reasonableness, hidden, developed countries often use it for trade protection, so that it gradually become a new trade barriers to replace tariffs and other non-tariff barriers, but also become the developed countries to implement the main means and forms of trade protectionism, and become an important factor affecting the development of international trade in the 21st century. 1970s impact on the international trade in China's non-tariff barriers In the 1970s, non-tariff barriers affecting China's international trade, only 10-30% are technical barriers to trade, and after entering the 1990s, this proportion has gradually increased. At present, at least two-thirds of China's import and export enterprises are affected by foreign technical barriers.
1.2 technical barriers will exist for a long time and continue to develop
Technical barriers are the inevitable product of international trade development to a certain stage, in order to adapt to social progress, to meet the needs of economic development and human protection, the setting of technical barriers to maintain trade order and promote development has been recognized by the WTO, has the legitimacy. At the same time, with the internationalization of technical standards, part of the technical barriers will be eliminated, but the new technical barriers with the development of science and technology and safety and environmental protection requirements will continue to arise and constantly updated, which determines the technical barriers will be in the international trade in the long-term existence and continuous development. Not only that, some developed countries often use a variety of "standards" as the reason, with patented technology as a shield, by virtue of its technological advantages continue to formulate harsh technical standards, and the use of its leadership in international standards bodies as far as possible will be conducive to the country's technical regulations, technical standards, testing methods, etc. into the international standards, set up and use of technical standards on other countries' foreign trade exports. Technical standards to restrict other countries' foreign trade exports, and then weaken the cost advantage of developing countries with the help of technical barriers, completing the process of transformation from simple tariff barriers to complex technical barriers. This is also a factor that technical barriers will exist in international trade for a long time and continue to develop.
2 The importance of technical standards in international trade
Today's international trade, trade disputes around technical barriers show an increasing trend. On the surface of trade disputes, the essence behind it is the technical standards dispute. Technical standards as the main form of technical barriers, in recent years in international trade has highlighted its important role. In the traditional concept, technical standards are mainly to ensure the interchangeability and generality of products. Today, technical standards far out of the parts of the concept of universal and interchangeable issues, but more of a country to implement trade protection of technical barriers, and even become a constraint on a country's economic development and international competitiveness of important factors.
2.1 technical standards as technical barriers in international trade plays a dual role
In international trade, technical standards as a test of whether the product is in line with the standards and regulations based on the role of promoting the development of trade and as a basis for arbitration arbitration, but once it becomes a technical barrier, it is more to play a role in protection or barriers (or monopoly) role. (1) the role of protection based on the "Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade" that is, the TBT agreement, countries can be based on their own actual situation, such as language, geography, national customs, etc., from the perspective of their own interests, the development of technical standards in line with their national conditions. Such technical standards can protect national security, prevent fraudulent behavior, protection of personal health and safety, protection of animal and plant life and health, protection of the environment, as well as the protection of their national industry and national economic interests, thus constituting a trade protection of their own, has a positive protective effect. (2) barriers or monopoly role of some countries to take advantage of their own economic, technological, patent and other advantages, the development of some harsh or need to be used to the technical indicators of patented technology, intentionally or unintentionally restrict the imports of other countries, or monopolize the technology of a particular industry, when the technical standards play a negative role in the barriers or monopoly. Nowadays, this practice is often utilized by developed countries, and developing countries become their victims. For example, the European **** body of the OKO - ecological textile standard 100 on clothing and textiles in the content of certain substances as high as PPb level, the requirements of styrene not more than 5PPb, vinylcyclohexane not more than 2PPb, which undoubtedly to the developing countries of the textile export trade has caused great difficulties. On the one hand, due to limited technology, it is difficult for developing countries to control to PPb level; on the other hand, due to limited economic and experimental conditions, it is impossible to detect PPb level substances. If the testing organizations in developed countries are allowed to test the cost is quite expensive, the cost is bound to increase. Another example is the international standard in the field of CDMA mobile communication, behind which is more than 1,400 patents of Qualcomm of the United States, and enterprises have to adopt his patents while adopting this standard. In many cases, technical standards at the same time with a "double-edged", both positive protection, but also negative barriers and monopoly role, for me is the role of protection, for you is a barrier or monopoly role.
2.2 To a certain extent, technical standards have risen to constrain the country's economic development and national economic competitiveness of an important factor in today's society, who mastered the formulation of technical standards who can effectively grasp the initiative of competition, to obtain the maximum economic benefits. 'Whoever gets the standard gets the world' is the meaning. Because technical standards often determine a product or even an industry's technical route, technical standards, once developed, we can only go along this technical route, and can affect the relevant industries. Especially when the standard implies patented technology and rises to international standards, the benefits it brings directly reflect the interests of the country. At the end of last year, China's Ministry of Information Industry promulgated its own development of WAPI wireless LAN standards, in the United States and China set off a huge wave in the IT sector, in essence, is to the United States dominated by large enterprises Wi-Fi wireless LAN standards and our government advocated the WAPI wireless LAN standards of the dispute. In recent years, such as China's DVD industry royalties incident, due to the DVD international standards set by Europe and the United States and other countries to develop and control, Chinese enterprises to produce each product need to pay a certain amount of royalties. These are the power of "technical standards"! As Xu Guanhua, Minister of Science and Technology, said: "In today's world, who holds the right to formulate standards, who to a certain extent holds the initiative of technological and economic competition". So, to a certain extent, technical standards is not simply a technical problem, it has risen to the height of the international economic and trade relations, and become a constraint on the country's foreign trade and national economic competitiveness of the important factors.
3 Strengthen the construction of China's technical standards system, improve and formulate China's technical standards
Since the technical standards as the main content and the main form of technical barriers have gradually replaced tariffs and other non-tariff barriers to become the main body of today's barriers to international trade, and will be a long-term existence and development, and technical standards in today's international trade plays an important role, then we should fully understand and attach importance to technical standards. We should fully recognize and pay attention to technical standards, and build technical standards that are conducive to China's international trade and enhance China's international competitiveness. That is, in encouraging enterprises to adopt international advanced technical standards as soon as possible, actively participate in international standardization activities and international standards revision work, and strive to incorporate China's national standards into the international standards at the same time, improve and develop China's technical standards.
Currently many developed countries have turned their attention to standards, through the establishment of technical standards in the establishment of technical elements and technical indicators, have established their own technical barriers to trade system. We should also make full use of the principle of limited intervention in the TBT agreement and preferential policies for developing countries, under the premise of promoting technological progress, improve and formulate China's technical standards, and establish their own technical barriers system; some of China's enterprises are able to achieve and foreign enterprises are difficult to achieve and China's national conditions unique technical indicators into national standards, while reasonably protecting national industries. For a country without its own technical standards system, there is no technical barriers, just like an undefended city.
At present, the vast majority of China's products are actually in accordance with the technical standards of Western countries, especially the United States for the production of short-term view is to save development costs, and rapid expansion of market share; but from a long-term perspective, this "follow up" approach will always make the enterprise to be someone else's "wage earner". "wage earners", and even threaten national security and interests. Moreover, we have a huge market, when we set our own technical standards, some foreign enterprises in order to ensure that they are not abandoned by the Chinese market will tend to accept our technical standards. Some small countries will also be attracted to our technical standards, especially the neighboring countries in Asia. Because the market in these countries is small, it is difficult to form an independent scale market effect, so it is necessary to rely on those countries with great market potential. Enterprises in these countries in order to be able to obtain opportunities in the huge business opportunities in the Chinese market, it is bound to adopt our technical standards. In this way, China's technical standards will be recognized by everyone, even if it can not become an international standard, will become a recognized fact standard, in the long run on China's international trade has a significant role.
References
1 Ye Berlin. How to deal with technical barriers in international trade. China Standardization, 2001
2 Guangdong Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision Network, www.gdqts.gov.cn/wto.asp
3 Sina.com, www.finance.sina.com.cn/