Lowering Trade Technical Barriers (TBT) through Strengthening Public-Private Cooperation

Sangui and Kookpyowon Sign Business Agreement (MOU) on the 11th

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Public-private cooperation to effectively respond to the increasingly rising Trade Technical Barriers (TBT) and to identify and improve unreasonable technical regulations will be further strengthened.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the National Institute of Technology and Standards (NITS) announced on the 11th that they signed a business agreement and held a plaque ceremony at the Namdaemun Chamber of Commerce building to establish and operate the 'Technical Regulation Response Support Desk.' About 10 people attended the event, including Woo Tae-hee, Executive Vice President of KCCI, Lee Sang-hoon, Director of NITS, Seo Young-jin, Executive Director of Samsung Electronics, and Park Ji-hwan, CEO of Think4Biel.

With this business agreement, KCCI and NITS plan to support Korean companies to respond quickly and appropriately to the rapidly increasing Trade Technical Barriers (TBT), which exceed 3,000 cases annually, while identifying and improving technical regulations that differ from international standards or are excessively unreasonable.

A KCCI official said, "Trade Technical Barriers are increasing mainly in emerging countries, which are our major export diversification targets, and are expanding into digital and environmental fields as well as new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Since Trade Technical Barriers account for the largest portion of non-tariff barriers, we will establish the support desk to promptly identify and resolve related difficulties and modernize domestic technical regulations to contribute to strengthening corporate competitiveness."

KCCI plans to closely work with regional chambers nationwide and overseas offices in Beijing and Vietnam to identify and improve trade barriers and domestic and international technical difficulties for member companies. They will also promote research on improvement measures for bulky regulations that hinder domestic industrial development. Member companies will be guided to utilize the annual report on Trade Technical Barriers and government projects on technical regulations provided by NITS.

Inquiries regarding Trade Technical Barriers (TBT) and domestic and international technical regulations can be made to the 'Technical Regulation Response Support Desk' (02-6050-3685, TBT@korcham.net).