In recent years, global trade protectionism has continued to heat up, and has shown characteristics such as diversification, concealment, complexity, regionalization, and politicization. Among them, technical trade barriers have become a normalized means, which has brought great consequences to the sustainable development of international trade. Big challenge.
The so-called technical trade barriers are when countries importing and exporting goods in international trade implement trade import controls by promulgating laws, decrees, regulations, and regulations to establish technical (including quality, environmental) standards. , certification system, inspection system, intellectual property restrictions, quota restrictions, social responsibilities and other methods to improve the technical requirements of imported products, increase the difficulty of import, and ultimately achieve the purpose of restricting imports. The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) is a WTO-related agreement on technical barriers to trade. It has been implemented since the formal establishment of the WTO on January 1, 1995. The original intention of the implementation of this agreement is to safeguard national security, prevent fraud, protect the health and safety of humans, animals and plants, and protect the environment. However, many countries have adopted various environmental protection regulations and measures under various names, thus becoming a substitute for tariffs and non-tariffs. The concealment of barriers is a common means of trade barriers.
Paying attention to WTO/TBT notifications in a timely manner and responding to technical trade measures in advance will help companies and industries develop with high quality, avoid international trade risks, and improve international market competitiveness. .
The number of textile and apparel TBT notifications has declined in 2020
According to the author’s calculations, 2016- In 2020, the average annual growth rate of the number of global TBT notifications was 4.28%. During the same period, the average annual growth rate of the number of textile and apparel TBT notifications was 19.27%. Judging from the overall trend, the growth momentum in the number of TBT notifications in the textile and apparel category is much higher than that in other fields.
Figure 1: Number of global TBT notifications and proportion of textile and clothing categories in recent years
Data source: WTO
In 2020, the number of textile and apparel TBT notifications has dropped rapidly. According to the review, in 2020, the WTO issued a total of 3,354 TBT notifications, including 2,044 new notifications on technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, 52 revised notifications, 1,186 addendums, and 72 corrigendum notifications. The number of TBT notifications in 2020 increased slightly by 0.54% compared with the previous year. During the same period, the WTO issued a total of 44 textile and apparel TBT notifications, accounting for 1.31% of all notifications. Compared with the same period last year, the number of notifications dropped by more than double. Among them, 33 were notified on textiles and 11 were notified on clothing.
The reason for the decline in the number of TBT notifications is mainly due to the continuous “black swan” events in 2020. The outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic has caused severe challenges to the global economy and global governance. The global trade activity of textile and apparel products has been As a result, countries are focusing more on dealing with political frictions in local areas, oil price crashes, circuit breaker in the U.S. stock market, and global epidemic prevention and control.
Africa is becoming more active in submitting textile and apparel TBT notifications
In 2020, submit to the WTO The top 10 members in the total number of TBT notifications are: the United States, Brazil, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, China, Israel, Egypt, and the European Union. The number of notifications from the top ten members accounted for 61% of the total number of notifications. The Americas and Africa are the main regions that submit TBT notifications to the WTO.
Table 1: Top 10 members of TBT notifications
Data source: WTO
At the same time, the WTO’s 2020 textile and clothing TBT agreement notification also mainly focuses on the Americas and Africa. Countries and regions such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, the United States, Taiwan, Penghu, Jinma and Taiwan separate customs areas, and Turkey rank among the top eight. The number of notifications issued by these countries and regions accounts for 75% of the total number of textile and apparel notifications. It is worth noting that in 2020, the top five countries and regions that submitted textile and apparel TBT agreement notifications to the WTO are all from Africa, and the number of notifications submitted is increasing year by year.
Figure 2: Notifying countries and regions under the 2020 Textile and Clothing TBT Agreement
Data source: WTO
Africa is one of the emerging markets for my country’s textile and apparel exports, and has maintained a certain growth trend in recent years. According to my country’s customs data, my country’s textile and clothing exports to Africa reached US$18.365 billion in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 2.39%; in 2018 it was US$19.018 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.54%; in 2019, the export scale continued to expand, reaching US$20.617 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.41% . In 2020, affected by the epidemic and the global economy, my country’s textile and clothing exports to Africa have declined, but Africa still accounts for about 6% of my country’s textile and clothing exports.
For my country’s textile and clothing export enterprises, especially those exporting to the Americas and Africa, they must pay attention to and pay attention to WTO/TBT notifications, keep abreast of relevant information such as technology and standards, and improve production quality. Take countermeasures to avoid or reduce losses.
New changes in the field of textile and clothing TBT notifications
In recent years, TBT notifications have presented technical regulations and technical regulations on ecological and environmental protection. It is characterized by the increasing number of mandatory standards and the strengthening of the integration of regional technical regulations. AndThe focus of textile and apparel TBT notifications has also changed. In previous years, the notifications mainly focused on standards, regulations, etc., but in the past two years, in addition to standards and regulations, textile and apparel TBT notifications have focused more on technology and operations. standards, production safety and environmental protection. The range of products involved is also getting wider and wider. In addition to clothing products, home textiles and industrial textiles are also receiving more and more attention. Especially with the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, more standards and specifications for epidemic prevention materials have appeared in TBT agreement notifications. Although at present, my country is the main support for the supply of anti-epidemic materials in the international market, and various countries have a large demand for the import of anti-epidemic materials from my country, enterprises exporting anti-epidemic materials need to be reminded to pay close attention to changes in relevant standards in the international market to avoid market risks. </p
