On October 27, 2022, the World Trade Organization (WTO) published a report detailing the discussions from the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Relating to COVID-19. According to the report, 225 Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) notifications were sent to the committee, largely addressing “the extraordinary and temporary streamlining of certification and related procedures and the introduction of new regulatory requirements for medical goods in response to the pandemic.” WTO members also expressed COVID-19 related concerns pertaining to the economic impact of the pandemic rather than COVID-19 related notifications or medical goods.
The report addresses five areas:
- “COVID-19 related TBT notifications;
- Discussions of COVID-19 in specific trade concerns (STCs) in the TBT Committee;
- Members' exchange of experience on COVID-19 related matters in the TBT Committee;
- WTO Secretariat work relating to COVID-19 and technical barriers to trade (TBT);
- Inputs from observers on COVID-19 related matters in the TBT Committee.”
The report can be found here:
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/tbt_report_e.pdf
