Lesson 8 Trading standards
Chickens slaughtered in the United States, claim officials in Brussels, are not fit to grace Europea
n tables. No, say the American: our fowl are fine, we simply clean them in a different way. These da
ys, it is differences in national regulations, far more than tariffs, that put sand in the wheels of
trade between rich countries. It is not just farmers who are complaining. An electric razor that me
ets the European Union's safety standards must be approved by American testers before it can be sold
in the United States, and an American-made dialysis machine needs the EU's okay before is hits the
market in Europe.
As it happens, a razor that is safe in Europe is unlikely to electrocute Americans. So, ask business
es on both sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of tests where one would do? Politicians agree,
in principle, so America and the EU have been trying to reach a deal which would eliminate the need
to double-test many products. They hope to finish in time for a trade summit between America and the
EU on May 28TH. Although negotiators are optimistic, the details are complex enough that they may b
e hard-pressed to get a deal at all.
Why? One difficulty is to construct the agreements. The Americans would happily reach one accord on
standards for medical devices and them hammer out different pacts covering, say, electronic goods an
d drug manufacturing. The EU -- following fine continental traditions -- wants agreement on general
principles, which could be applied to many types of products and perhaps extended to other countries
.
From: The Economist, May 24th, 1997