Implementing Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) Standards, and Technical Regulations: The Developing Country Experience

This research paper examines the challenges developing countries face in implementing Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) standards and technical regulations. It argues that these requirements, while intended to promote sustainable development, often act as technical barriers to trade due to a lack of institutional infrastructure in rule making, conformity assessment, and accreditation. The author highlights how the gap in technical capacity and the high cost of certification disproportionately affect small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and calls for increased technical assistance under the WTO's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement).

• Developing countries often lack the basic institutional infrastructure—specifically in rule making, conformity assessment, and accreditation—necessary to benefit from the WTO's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), which can lead to standards and technical regulations restricting trade regardless of product compliance.
• There is a critical distinction between standards intended for trade promotion (which focus on the existence of agreed specifications) and those for public policy promotion (where the actual specifications are vital for effectiveness, such as in water filtration).
• Developing countries face significant communication breakdowns in the rule-making process; many lack the capacity to disseminate WTO notifications to national stakeholders or convene processes to document comments, particularly for SMEs and the informal sector.
• Compliance with EH&S standards often requires technical capacities or expensive equipment that are unavailable locally, placing a higher financial burden on developing country firms. For example, a blue crab fishery in the Philippines Sulu Sea could not obtain MSC certification because the required genetic tests were prohibitively expensive.
• Developing countries are largely 'standard-takers' because they lack the financial and human resources to participate in international standards bodies. Consequently, international standards often reflect developed country priorities rather than those of developing nations.
• Conformity assessment services in developing countries are often expensive and limited in supply due to high start-up costs for metrology equipment and a market too small to support a competitive private industry, often leaving only a few state-sponsored labs.
• A major barrier to market access is the lack of mutual recognition for accreditation; certificates issued by conformity assessment bodies in developing countries are often not accepted in target markets unless accredited by the importing country's own domestic agency.
• While the TBT Agreement's Article 11 provides for technical assistance to developing countries regarding the establishment of regulatory and conformity assessment bodies, the author notes that no developing country has yet made a formal request for such assistance.
• The Japanese technical regulation on organic agriculture is cited as a best practice for maximizing the supply of conformity assessment services by allowing a flexible range of registered companies, including those in other countries with equivalent systems, to undertake certifications.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). Implementing Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) Standards, and Technical Regulations: The Developing Country Experience. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tkn_standards.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Implementing Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) Standards, and Technical Regulations: The Developing Country Experience. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tkn_standards.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Implementing Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) Standards, and Technical Regulations: The Developing Country Experience |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tkn_standards.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndimplementing, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Implementing Environmental, Health and Safety (EH\&S) Standards, and Technical Regulations: The Developing Country Experience}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tkn_standards.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }