The Tbt Today Use The New Features With The Chinese Response Measures

Since the 1990s, in the name of national security, health and safety of life, environment protection, preventing fraud, product quality and food safety grounds, TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade) has become an important means of protecting domestic industries and promoting the development of foreign trade. Now it is the most common and the most difficult trade barrier to deal with.As a big trading nation, China continues to be in the third place in 2006. However, on the one hand, according to a survey of the Ministry of Commerce of China, a direct loss suffering from TBT every year amounts to nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars in China, and the indirect economic loss and impact is difficult to assess. On the other hand, there has been a considerable progress in tackling TBT in China, but some new features of TBT are not familiar in China. So it is necessary and urgent for us to learn and use the current TBT, understand its grounds and influence, especially with the practices in our country's foreign trade. Then we can use it to reduce and avoid TBT to serve the development of the foreign trade.Based on the previous studies, and with the help of normative and positive analysis, empirical research, qualitative and quantitative methods, this paper analyzes new features of TBT from four aspects, which are its trend to sophisticated technical requirements, emergence of its new forms, obvious differences between the North and the South, enlargement of its functions. At the same time, the paper objectively analyzes the impact of these new features. Although we has made a big progress in dealing with TBT ,there are some questions, such as a lower level of national standards and time consuming in making standards; unsuitable standardization system, too broad mandatory technical regulations and standards; informal intermediaries of standard like non-governmental and non- community organizations; the problem in information transparency and consultation; serious lags behind the growth mode of foreign trade; weak scientific and technological innovation capability and so on. We must adapt to the new features of TBT, strengthen the cooperation between four bodies, improve early warning mechanisms and rapid response system, speed up China's industrial structure upgrading and enhance the international competitiveness of the economy to realize a sound and fast development in foreign trade area.