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By Dr. Suman Kumar Regmi

The World Trade Organization (WTO) regulates standards and technical regulations through two key agreements: the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). These agreements aim to ensure that standards and regulations protect public interests such as health, safety, and quality without creating unnecessary obstacles to international trade.

Regulations are mandatory rules, while standards are voluntary guidelines. The TBT Agreement covers all industrial and agricultural products and seeks to prevent technical regulations, labeling, packaging, and marketing requirements from becoming disguised trade barriers. It emphasizes non-discrimination through the principles of Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) and national treatment, scientific justification for standards, and the use of international benchmarks developed by organizations such as ISO, IEC, ITU, and Codex Alimentarius. The agreement also promotes conformity assessment procedures—such as testing, certification, and quality system evaluation—and encourages countries to accept test results from exporting nations. Transparency is required through the establishment of national enquiry points.

In Nepal, standards are governed mainly by the Nepal Standards (Certification) Act and the Standards, Weights and Measures Act. The Nepal Council of Standards (NCS) sets standards, while the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) drafts technical regulations, except for food and health products. However, Nepal lacks a comprehensive Accreditation Act, which has slowed progress in quality assurance systems. Although Nepal committed to introducing necessary legislative and institutional reforms by 2006 during its WTO accession, many of these reforms remain incomplete even in 2025.

The SPS Agreement focuses on protecting human, animal, and plant health from food-borne risks, diseases, and pests while minimizing negative impacts on trade. It applies to products such as fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, and processed foods. International standards are developed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), and the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Unlike the TBT Agreement, the SPS Agreement allows countries to impose different measures depending on disease or pest prevalence, even if this deviates from MFN principles. It also recognizes the difficulties faced by developing countries in complying with SPS requirements.

In Nepal, SPS measures are implemented mainly by the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) and relevant ministries. Plant imports and exports are regulated under plant protection and seed laws, while animal quarantine is governed by the Animal Health and Livestock Services Act. Food safety standards are set under the Food Act and related regulations, pesticides are regulated under specific acts and rules, and pharmaceutical products are governed by drug laws and policies. Nepal is a member of major international SPS bodies such as OIE, Codex, and the Asia Pacific Plant Protection Commission, but it has yet to ratify the IPPC fully. Many existing laws require updating to strengthen quality control.

Nepal also agreed to implement the SPS Agreement by 2006, but several legal and infrastructural gaps persist. Meanwhile, developed countries have adopted increasingly strict SPS measures, including controls related to mad cow disease (BSE), pest risk assessments, biotechnology-based foods, pesticide and antibiotic residues, E. coli contamination, and animal diseases.

Nepal’s major agricultural and agro-based exports include medicinal herbs, spices, tea, ginger, cardamom, processed foods, jute, pulses, wheat products, and beverages. Due to limited testing capacity, weak accreditation systems, and incomplete regulatory reforms, many of these products face difficulties meeting international standards and risk being denied access to developed-country markets.

Overall, while the WTO’s TBT and SPS agreements aim to balance trade facilitation with public health and safety, Nepal continues to face significant institutional, legal, and technical challenges in fully complying with these frameworks and ensuring global market access for its exports.