The TBT exists to ensure that technical regulations, standards, testing, and certification procedures do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.
The list of legitimate interests that can justify a restriction in trade is not exhaustive and it includes protection of environment, human and animal health and safety.
Lastly the fifth part provides for the creation of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade and sets out the dispute settlement procedures.
According to Art.1, this agreement covers all industrial and agricultural products, with the exception of services, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (as defined by Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) and "purchasing specifications prepared by governmental bodies for production or consumption requirements of governmental bodies" (Art.
There are three categories of substantive measures found in Annex 1 of the TBT; technical regulations, standard, and conformity assessment.
Such "characteristics" might relate, inter alia, to a product's composition, size, shape, colour, texture, hardness, tensile strength, flammability, conductivity, density, or viscosity.
According to the Appellate Body, it follows that, with respect to products, a "technical regulation" has the effect of prescribing or imposing one or more "characteristics"—"features", "qualities", "attributes", or other "distinguishing mark".
The Panel and Appellate Body in Tuna-Dolphin GATT Case (I and II) held that the US labeling measures for dolphin-safe tuna was a technical regulation.
The Appellate Body stated that because the US provided no other methods of obtaining the dolphin-safe label, the requirement was binding, and therefore de jure mandatory.
It appears from this decision that measures that attempt to obtain a monopoly over a specific label will be deemed technical regulations, but the test is ultimately on a case-by-case basis.
[5] This decision has been criticised for construing the term "mandatory" too broadly, rendering the distinction between technical regulations and standards meaningless.
The Article provides an inclusive list of legitimate objectives including national security requirements and the protection of animal or plant life or health.
Members must notify each other in relation to proposed TBT provisions when the following three conditions are satisfied: These criteria are broader than any of the obligations regarding the content of technical regulations which ensures that any issues which will subsequently be litigated can be identified at the earliest stage possible.
However, in the case of "urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security" Article 2.10 provides an alternate procedure to expedite the process.