THE APPLICABLE LAW STATUS OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS IN WTO ADJUDICATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF TECHNICAL REGULATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

WTO law, which deals with trade between states at the highest level, is mainly composed of multilateral and plurilateral trade agreements and rules established within the WTO based on those agreements. WTO agreements integrate some external rules into WTO law, as well. One of the methods adopted by the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), which is one of the multilateral agreements annexed to the Marrakesh Treaty establishing the WTO, in eliminating the technical barriers in international trade and preventing the national measures of the Member States from creating unnecessary obstacles to trade is harmonization. TBT Agreement makes the relevant international standards, which are tool of harmonization, part of WTO rights and obligations. It requires the use of relevant international standards as a basis for the preparation of national measures to achieve legitimate objectives. Besides, it provides a presumption that national technical regulations in accordance with international standards do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade. This presumption affects the burden of proof in WTO disputes. The WTO jurisdiction, which has long preferred to resolve disputes regarding technical obstacles according to the general provisions of GATT, has started to apply the provisions of the TBT Agreement in such cases in the last decade. However, there are still some issues waiting for legal analysis.