Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
not accredited by international bodies, which allows potential importers to question the
validity of their results.
The cost and time associated with securing the necessary certi
fi
cates can thus be
signi
cant, particularly for manufacturing SMEs operating within modest margins. To
provide a sense of scale, in Lebanon, the cost of tests needed to comply with food safety
requirements in accordance with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System
(HACCP) for olive oil is a minimum of US$705 per batch, while testing fresh orange juice
can reach US$990 per batch.
11
An associated food safety lab can cost US$540 450 in terms
of equipment and supplies in Lebanon,
12
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sh
quality assurance lab is estimated at US$246 961.
13
In Yemen, such an investment would
need to be multiplied manifold in order to provide an adequate number of labs near ports
along the country's lengthy coastline where the
while in Yemen the cost of establishing a
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sheries sector is a major source of income
for local producers. Yemen is the third-largest producer and exporter of
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fi
sh in the Arab
region.
14
Ensuring adequate access to information about mandatory and voluntary standards,
enhancing the capacity of national standard-setting institutions, improving local infra-
structure available for conformity assessment, as well as facilitating access to
fi
nancial
resource and technology transfer arrangements are ways to o
set trade and environment
challenges associated with compliance with technical regulations. Interestingly, policy ini-
tiatives to address these challenges are often formulated by ministries of industry, agri-
culture and economy responsible for SME development and called for by chambers of
commerce or industrial syndicates. This illustrates the importance of insuring an inclu-
sive approach to trade and environment policy-making in the region and the need for
sound policy analysis, integration and consultation with relevant stakeholders.
ff
Liberalization of environmental goods and services
The introduction of environmental goods and services onto the negotiating agenda of the
Doha Development Round was advanced by industrialized countries that had correctly
identi
ed the market for environmental technologies as a burgeoning new industry
capable of reaping signi
fi
cant trade dividends. Developing countries generally perceived
the inclusion of this item for negotiation with skepticism, and mostly as a strategy devised
for extracting additional concessions from developing countries on goods mostly pro-
duced by the North. There was also concern that industrialized countries were seeking to
secure preferences for environmentally preferable products based on production and
process methods (PPMs), which are measures opposed by most developing countries since
they run counter to international trade principles associated with non-discrimination
between like products and have the potential to create a new series of NTBs to restrict
market access.
The di
fi
culty of the negotiations stems from the lack of consensus regarding what con-
stitutes an environmental good, since no de
cation code for environmen-
tal goods exists with the Harmonized System (HS).
15
Generally speaking, two groups of
products have emerged as likely targets. The
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nition or classi
fi
rst group comprises environmental tech-
nologies and related inputs that support the provision of environmental services, which
consist of a varied group of products proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) and the Asia-Paci
fi
c Economic Cooperation
(APEC). The second group includes environmentally preferable products (EPPs) based
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