Abstract
Many countries provide standards-related aid for trade (AfT) to developing countries in association with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as sharing their experiences and providing training or infrastructure. Regarding the influence of standards-related AfT on the sustainable development of developing countries, we studied Korea’s standards-related AfT program to examine the role and features of standards-related AfT in terms of standards-related capacity building. In this study, we conducted a single case study with a focus on Korea’s standards-related AfT in Bolivia using qualitative descriptive analysis. The result indicated that Korea’s standards-related AfT is associated with three pillars of sustainable development in terms of standards-related capacity, namely standardization, conformity assessment, and metrology, and can be summarized with two key tasks: building testing infrastructure and improving Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) capacity. However, several limitations were found in Korea’s standards-related capacity building activities, such as limited scope, limited target of the program, and the lack of activities for building institutional foundations for standards-related capacity.
Highlights
In terms of aid and development activities that are provided to developing countries, the value of beneficiaries’ access to the necessities of food, clean water, good education, and healthcare is emphasized [1]
According to Adhikari [37], aid for trade (AfT) is closely related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 17 and, Target 17.11 and Target 17.12
When we look at the three pillars of sustainable development in terms of standards-related capacity, Korea’s standards-related AfT focuses most on the conformity assessment aspect of the three pillars
Summary
In terms of aid and development activities that are provided to developing countries, the value of beneficiaries’ access to the necessities of food, clean water, good education, and healthcare is emphasized [1]. According to Adhikari [37], AfT is closely related to SDG 17 (strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development) and, Target 17.11 (significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the LDCs’ share of global exports by 2020) and Target 17.12 (realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all LDCs, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from LDCs are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access). We identified that one of the aims of several countries providing AfT, such as those in the European Union (EU), the United States of America, Japan, and Korea, was trade-related capacity building, especially standards and standardization capacity, in the recipient countries [21,22]. Studies examining the current status of standards-related AfT are necessary to understand how standards can contribute to increasing the sustainable development of developing countries and to suggest methods of developing standards-related AfT to maximize its effectiveness
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