International Standard Setting Organizations Research Articles

The Prospects of AfCFTA in Promoting Industrialization and Economic Diversification in Africa

African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) functions as a boost for Africa's economic development by enhancing intra-African trade. This is because trade is an engine of growth and development. For the fact that most African nations that are located within the same region engage in similar and competitive production, the ensuing economic cooperation and trade exchanges not only have the promise of increasing trade but also stimulating other ancillary economic activities, creating new job opportunities, speeding up economic growth, promote the standard of living, and promote economic development. However, AfCFTA's record has not been very impressive. The main obstacles to intra- regional commerce among African countries include heavy reliance on trade in primary goods, high product and market concentration of exports, and inadequate regional manufacturing networks. This study therefore examines continental economic trends and Intra African Trade: Prospects for African Continental Free Trade Area. The study adopted qualitative methods of data collection and analysis and the comparative theory of integration. The study found that the low level of trade diversification implicated the capacity of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to achieve improved intra-regional trade performances in Africa. African countries maintain as much as 77% export specialization, with higher external/world trade at 84.6 percent of their total import and export trade. The study recommended that Governments should invest in infrastructure development, including building roads, railways, ports, and airports, as well as improving access to electricity and broadband. Governments should adopt modern trade facilitation measures such as electronic customs systems, single window platforms, and risk management techniques and should align their technical regulations and norms with global best practices and standards, as those created by appropriate international standard-setting organisations like the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

Small Business Bankruptcy Reform in the Arab World: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Abstract This article assesses a series of recently adopted bankruptcy laws in the Arab world, situating them within three historical phases of global bankruptcy reform. It introduces recently released recommendations from international standard-setting organisations for best practices in the bankruptcies of small and medium enterprises (SME) and applies them to evaluate the key details of recent bankruptcy reforms in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, and Bahrain. Seeking an explanation for the persistent absence of an especially crucial element of effective SME rescue policy, it recalls the Islamic law relating to debt distress and recovery. Finally, it reveals a revolutionary new approach to this controversial topic, adopted by one Arab state to produce a bankruptcy law that is truly and exceptionally responsive to the needs of SME s.

IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation-COMAR Technical Information Statement: Health and Safety Issues Concerning Exposure of the General Public to Electromagnetic Energy from 5G Wireless Communications Networks.

This COMAR Technical Information Statement (TIS) addresses health and safety issues concerning exposure of the general public to radiofrequency (RF) fields from 5G wireless communications networks, the expansion of which started on a large scale in 2018 to 2019. 5G technology can transmit much greater amounts of data at much higher speeds for a vastly expanded array of applications compared with preceding 2-4G systems; this is due, in part, to using the greater bandwidth available at much higher frequencies than those used by most existing networks. Although the 5G engineering standard may be deployed for operating networks currently using frequencies extending from 100s to 1,000s of MHz, it can also operate in the 10s of GHz where the wavelengths are 10 mm or less, the so-called millimeter wave (MMW) band. Until now, such fields were found in a limited number of applications (e.g., airport scanners, automotive collision avoidance systems, perimeter surveillance radar), but the rapid expansion of 5G will produce a more ubiquitous presence of MMW in the environment. While some 5G signals will originate from small antennas placed on existing base stations, most will be deployed with some key differences relative to typical transmissions from 2-4G base stations. Because MMW do not penetrate foliage and building materials as well as signals at lower frequencies, the networks will require “densification,” the installation of many lower power transmitters (often called “small cells” located mainly on buildings and utility poles) to provide for effective indoor coverage. Also, “beamforming” antennas on some 5G systems will transmit one or more signals directed to individual users as they move about, thus limiting exposures to non-users. In this paper, COMAR notes the following perspectives to address concerns expressed about possible health effects of RF field exposure from 5G technology. First, unlike lower frequency fields, MMW do not penetrate beyond the outer skin layers and thus do not expose inner tissues to MMW. Second, current research indicates that overall levels of exposure to RF are unlikely to be significantly altered by 5G, and exposure will continue to originate mostly from the “uplink” signals from one’s own device (as they do now). Third, exposure levels in publicly accessible spaces will remain well below exposure limits established by international guideline and standard setting organizations, including ICNIRP and IEEE. Finally, so long as exposures remain below established guidelines, the research results to date do not support a determination that adverse health effects are associated with RF exposures, including those from 5G systems. While it is acknowledged that the scientific literature on MMW biological effect research is more limited than that for lower frequencies, we also note that it is of mixed quality and stress that future research should use appropriate precautions to enhance validity. The authorship of this paper includes a physician/biologist, epidemiologist, engineers, and physical scientists working voluntarily and collaboratively on a consensus basis.

AI and Big Data Standardization: Contributing to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Emerging Technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain and 5G communications are innovation accelerators creating new products, processes and industries by disrupting the Information Communication Technologies status quo. International Standards Development Organisations (SDOs) and Standard Setting Organisations (SSOs) develop and evolve consensus documents of the state of the art and publish these international agreements as Standards. In this document the authors present uses cases where some of these emerging technologies can contribute significantly to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Small Business Bankruptcy Reform In the Arab World: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

This article assesses a series of recently adopted bankruptcy laws in the Arab world, situating them within three historical phases of global bankruptcy reform. It introduces recently released recommendations from international standard-setting organizations for best practices in the bankruptcies of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and applies them to evaluate the key details of recent bankruptcy reforms in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, and Bahrain. Seeking an explanation for the persistent absence of an especially crucial element of effective SME rescue policy, it recalls the Islamic Law relating to debt distress and recovery. Finally, it reveals a revolutionary new approach to this controversial topic, adopted by one Arab state to produce a bankruptcy law that is truly and exceptionally responsive to the needs of SMEs.

When Normative and Market Power Interact: The European Union and Global Biofuels Governance

AbstractDrawing on the literature on the market and normative power of the EU, we document and explain the limited success of the EU in transferring its environmental standards with respect to sustainable biofuels governance to the world's two largest biofuels producers – the US and Brazil – and to two international standard setting organizations, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP). Our explanation highlights four factors: first, the extent to which EU strategies to strengthen its market power can undermine its normative power; second, the limits to EU policy influence posed by other actors' use of their own market and normative power resources; third, the diminished influence of a late policy‐mover; and fourth, the difficulty of establishing normative leadership in a policy field subject to epistemic contestation.

Regulatory Coherence and Standardization Mechanisms in the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Abstract This article posits a new taxonomy and framework for assessing regulatory coherence in the new generation of mega-regional, cross-cutting free trade agreements. Using the Trans-Pacific Partnership as the primary example, this article situates the rise of regulatory coherence within the current trade landscape, provides clear definitions of regulatory coherence, and argues that the real engine of regulatory coherence lies in the work of international standard setting organizations. This work has been little examined in the current literature. The article provides a detailed examination of the mechanics by which the Trans-Pacific Partnership promotes regulatory standardization and concludes with some normative implications and calls for future research.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RUSSIAN HEALTH STUDIES PROGRAM AND UPDATED RESEARCH FINDINGS.

Recognized for conducting cutting-edge science in the field of radiation health effects research, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Russian Health Studies Program has continued to generate excitement and enthusiasm throughout its 23-year mission to assess worker and public health risks from radiation exposure resulting from nuclear weapons production activities in the former Soviet Union. The three goals of the Program are to: (1) clarify the relationship between health effects and chronic, low-to-medium dose radiation exposure; (2) estimate the cancer risks from exposure to gamma, neutron, and alpha radiation; and (3) provide information to the national and international organizations that determine radiation protection standards and practices. Research sponsored by DOE's Russian Health Studies Program is conducted under the authority of the Joint Coordinating Committee for Radiation Effects Research (JCCRER), a bi-national committee representing Federal agencies in the United States and the Russian Federation. Signed in 1994, the JCCRER Agreement established the legal basis for the collaborative research between USA and Russian scientists to determine the risks associated with working at or living near Russian former nuclear weapons production sites. The products of the Program are peer-reviewed publications on cancer risk estimates from worker and community exposure to ionizing radiation following the production of nuclear weapons in Russia. The scientific return on investment has been substantial. Through 31 December 2015, JCCRER researchers have published 299 peer-reviewed publications. To date, the research has focused on the Mayak Production Association (Mayak) in Ozersk, Russia, which is the site of the first Soviet nuclear weapons production facility, and people in surrounding communities along the Techa River. There are five current projects in the Russian Health Studies Program: two radiation epidemiology studies; two historical dose reconstruction studies and a worker biorepository. National and international standard-setting organizations use cancer risk estimates computed from epidemiological and historical dose reconstruction studies to validate or revise radiation protection standards. An overview of the most important research results will be presented.

USA IN THE EMERGING SYSTEM OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL REGULATION

In the globalizing world of fi nancial and economic interdependence, a polycentric, multi-level, and hierarchical system of global financial regulation is emerging. The article highlights two vectors of recent development in international fi nancial regulation: the rise of cooperation through the mechanisms of the Group of Twenty (G-20) on the one hand, and the efforts to maintain the US leading role in global fi nance, on the other hand. In the circumstances of the global fi nancial crisis of 2008, the G-20 countries initiated an international reform of fi nancial regulation. According to G-20 decisions, international standardsetting organizations developed transnational regulatory regimes in the fi elds of banking, derivatives and bankruptcy resolution, and the states now implement these regimes in their jurisdictions. The so-called “soft law system”, which is not legally binding, allows the states to sustain national sovereignty in their fi nancial policy. The United States play a leading role in the international fi nancial reform, as well as in the shaping of the global fi nancial regulation system. The American regulators push for extraterritorial application of the US norms and take other unilateral actions on the international arena. The article also touches upon legitimacy problems of the emerging system of global fi nancial regulation. The most important constrains are the excessive infl uence of the fi nancial industry (“regulatory capture”), the weakness of civil society participation, and also the fact that for the rest of the world the American norms lack legitimacy, as they are adopted by regulators assigned by offi cials elected by population of a foreign territory.

Standard essential patents to boost financial returns

Numerous innovative applications build upon standardized technologies. These technologies increasingly incorporate standard essential patents (SEPs). It is crucial to own SEPs in order to achieve and maintain significant market shares. We test the influence of owning SEPs on a firm's financial performance. In our analysis, we use a unique dataset of firms participating in international standard setting organizations (SSOs). Our results indicate a curvilinear (inverse U‐shaped) relationship of owning SEPs on a firm's return on assets. The curvilinear relationship suggests that firms should balance their patent portfolio by holding a share of patents, which are essential for standards, and by holding a share of patents on technologies that are not standardized. Our results further show that the effects of owning SEPs depend on the specific SSO as well as on the size of the patent portfolio. Our findings are a first step toward identifying and assessing the financial impact of patents essential to standards. Our empirical tests suggest that companies should pursue a common strategy for patenting and standardization to exploit patented inventions in technology fields where standards matter.

Principles-Based Regulations: A Model for Legal Reform in the Nigerian Insurance Industry

AbstractThe development of global standards has led to a convergence in domestic regulations in the financial services sectors. Principles-based regulations (PBRs) have become essential for effective regulatory efforts in insurance and other financial services because of their flexibility, support for regulatory efficiency and the development of a good compliance culture amongst the regulated. The legal framework of the Nigerian insurance industry mainly contains prescriptive and performance-based regimes that have become ineffective as regulatory strategies. This article recommends the adoption of PBRs from available models found in international standard setting organizations such as the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, other jurisdictions such as the UK's Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, together with international trade regimes such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services. It reviews aspects of Nigerian insurance industry regulations supporting PBRs and highlights laws not supportive of PBRs and therefore requiring reform.

Standard Essential Patents on Low-Cost Mobile Phones in India: A Case to Strengthen Competition Regulation?

The realization of the promise of the sub hundred dollar mobile device as a facilitator of access to knowledge is contingent inter alia on its availability in the market place. In turn, the market availability of the sub hundred dollar mobile device is influenced by the existence of an enabling environment for producers to produce, and consumers to consume. From a regulatory perspective, the enabling environment itself is a function of existing laws and policies, and the ‘developmental effects’ of certain laws and policies (Saraswati, 2012). This article seeks to examine one such legal and policy lever and the role of a regulator in the development of an enabling environment for access to sub hundred dollar mobile devices. This paper is founded on four assumptions: first, that access to sub hundred dollar mobile devices is influenced by their price; second, that the question of access necessitates conversation between the intellectual property regime and several other actors, sites and tools; third, that one of the fundamental goals of regulatory reform is the creation of a ‘stable, open and future- proof environment’ (Guermazi and Satola, 2005) that encourages access to these devices; and fourth, that there exist public law implications of intellectual property that justify the involvement of State actors and regulators in matters that may arise out of private transactions. This article will examine whether there is a role to be played by competition law in this narrative of innovation, intellectual property and access to sub hundred dollar mobile devices. In light of increasing litigation around standard essential patents, and the inability of FRAND and International Standard Setting Organizations to find a comprehensive solution, this paper will question the efficacy of competition law as an ex post solution to a problem that might be better addressed by ex ante regulation from a specialized body. In an attempt to address these questions, this article will examine the role of the Competition Commission of India and the Indian Judiciary. Orders of the Competition Commission will be studied from its inception till March, 2015, in order to draw conclusions about the role that the Commission identifies for itself and the nature of disputes it adjudicates. This article will also examine the role of similarly placed institutions in the United States of America as well as some member states of the European Union. It will be argued that while Competition Law might address some of the issues arising out of litigation around standard essential patents, and might be a tool to increase access to sub hundred dollar mobile devices, its efficacy as a long term solution in light of its nature as an ex post solution, is questionable. Consequently, it might be prudent to have a conversation leaning towards exante regulation of the market place by a specialized regulator.

International Food Standards and WTO Law

Standards are used in all realms of human activity in order to specify the characteristics of a product, or its manufacture. In the process, they fulfil a range of functions, such as lowering risks, increasing trust and facilitating predictability in a given market. Standards reduce information costs for market players, which in turn allows for a more efficient functioning of the market. For international trade in foodstuffs, harmonisation of the wide variety of food standards is essential in order to facilitate the global food-sourcing trend. As traditional market access barriers are dismantled, non-tariff measures offer a tool for the potential protection of domestic products, thus calling for effective forms of food governance. This article explores the legal implications of international standards under the TBT Agreement in the light of the WTO Appellate Body’s case law. It further analyses the role played by international standard-setting organisations, such as the CAC and the ISO, in predicting the outcome of pending WTO disputes. Against this backdrop, this article also attempts to shed light on the current legal debate surrounding the use of private food standards within the SPS Committee.

Ensuring optimal breastfeeding and improvements in complementary feeding to improve infant and young child nutrition in developing countries

Ensuring optimal breastfeeding and improvements in complementary feeding to improve infant and young child nutrition in developing countries

WTO effectiveness in resolving transatlantic trade‐environment conflict

PurposeOne of the major strategic challenges facing the transatlantic trade relationship is the ability to regulate such risk areas as the environment whilst maintaining important trade flows. Much scholarship has emphasised formal United States (US)‐European Union (EU) trade disputes when considering the treatment of risk. However, these cases represent a minority of the trade conflict at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). A majority of trade conflict gets raised, debated and resolved informally in the WTO committee structure. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is the WTO institutional arrangement that seeks to reconcile environmental, health and food safety regulations with trade objectives. The SPS embodies “in‐house” dispute resolution mechanisms that are based on the notion of constructive engagement. Mechanisms like ad hoc consultations, registering official protests, use of the chair's good offices and coordination with international standard setting organisations have been effective in promoting harmonisation between states. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe paper traces the process that is embedded within the SPS Committee for resolving trade conflict over risk‐based regulations, highlighting a recent case in point of wood‐packing materials.FindingsThe paper elucidates a good news story about how American and EU policy makers utilize SPS Committee mechanisms to resolve differences over environmental regulations at the SPS Committee. Specific recommendations are offered on how to strengthen those mechanisms.Practical implicationsIf the recommendations offered are followed, trade conflict resolution over risk‐based issues in the SPS context will be strengthened.Originality/valueThe paper is the first utilizing a case study to assess the effectiveness of WTO/SPS mechanisms for trade conflict resolution.

The role of World Trade OrganIzation and the "three sisters" (the World Organisation for Animal Health, the International Plant protection Convention and the Codex alimentarius Commission) in the control of invasive alien species and the preservation of biodiversity

The missions of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) include the design of surveillance and control methods for infectious transboundary animal diseases (including zoonoses), the provision of guarantees concerning animal health and animal production food safety, and the setting of standards for, and promotion of, animal welfare. The OIE role in setting standards for the sanitary safety of international trade in animals and animal products is formally recognised in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement). While the primary focus of the OIE is on animal diseases and zoonoses, the OIE has also been working within the WTO framework to examine possible contributions the organisation can make to achieving the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity, particularly to preventing the global spread of invasive alien species (IAS). However, at the present time, setting standards for invasive species (other than those connected to the cause and distribution of diseases listed by the OIE) is outside the OIE mandate. Any future expansion of the OIE mandate would need to be decided by its Members and resources (expertise and financial contributions) for an extended standard-setting work programme secured. The other international standard-setting organisations referenced by the SPS Agreement are the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). The IPPC mandate and work programme address IAS and the protection of biodiversity. The CAC is not involved in this field.

WTO Effectiveness in Resolving EU-US Trade Conflict

One of the major strategic challenges facing the transatlantic trade relationship is the ability to regulate such risk areas as the environment whilst maintaining important trade flows. Much scholarship has emphasised formal US-EU trade disputes when considering the treatment of risk. However, these cases represent a minority of the trade conflict at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). A majority of trade conflict gets raised, debated and resolved informally in the WTO committee structure. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is the WTO institutional arrangement that seeks to reconcile environmental, health and food safety regulations with trade objectives. The SPS embodies ‘in-house’ dispute resolution mechanisms that are based on the notion of constructive engagement. Mechanisms like ad-hoc consultations, registering official protests, use of the chair’s good offices and coordination with international standard setting organisations have been effective in promoting harmonisation between states. The current paper elucidates a good news story how American and EU policy-makers have resolved differences over environmental regulations at the SPS Committee, through a case study on wood-packing material and offers specific recommendations on what more can be done.

ISBT 128: a global information standard

ISBT 128 is the global standard for the identification, labeling and information transfer of human blood, cell, tissue and organ products across international borders and disparate health care systems. The system has been designed and perfected over almost two decades to ensure accuracy, safety and efficiency for the benefit of donors, patients and health care workers worldwide. The use of the ISBT 128 standard has grown steadily since a blood bank in Estonia first implemented it in 1997. Today, more than 3,500 facility identifiers for the use of ISBT 128 have been assigned to organizations in 67 countries on six continents. The standard has been accepted by a variety of international standard setting organizations and government regulators. It is managed by ICCBBA, a not-for-profit organization based in the USA that is governed by an international volunteer board of directors. Members of the Board of Directors represent the fields of practice affected by the standard. Advisory groups comprising international experts guide the ongoing development of the ISBT 128 standard to ensure it continues to meet the needs of its users. While there is a cost associated with the implementation and use of the standard, the clear benefits in terms of improved patient safety and ability to meet regulatory traceability requirements justify the costs.

Independence of Experts and Standards for Evaluation of Scientific Evidence under the SPS Agreement – New Directions in the SPS Case Law

Under Section II of the Rules of Conduct for the DSU, the institutional affiliation of experts may be considered as an element that casts doubts on their impartiality and independence. Under Articles 5.1 and 5.7 of the SPS Agreement, the level of protection that a particular country is ready to tolerate may inform risk assessment and have an impact on the determination of insufficiency of scientific evidence. In a situation in which there is sufficient scientific evidence for performance of risk assessment in one of the international standard setting-organizations, one may still find insufficiency as provided by Article 5.7 if new data puts into question the relationship between the relevant scientific evidence and the conclusions in relation to risk, thereby not permitting the performance of a sufficiently objective assessment of risk (authors’ headnote).

Complying with the clauses of the SPS Agreement: Case of a developing country

This paper aims at assessing the implementation of the clauses of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement in a developing country context, namely Mauritius. It describes the regulatory and institutional infrastructure developed to meet new obligations under the SPS Agreement using an inventory approach and in-depth interviews at stakeholder level. The findings indicate that, as a developing country, Mauritius has achieved a reasonable degree of compliance with its commitments towards the WTO. A national accreditation body has been set up. A number of transparency mechanisms have been put in place such as a National Notification Authority, a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Enquiry Point and a national SPS committee involving the public and private sectors for communicating and discussing about SPS measures of trade relevance. Mauritius participated, to different extents, in the WTO SPS committee and in the activities of international standard-setting organisations. It has also updated some SPS-related laws. There have been operational changes in local organisations dealing with SPS issues. However, constraints such as the insufficient capacity to do risk assessment and to carry out equivalence might prevent Mauritius from meeting all its obligations towards the WTO.