Social Science Spectrum ISSN 2454-2806 Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2015, pp. 142-152 Export Standards and Export Losses in Global Trade: Need for Harmonization of Standards Atreyee Sinha Chakraborty  Abstract This paper looks into the effects of quality related export standards imposed by importing country which is an inevitable feature of global trade today. Export standards and regulations adopted by different countries have risen significantly over the years. This may be attributed to rising awareness among people towards safer and hygienic products which should be environmentally sound also. Imposing export standards is often looked upon as a means of restricting trade and classified under non- tariff barrier. As norms and standards usually apply to national and foreign production, they do not correspond to the classical form of protectionism. But the governments of importing countries have the ability to set standards based on domestic firms' product characteristics or technology capacity. This paper develops a simple model to show how export standards can lead to substantial increase in cost for exporters which leads to substantial loss of trade and sometimes welfare and how the difference in standards in different export markets prevent the exporting firms to accrue the benefits of economies of scale. Differences in product standards and conformity assessment procedures can greatly influence trade volumes and patterns. Regional integration can be beneficial and existing Regional Trading Agreements should be revisited, reviewed and amended to include stronger provisions for standard harmonization. This can have a positive impact on trade within the region and with third countries. Key words: Export standards, Export losses, Global trade, Globalization of standards Introduction Robert Baldwin points out as early as in 1970, “The lowering of tariffs has, in effect, been like draining a swamp. The lower water level has revealed all the snags and stumps of non-tariff barriers that still have to be cleared away.” With tariff barriers becoming increasingly less important, differences in national regulatory regimes are becoming ever more visible. These regulatory regimes include areas as varied as government procurement rules, inward foreign investment, competition policy, labour standards and environmental norms as well as product standards and technical regulations. Although traditional trade policies such as tariffs and quotas no longer have a significant impact on restricting market access as they have been progressively liberalized, first under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO) and subsequently in the context of regional and bilateral preferential trade agreements but the fact that tariff liberalization alone has generally proven unsuccessful in providing genuine market access has drawn further attention to non-tariff measures (NTMs) as major determinants in restricting market access. Non-tariff measures include a very diverse array of policies that countries apply to imported and exported goods. Some NTMs are manifestly employed as instruments of commercial policy (e.g. quotas, subsidies, trade defence measures and export restrictions), while others stem from non-trade policy objectives to address some market failures. (e.g. technical measures). The latter often serve a legitimate purpose as they are put in place for valid concerns such as food safety and environmental protection. Regardless of whether NTMs are imposed (or implemented) with protectionist intent or to address legitimate market failures, NTMs are thought to have important restrictive and distortionary effects on international trade and this is particularly true for firms in developing countries.  Atreyee Sinha Chakraborty, Assistant Professor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Deccan Gymkhana, BMCC Road, Pune 411004. Email: sinhaatreyee@gmail.com