Aldaz-Carroll, Enrique2012-06-192012-06-192006-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8426Developing countries face an increasing need to upgrade the standards of their domestic markets and of their exports. This paper examines different approaches available to them for upgrading their standards and conformity assessment procedures. It focuses particularly on those followed within the context of regional trade agreements (RTAs), as these are yielding promising results. Based on interviews performed in Latin America and on previous literature, the paper draws common features of a RTA standard and conformity assessment upgrading and harmonization process, identifies some of its main challenges, and suggests principles that developing countries could follow in such a process.CC BY 3.0 IGOARBITRATIONBILATERAL TRADEBILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTSCALIBRATIONCALIBRATION LABORATORIESCENTRAL AMERICANCLIMATIC CONDITIONSCOMMON MARKETCOMPENSATIONCONFORMITYCONFORMITY ASSESSMENTCONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURESCONSUMER PROTECTIONCOOPERATIVE AGREEMENTSCUSTOMSCUSTOMS UNIONCUSTOMS UNIONSDESTINATION COUNTRYDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDISPUTE RESOLUTIONDISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMDISPUTE SETTLEMENTDISTORTIONARY EFFECTSDIVISION OF LABORDOMESTIC ECONOMYDOMESTIC MARKETDOMESTIC MARKETSECONOMIES OF SCALEELECTRONIC EQUIPMENTENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONSEXPERTISEEXPORT MARKETSEXPORT PERFORMANCEEXPORT SECTOREXTERNALITIESFOREIGN MARKETSFOREIGN STANDARDSFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AGREEMENTSFREE TRADE AREAGLOBAL MARKETGLOBAL TRADEGOVERNMENT REGULATIONHARMONIZATIONHEIGHTIMPORTSINSURANCEINTEGRATED MARKETINTERMEDIATE LEVELINTERNATIONAL STANDARDINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINTRA-APEC TRADEINTRA-REGIONAL TRADEINTRAREGIONAL TRADEISOISO STANDARDSLABORATORIESLATIN AMERICANLOCAL FIRMSMAGNITUDEMARKET ACCESSMEMBER COUNTRIESMEMBER COUNTRYMETROLOGYMINISTERMUTUAL RECOGNITIONMUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENTMUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENTSNATIONAL LAWSNATIONAL LEGISLATIONNON-TARIFF BARRIERSPOLICY OBJECTIVEPRIVATE SECTORPRODUCERSPRODUCT STANDARDSPRODUCTION COSTSPROTECTIONIST SENTIMENTQUALITY REGULATIONREGIONAL APPROACHREGIONAL APPROACHESREGIONAL BODIESREGIONAL FREE TRADEREGIONAL HARMONIZATIONREGIONAL INTEGRATIONREGIONAL LEVELREGIONAL MARKETREGIONAL PARTNERSREGIONAL STANDARDREGIONAL STANDARDSREGIONAL TRADEREGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTREGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTSREGIONALISMREGISTRARREGULATORY CAPACITYREGULATORY PROCESSREGULATORY STRUCTURESREPLACEMENT COSTSSTANDARDIZATIONSTANDARDSSTANDARDS AGREEMENTSSTANDARDS BODIESSTANDARDS SYSTEMSSTANDARDS UPGRADINGTARIFF INCREASESTECHNICAL BARRIERSTECHNICAL REGULATIONTECHNICAL REGULATIONSTECHNOLOGICAL CONTENTTRADE BARRIERSTRADE COSTSTRADING PARTNERSTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORT COMPANIESTRANSPORT COSTSTRUSTSUNILATERAL ADOPTIONVOLUNTARY STANDARDVOLUNTARY STANDARDSWORLD TRADEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-3948