International Trade in Services.pdf - DSpace at Khazar University

162 International Trade in Services
but for implementation on a voluntary basis. This presents a challenge for many
developing countries, in which systems for setting and implementing the assessment
and testing of standards may be inadequate or barely exist. The enforcement
of detailed standards by government agencies could lead to excessive day-to-day
intervention in company affairs, bureaucratic delays, increased costs, and obstacles
to innovation. Private sector distributors are grouping together regionally and
even globally to set standards for the products they purchase at the beginning of
their own supply chains. Such standards may cover product quality, production
processes (including farming methods, which are an increasingly sensitive matter,
particularly for consumers in developed countries wishing to support fair trade),
and the labor conditions at suppliers.
The governments of developing countries can encourage distribution companies
voluntarily to observe clear and agreed standards on operations and on social
and environmental impacts, especially if the laws and regulations on companies
are less rigorous or, in some areas, nonexistent. The imposition of high product
and contamination standards on local microproducer enterprises may, in effect,
exclude them from access to international supply chains. Varied, overlapping, and
possibly conflicting requirements on standards, whether official or private, can be
a severe problem in developing countries and in the least developed countries for
smaller suppliers who do not have the financial, technical, and educational
resources to comply. Furthermore, it is not possible for the myriad small and
medium enterprises and microproducers in different countries to join together to
counteract the global power of the multinationals.
Standards that are required in developed countries, whether set centrally by
accredited national standards bodies or observed voluntarily by companies, could
increasingly dominate. The governments of developing countries should consider
whether this process could have advantages because of the global trend in standard
setting and implementation leading toward greater coordination and consistency,
because the standards in developed countries are frequently more stringent
than those in developing countries and because the introduction and application
of these standards can assist in technology transfer, training, and improvements in
quality. If developing countries are to raise their exports to developed countries, it
is essential for the suppliers in developing countries to be able to comply with the
standards in the markets of the developed countries. This could provide an impetus
for support for the process of building up independent standard-setting procedures
and accreditation bodies in developing countries.
Corporate social responsibility initiatives
Most major international retailers now operate corporate social responsibility
programs, which are usually described in published annual reports. Such