Exporters not keeping up standards

By FIONA ROTHERHAM

New Zealand exporters need to become more involved in international standard-setting to ensure they are not disadvantaged in trade, says Standards NZ chief executive Rob Steele.

International standards are increasingly superseding national standards since they were given legal status some years ago by international institutions such as the World Trade Organisation.

Mr Steele told an Auckland manufacturers' conference yesterday that international trade policy was shifting from tariffs and quotas to much more subtle technical barriers.

"It is a bit like the tide going out. As tariffs have come down it has shown up the further issue of technical barriers to trade such as standards and conformance issues."

While Mr Steele is obviously beating the drum for his own totally industry-funded organisation, the OECD has estimated at least 80 per cent of trade is affected by non-tariff barriers.

The costs are between 5 to 8 per cent of trade - in New Zealand's case that is $1.1 billion to $1.8 billion on 1999 export figures.

The most recent statistics show 51 per cent of NZ exporters in 1996 reported problems with non-tariff barriers. A third incurred costs through standards and conformance regulations, typically between $10,000 and $50,000 per annum.

Mr Steele is seeking Government funding to repeat the 1996 survey to see if the problem has worsened.

There are currently 1700 international and New Zealand standards, covering such things as bungy jumping, composting toilets, electrical wiring and gas installation.