Free Trade Issues - An introduction
Why is free trade important?
As an open economy the UK benefits from a liberalised world trade system.
It creates new opportunities to increase trade with other developed and developing countries. It encourages the development of a strong system for intellectual property rights, including copyright, trademarks and patents. It is vital to protect innovative products and technology from counterfeiting.
There are mechanisms that aim to create the conditions to aid global economic growth, with particular emphasis in helping developing counties. This is known as "trade facilitation", which focuses on simplification and rationalisation of customs and other administrative procedures that get in the way of trading across country borders.
How do countries maintain a free trade environment?
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the only global organisation that deals with the rules of free trade between nations. To join the WTO all applicant countries are required to make commitments to open their markets and adopt legislation that complies with various international agreements.
What are the benefits of WTO membership?
These include better access to the markets of all the WTO member countries and full recourse to WTO’s settlement procedures when disagreements occur. It has an efficient rules and dispute settlement system, of which the enforcement is binding on all parties. Further particulars are available on the WTO website, http://www.wto.org/.
Are there other examples of action taken by the government to encourage fair trade?
- The Trade Policy Unit’s key trade issues market access page is the first port of call for UK exporters facing trade barriers in markets. It provides advice and co-ordinates action on combating barriers to trade in non-European Union countries that may disadvantage our exporters.
- Government procurement policies can assist the world’s trading rules. Transparent and fair public procurement procedures help to combat bribery and corruption and improve the competitiveness of suppliers.
What issues operate against free trade?
- Anti dumping, which is designed to allow countries to take action against imports that are dumped in their market and can then be sold at less than the normal value, damaging the domestic industry;
- Industrial tariffs, which may be levied by an individual country mainly to protect their own industries;
- Technical barriers to trade, which occur when a country applies technical regulations, standards to assess conformity or imposes other unnecessary restrictions to impede international trade. These measures distort access to other markets overseas.
For further information on particular key free trade issues and sectors see the links on the left hand side of this page.
Contact
Response Centre
Tel: 020 7215 5000
Email: enquiries@berr.gsi.gov.uk