Non-Tarriff Barriers to Trade Flashcards
Non tariff barriers…
Don’t involve direct payments of money but comprise of quantitative resrictions and all measures having equivalent effect
Relevant articles are
article 34 TFEU (imports) and Article 35 TFEU (Exports)
Quantitative restrictions are…
Measures which amount to a total or partial restraint of imports, exports, or goods in transport (Geddo)
aka - import and export bans (total restraint) and quotas (partial restraint)
Measures having Equvalent Effect to Quantitative Restrictions (MEQRs) are…
‘all trading rules enacted by MS which are capable of hindering, directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, intra-community trade.’
(this is the Dassonville (1974) Formula)
Distinctly Applicable Measures…
make an overt distinction between dmestic and imported products
Indistinctly Applicable Measures…
make no distinction between domestic and imported products. They do apply equally.
Article 36 TFEU Grounds are… (Derogation)
articles 34 and 35 shall not preclude prhibitions on imports, exports, and goods in trasit justified on the grounds of:
- public morality
- public policy or public security
- protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants
protection of national treasures w/ artistic, historic, or archaeological value
- protection of industrial and commercial propertu
(this list is exhaustive)
Mutual Recognition is
provided goods have been lawfully prodiced and marketed in one Member State, there is no reason why they should not be introduced into another without restriction
Established by Cassis de Dijon
The Cassis Rule of Reason is…
Restrictions on trade resulting from national provisions on product marketing, are permissible if they are necessary to satisfy one of the mandatory requirements
- applies when there are no EU rules governing this area
- applies only to indistinctly applicable measures
Cassis rule of reason 4 mandatory requirements:
- Effectiveness of fiscal supervision
- Protection of public health
- Fairness of commercial transactions
- Defense of the consumer
Not exhaustive list
Also added
5. Environmental protection (Danish Bottles)
6. Legitimate interests of economic and social policy (Oebel)
7. National and regional socio-cultural characteristics (Torfaen Borough Council)
The Keck Test
Applies only to rules concerning selling arrangements only when they have no greater impact on imports than domestic products.
Keck provides that the restriction will only escape Article 34 if it applies to
- all affected traders in the national territory and if it
- affects domestic and imported products in the same manner
It must both be satisfied then the measure falls outside Dassonville and does not breach Article 34
If they were not satisfied, then it remains an MEQR and justification should be considered under Cassis rule of reason or Article 36 Derogation
Harmonization
Aims to eliminate disparities between national product standards that hinder interstate trade by establishing EU wide standards
Case: Cassis de Dijon (1979)
- principle of mutual recognition: provided goods have been lawfully produced and marketed in one MS, there is no reason why they should not be introduced into another without restriction
- rule of reason : restrictions must be accepted insofar as they are necessary to satisfy ‘mandatory requirements’. The measure must be proprotionate
Case: Dassonville (1974 )
Defines MEQR - all trading rules enacted by MS which are capable of hindering, directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, intra community trade
Case: Keck and Mithouard (1993)
National measures prohibiting selling arrangements fall outside Dassonville provided that those provisions apply to all affected traders operating within the national territory and provided that they affect in the same manner, in law and in fact, the marketing of domestic products and of those from other MS
Case: Geddo (1973)
Quantitative restrictions are measure which amount to total or partial restraint of imports, exports, or goods in transit.
