Technical barriers to trade (TBTs) cover both food and non-food traded products. TBT measures address technical characteristics of products, such as process and product standards, technical regulations, product environmental regulations, and voluntary procedures relating to health, sanitary, and animal welfare, but also inspection procedures, product specifications, and approval and marketing of biotechnology. Overall, SPS/TBT measures comprise a group of widely divergent standards and standards-based measures that countries use to regulate markets, protect their consumers, and preserve natural resources, but that can also be used to discriminate against imports in favor of domestic products. Specific examples in agriculture include meat and poultry processing standards to reduce pathogens, residue limits for pesticides in foods, fumigation requirements for grains and wood packaging materials to kill pests, labeling and marketing standards, food safety protocols, and regulation of agricultural biotechnology. Foreign countries also have objected to various U.S. trade measures. These agreements establish rules regarding the use of certain human, animal, and plant health protection measures, as well as the technical requirements, standards and procedures intended to ensure such protections are met, for a range of traded goods. WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures

The SPS Agreement addresses the rights and obligations of WTO member nations regarding health protection measures related to humans, animals, and plants. Accordingly, the SPS Agreement reaffirms that no WTO member country should be: 
prevented from adopting or enforcing measures necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health, subject to the requirement that these measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between Members where the same conditions prevail or a disguised restriction on international trade... to improve the human health, animal health and phytosanitary situation in all Members... and noting that sanitary and phytosanitary measures are often applied on the basis of bilateral agreements or protocols. Key principles and provisions of the TBT Agreement are described in Appendix C . 

		U.S. Free Trade Agreements

Bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) between the United States and other countries also address SPS and TBT matters. Ongoing FTA Negotiations

In an effort to resolve perceived obstacles in trade regarding SPS and TBT matters, many in U.S. agriculture and the food industry are supporting efforts by U.S. negotiators to build on and "go beyond" the rules, rights, and obligations in the WTO SPS Agreement and TBT Agreement, as well as beyond commitments in existing U.S. FTAs. These efforts are referred to as "WTO-Plus" rules, or alternatively, as "SPS-Plus" and "TBT-Plus" rules. The U.S. meat and poultry industry initially proposed efforts to adopt tougher WTO rules for animal health regulations as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. These concepts were later reinforced by recommendations from U.S. and EU trade officials involved in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. As part of the Administration's formal notification to Congress in March 2013 launching the U.S.-EU trade talks, USTR stated that among its specific objectives in negotiating the TTIP is "to eliminate or reduce non-tariff barriers that decrease market opportunities for U.S. exports, provide a competitive advantage to products of the EU, or otherwise distort trade," such as SPS measures "that are not based on science" as well as "unjustified" TBT measures and "other 'behind-the-border' barriers, including restrictive administration of tariff-rate quotas and permit and licensing barriers, that impose unnecessary costs and limit competitive opportunities for U.S. These include concerns regarding the EU's ban on U.S. meats treated with growth-promoting hormones, the EU's restrictions on chemical treatments ("pathogen reduction treatments" or "PRTs") on U.S. poultry, and the EU's moratorium on approvals of biotechnology products. Other types of trade concerns with other countries have not risen to the level of a formal WTO dispute. The potential of SPS/TBT measures to become non-tariff barriers to trade has increased as monetary tariffs on traded goods have been reduced under multilateral trade agreements and various free trade agreements. Government." is an example of a TBT-related law. Some lawmakers also have expressed concern that as additional FTAs further lower agricultural tariffs, countries may turn more and more to SPS and TBT measures to protect their farmers from import competition.
Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are the laws, rules, standards, and procedures that governments employ to protect humans, animals, and plants from diseases, pests, toxins, and other contaminants. Examples include meat and poultry processing standards to reduce pathogens, residue limits for pesticides in foods, and regulation of agricultural biotechnology. Technical barriers to trade (TBT) cover technical regulations, product standards, environmental regulations, and voluntary procedures relating to human health and animal welfare. Examples include trademarks and patents, labeling and packaging requirements, certification and inspection procedures, product specifications, and marketing of biotechnology. SPS and TBT measures both comprise a group of widely divergent standards and standards-based measures that countries use to regulate markets, protect their consumers, and preserve natural resources.
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), SPS and TBT measures have become more prominent concerns for agricultural exporters and policy makers, as tariff-related barriers to trade have been reduced by various multilateral, regional, and bilateral negotiations and trade agreements. The concerns include whether SPS and TBT measures might be used to unfairly discriminate against imported products or create unnecessary obstacles to trade in agricultural, food, and other traded goods. Notable U.S. trade disputes involving SPS and TBT measures have included a European Union (EU) ban on U.S. meats treated with growth-promoting hormones and also certain pathogen reduction treatments, and an EU moratorium on approvals of biotechnology products, among other types of trade concerns with other countries. Foreign countries have also objected to various U.S. trade measures.
Multilateral trade rules allow governments to adopt measures to protect human, animal, or plant life or health, provided such measures do not discriminate or use them as disguised protectionism. This principle was clarified in the mid-1990s by WTO members' approval of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures ("SPS Agreement"). The SPS Agreement sets out the basic rules for ensuring that each country's food safety and animal and plant health laws and regulations are transparent, scientifically defensible, and fair. Similarly, in the late 1970s, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade ("TBT Agreement") addressed the use of technical requirements and voluntary standards for a range of traded goods.
In addition, the United States has entered into, or is currently negotiating, numerous regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) that contain SPS and TBT language. In an effort to resolve perceived intractable trade problems regarding SPS and TBT matters, many in U.S. agriculture and the food industry are supporting efforts to build on and go beyond rules, rights, and obligations in the SPS Agreement and TBT Agreement, as well as beyond commitments in existing U.S. FTAs. The U.S. meat and poultry industry initially proposed efforts to adopt tougher WTO rules for animal health regulations as part of the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. These concepts were later reinforced by recommendations from U.S. and EU trade officials involved in the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. These efforts are referred to as WTO-Plus rules, SPS-Plus, and TBT-Plus rules.
In Congress, which must approve legislation if a trade agreement is to be implemented, many Members are interested in how a trade agreement might address SPS and TBT matters. Many remain concerned that countries are turning to non-tariff measures, such as SPS and TBT measures, to protect their farmers from import competition. U.S. rights and obligations regarding SPS and TBT measures are also relevant to regulations affecting imported food.