ICC policy recommendations applied to the issue of mandatory certification requirements for Information Technology (IT) products and services

ICC’s mission is to promote trade and investment across frontiers, including through the reduction of barriers to trade, and by fostering policy and regulatory environments that encourage innovation, entrepreneurship and competition. Mandatory certification requirements that impose overly burdensome requirements risk restricting market access, creating barriers to trade, and imposing untenable data privacy and security requirements.

Such certification requirements place an undue burden on business, may create disincentives for local investment in plants and operations, and can negatively impact the global economy. Mandatory certification requirements for IT products and services at national level should be consistent with international norms and regulations, based on voluntary international standards such as those of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

An overall objective of business and government trade policy should be to reduce or eliminate non-tariff barriers, where these reductions would contribute to further liberalization. National regulatory regimes should avoid creating unintended trade barriers which can lead to a fragmented global market and protectionism.