貿(mào)易標(biāo)準(zhǔn)

Chickens slaughtered in the United States, claim officials in Brussels, are not fit to grace European tables. No, say the Americans: our fowl are fine, we simply clean them in a different way. These days, it is differences in national regulations, far more than tariffs, that put sand in the wheels of trade between rich countries. It is not just farmers who are complaining. An electric razor that meets the European Union's safety standards must be approved by American testers before it can be sold in the United States, and an American-made dialysis machine needs the EU's okay before it hits the market in Europe.

As it happens, a razor that is safe in Europe is unlikely to electrocute Americans. So, ask businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of tests where one would do? Politicians agree, in principle, so America and the EU have been trying to reach a deal which would eliminate the need to double-test many products. They hope to finish in time for a trade summit between America and the EU on May 28th. Although negotiators are optimistic, the details are complex enough that they may be hard-pressed to get a deal at all. Why? One difficulty is to construct the agreements. The Americans would happily reach one accord on standards for medical devices and then hammer out different pacts covering, say, electronic goods and drug manufacturing. The EU -- following fine continental traditions -- wants agreement on general principles, which could be applied to many types of products and perhaps extended to other countries.

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布魯塞爾的官員說，在美國屠宰的雞不適于用來裝點(diǎn)歐洲的餐桌。不，美國人說，我們的家禽很好，只是我們使用了另一種清洗方式。當(dāng)前，是各國管理?xiàng)l例上的差異，而不是關(guān)稅阻礙了發(fā)達(dá)國家之間的貿(mào)易。并不僅僅是農(nóng)民在抱怨。一把符合歐洲聯(lián)盟安全標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的電動(dòng)剃須刀必須得到美國檢測(cè)人員的認(rèn)可，方可在美國市場(chǎng)上銷售;而美國制造的透析儀也要得到歐盟的首肯才能進(jìn)入歐洲市場(chǎng)。 碰巧在歐洲使用安全的剃須刀不大可能使美國人觸電身亡，因此，大西洋兩岸的企業(yè)都在問，當(dāng)一套測(cè)試可以解決問題時(shí)，為什么需要兩套呢?政治家在原則上同意了， 因此，美國和歐洲一直在尋求達(dá)成協(xié)議，以便為許多產(chǎn)品取消雙重檢查。他們希望盡早達(dá)成協(xié)議，為5月28日舉行的美國和歐洲貿(mào)易的最高通級(jí)會(huì)議作準(zhǔn)備。然談判代表持樂觀態(tài)度，但協(xié)議細(xì)節(jié)如此復(fù)雜，他們所面臨的困難很可能使他們無法取得一致。

為什么呢?困難之一是起草這些協(xié)議。美國人很愿意就醫(yī)療器械的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)達(dá)成一個(gè)協(xié)議，然后推敲出不同的合同，用以涵蓋 -- 比如說 -- 電子產(chǎn)品和藥品的生產(chǎn)。歐洲人遵循優(yōu)良的大陸傳統(tǒng)，則希望就普遍的原則取得一致，而這些原則適用于許多不同產(chǎn)品，同時(shí)可能延伸到其它國家。

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