THE IMPACT OF TECHNICAL BARRIER TO TRADE ON PAKISTAN TEXTILE INDUSTRY

Abstract

During the last three decades, trade barriers have been drastically reduced under
obligations of WTO. Due to freedom in trade, competition has increased, forcing industries to improve
their productivity to compete in this free market. However there are still some trade barriers which are
used to block market access. Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT) is one of such barriers. In this study the
impact of TBT on export performance of Pakistan textile industry has been empirically evaluated. A
model was framed which represented TBT and export performance as variables. Primary data was
collected from top textile firms of Pakistan. Multiple regression analysis was applied on the primary
data. Results indicated that TBT has positively affected the performance of Pakistan textile industry.