Economic Impact of U.S. and Brazil Inquiry Point 

Information Services Under the World Trade 

Organization’s Agreement on Technical 

Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT): 

Exploratory Investigation 

and Development of an 

Analytical Approach

NIST GCR 11-935
 

NIST GCR 11-935

Economic Impact of U.S. and Brazil Inquiry Point 

Information Services Under the World Trade 

Organization’s Agreement on Technical 

Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT): 

Exploratory Investigation 

and Development of an 

Analytical Approach

Prepared for

U.S. Department of Commerce

Standards Services Group

Standards Coordination Office

National Institute Standards and Technology

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-2100

May 2011

U.S. Department of Commerce

Rebecca Blank, Acting Secretary

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Patrick D. Gallagher, Director
Notice 

This report was prepared for the Standards Services Group, Standards Coordination 

Office of the National Institute of Standards and Technology under Grant Number 

SB134110SE1063. The statement and conclusions contained in this report are those of the 

authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology or the Standards Services Group, Standards Coordination Office. 
 

Economic Impact of 

U.S. and Brazil Inquiry Point Information Services 

Under the World Trade Organization’s

Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT): 

Exploratory Investigation and 

Development of an Analytical Approach 

May 9, 2011 

Thomas Pelsoci 

Delta Research Company 

820 Davis Street, Suite 406 

Evanston, IL 60201 

tpelsoci@deltareserachco.com 

847-866-1819
OUTLINE 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

OBJECTIVES and SCOPE 

WTO TBT INQUIRY POINT SERVICES 

U.S. Inquiry Point Information Services 

Brazilian Inquiry Point Information Services 

RESULTS of PRELIMINARY MINI-STUDIES 

Mini-studies of U.S. Inquiry Point Services 

Mini-studies of Brazilian Inquiry Point Services 

MODELING ECONOMIC BENEFITS 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The assessment of economic benefits from U.S. and Brazilian WTO TBT Inquiry Point 

information services was designed in two phases. During the first (current) phase, the objective 

was to (1) conduct an exploratory investigation and (2) devise a transparent and practical 

methodology for estimating the economic impact of WTO TBT Inquiry Point services. Analysis 

would assess the economic impact of changing technical requirements with WTO TBT Inquiry 

Point information services in place compared to a counterfactual scenario without WTO TBT 

Inquiry Point information services. 

The results of the exploratory investigation – based on a limited number of interviews with U.S. 

companies, U.S. industry associations, and Brazilian companies – point to potentially significant 

economic benefits for U.S. and Brazilian exporters and for the U.S. and Brazilian economies. 

These benefits include: 

o Direct cost savings from not hiring commercial information providers - cost savings 

ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per company per year (for U.S. exporters) and from 

$40,000 to $60,000 per company per year (for Brazilian exporters) 

o Reducing exporting risks and avoiding exporting mistakes through access to up-to-date 

and reliable information about product technical requirements. The avoided consequences 

of exporting mistakes include delayed customs clearance, customs fines and penalties, the 

need for expedited (and therefore more costly) engineering changes, and reshipments. 

o Avoiding exporting mistakes can have economic benefits equivalent to increasing export 

volumes by as much as one to two percentage points. Depending on companies’ annual 

export volumes, this benefit can range from 

o $10,000 to $20,000 per company per year (with export volumes of $1 million) 

o $100,000 to $200,000 per company per year (with export volumes of $10 million) 

o $5 million to $10 million per company per year (for large exporters with export 

volumes of $500 million per year). 

If these results were representative of the entire population of NOTIFY U.S. and Alerta 

Exportador users and could be extended to all NOTIFY U.S. and Alerta Exportador users, 

the economic benefits from avoiding export mistakes due to the availability of U.S. and 

Brazilian WTP TBT Inquiry Point information services could be substantial. 

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In addition to estimating preliminary economic benefits, the current study also identified an 

analytical approach for building a general model that could be used to estimate economic benefit 

from inquiry point information services in a practical, transparent, and rigorous manner. 

The analytical approach is a micro-economic model where economic benefits are expressed as 

linear equations with terms including the avoided direct exporting costs, the avoided costs of 

exporting mistakes, and opportunities for additional export volumes, i.e., increased market 

shares. To validate and / or expand the terms of the linear equations and to estimate coefficients 

for each term, additional discovery will be required to generate a sufficient number of “data 

points” to warrant generalizations about the economic benefits to exporting companies and to 

exporting economies. 

Recognizing that economic analysis is subject to many uncertainties, linear equations should be 

used to generate range estimates rather than point estimates of economic benefits. 

2
OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE 

The assessment of economic benefits from information services provided by U.S. and Brazilian 

WTO TBT Inquiry Points will be completed in two phases. 

o During Phase I (current assignment), the objective was to identify an appropriate 

analytical approach and methodology for estimating the economic impact of WTO TBT 

Inquiry Point information services in a transparent and rigorous manner. 

o During a possible (future) Phase II effort, the assessment of economic impact from WTO 

TBT Inquiry Point information services will be completed by implementing the proposed 

methodology identified in Phase I. 

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WTO TBT INQUIRY POINT SERVICES 

Export markets are subject to a complex maze of standards and technical regulations. These 

technical requirements are constantly changing and the absence of timely and accurate 

information about standards, regulations, conformity assessment procedures and compliance 

requirements can potentially impact the profitability of companies’ export programs and the 

viability of those export programs. 

WTO TBT Inquiry Point services were established in the U.S. and in Brazil, as well as in other 

signatories to the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, to 

track and disseminate information about changing technical requirements in order to reduce 

potential non-tariff barriers to global trade. 

U.S. WTO TBT INQUIRY POINT INFORMATION SERVICES 

To facilitate U.S. exports as well as U.S. imports (i.e., to facilitate free trade as specified in 

various international agreements), the National Center for Standards and Certification 

Information (NCSCI) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides 

timely and accurate information about standards, regulations, conformity assessment and other 

requirements that could become technical barriers to trade. 

In this role, NCSCI is the U.S. Inquiry Point for the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on 

Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO – TBT), for the North American Free Trade Agreement 

(NAFTA), and for the International Organization for Standards Information Network (ISONET). 

To assist U.S. exporters and importers navigate the complex maze of (1) U.S. standards and 

technical regulations, (2) the standards and technical regulations of other nations, as well as (3) 

regional and international standards, NCSCI and the Standards Information Center at NIST 

provide the following information services: 

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o Daily tracking of proposed technical regulations issued by the U.S. Federal government, 

the 50 U.S. State governments, and the District of Columbia via a commercial database, 

and the other 152 Member countries of the World Trade Organization via WTO TBT 

notifications 

o NOTIFY U.S., a customized, Internet-based resource for U.S. industry and business to 

track changing technical regulations for manufactured products worldwide. 

o In its role as the U.S. Federal standards information center, NCSCI (1) has access to over 

one million industry, national, regional, and international standards for imports and 

exports, standards organizations, experts, and publications and (2) responds to specific 

inquiries about standards-related measures (full texts of standards, U.S. military 

specifications, and U.S. Federal procurement standards). 

During calendar year 2010, NCSCI provided WTO TBT Inquiry Point services at the following 

levels: 

o 38,000+ standards and technical regulations and export issues through NOTIFY U.S. to 

approximately 3,500 subscribers 

o 2500+ responses to specific standards-related information inquiries via other channels. 

BRAZIL WTO TBT INQUIRY POINT INFORMATION SERVICES 

INMETRO (the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality) is the 

national institute in Brazil responsible for industrial and scientific metrology, legal metrology, 

accreditation, conformity assessment. Another important function of INMETRO is to act as the 

Brazilian Inquiry Point for the World Trade Organization Agreement on Technical Barriers to 

Trade (WTO – TBT). 

To facilitate Brazilian exports as well as imports (i.e., to facilitate free trade as specified in 

various international agreements), INMETRO provides timely and accurate information about 

technical requirements (standards, regulations, conformity assessment and other requirements 

that could become technical barriers to trade for companies and public sector entities) and 

supports the Brazilian government in international negotiations on technical barriers to trade. 

To assist Brazilian exporters and importers navigate the complex maze of (1) Brazilian standards 

and technical regulations, (2) the standards and technical regulations of other nations, as well as 

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(3) regional and international standards, the Brazilian Inquiry Point at INMETRO provides the 

following information services: 

o Daily tracking of proposed technical regulations issued by the Brazilian Federal 

government, the 26 Brazilian State governments, the Federal District (Distrito Federal), 

and the other 152 Member countries of the World Trade Organization 

o Alerta Exportador (Exporter Alerts), a customized, Internet-based resource for Brazilian 

industry and business to track changing technical regulations for products worldwide. 

o Other services, including 

Answering specific requests about Brazilian technical requirements for foreign 

Enquiry Points, public institutions and companies and also requests about foreign 

technical requirements for domestic companies; 

Providing studies about technical requirements together with other Brazilian 

institutions that are made available for domestic companies, especially small and 

medium size companies; 

Making available a data base of inquires already answered about many countries, 

Offering a system for searching the notifications issued by the WTO member 

countries, 

Providing required full texts of foreign regulations, 

Opening a channel for resolving possible technical barriers that domestic companies 

may be facing in foreign markets 

Providing international technical cooperation with other Inquiry Points in developing 

countries, 

Participating in the international trade negotiations of Brazil when there is a specific 

chapter about technical barriers or technical requirements. 

Participating in many events with the domestic private sector to increase knowledge 

about technical barriers to trade and to improve the partnership between the 

companies and the government. 

During calendar year 2010, INMETRO provided WTO TBT Inquiry Point services at the 

following levels: 

o 1900+ standards and technical regulations export issues through Alerta Exportador to 

10,500 + subscribers 

o 200 + responses to specific standards-related information inquiries 

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RESULTS OF PRELIMINARY MINI-STUDIES 

Preliminary analysis (based on interviews with four U.S. companies and two U.S. industry 

associations as well as on interviews with five Brazilian companies) indicates that NIST and 

INMETRO TBT Inquiry Point services generate significant economic benefits for U.S. and 

Brazilian exporters and the U.S. and Brazilian economies, including: 

o Direct cost savings 

o Reducing exporting risks and avoiding exporting mistakes 

o Increasing export levels 

Companies were selected for preliminary analysis so as to include large and small companies as 

well as companies active in different industries. Interviews were conducted in the January to 

February 2011 timeframe. 

Before these preliminary findings about benefits from NIST and INMETRO WTO TBT Inquiry 

Point services for U.S. and Brazil trade flows can be generalized, additional discovery should be 

conducted to increase the number of “data points” and to differentiate among companies by size

and capability as well as by export market challenges. 

MINI-STUDIES OF U.S. INQUIRY POINT SERVICES 

Company Information 

The Engine Division of a U.S. headquartered multinational company with: 

o Almost $50 billion in 2010 revenues 

o Approximately $25 billion in 2010 worldwide exports 

o Over $2 billion in 2010 Engine Division exports to Latin America. Of this amount, over 

$1 billion of exports went to Brazil. 

COMPANY #1 

U.S. Heavy Equipment Industry

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The company’s Brazil export program has been active for several decades and the company 

claims to be well-connected in Brazil through its network of local dealers and other channels. 

The company indicated that this would be typical for other U.S. multinationals well-established 

in key export markets. 

Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

In the context of exporting to new markets (e.g., Asia and Africa), the Brazilian market is not 

considered particularly challenging. At the same time, from a technical and regulatory point of 

view, the “Brazilian market is considered to be very active.”

While the company is well-connected in the Brazilian market, “people are busy and could 

overlook impending regulatory and technical changes that could significantly impact technical 

requirements for the company’s export products.” To avoid “being caught flat-footed about 

impending regulatory changes,” the company uses the NOTIFY U.S. Inquiry Point service as an 

important early warning signal. 

“NOTIFY U.S. works well in identifying new technical changes that the company is not yet 

aware of, as well as elaborating and validating technical changes that the company might be 

hearing about, in general terms.”

In the absence of the NOTIFY U.S. service, the company would incur additional expenses 

conservatively estimated at $60,000 to $100,000 per year, including salary, overhead, and travel 

expenses. These avoided cost estimates were derived from the company’s recent experience in 

the Russian export market which reportedly does not provide consistently high quality technical 

information for distribution by inquiry point notification systems. 

For large multinational corporations, the $60,000 to $100,000 avoided annual cost could be 

considered negligible. At the same time, WTO obligations are fulfilled by country to country 

relationships and private company employees or commercial service providers to the company 

are not likely to have the same level of timely or comprehensive information access as the U.S. 

WTO TBT Inquiry Point. Thus, even incurring additional costs may not effectively replace the 

value provided by the NOTIFY U.S. information service. 

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If timely and accurate information about regulatory and technical changes are not obtained, the 

company can incur penalties that are much more significant than incremental avoided costs. 

These more important penalties would result from “making costly exporting mistakes,” such as: 

o Delays in clearing customs 

o Fines at customs 

o Possible return shipments (with time-consuming engineering changes and reshipments) 

o Lost sales 

The “aggregate economic impact of these export mistakes could easily be one percent or more of 

total export volumes”. Given that the Engine Division ships over $1 billion of exports to Brazil 

annually, in the absence of a timely and high quality TBT notification service, a one percent 

penalty from “export mistakes” could be as high as $10 million in lost sales and in additional 

costs for unplanned engineering changes, unplanned product modifications, and unplanned 

shipment and reshipment, each year. 

Company Information 

Division of an established large U.S. company with: 

o $2 billion in 2010 revenues 

o The Division has exported to Brazil since 2009 

o In 2009 Brazil export revenues were $10,000, resulting from a pilot export initiative 

o Current Brazil exports are at $3 million (with plans to double over the next 2 to 3 years ) 

Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

The Brazil export market is viewed as a “challenging market with complex technical barriers, 

lots of bureaucracy, and lots of nuances.” Examples of some of the complexities include:

COMPANY #2 

U.S. Consumer Goods Industry

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o Obtaining pre-market approvals which can require “complex dossiers for product 

composition, labels, test results for safety and efficacy, and sufficient product stability to 

support shelf-life”

o It may take three months or more to obtain approvals (“Brazil has one of the most costly 

product approval processes – at approximately $1200 per product.”) 

o At any one time, the Division has 50 to 60 products for which the initial one-time product 

approval costs represent an investment of $60,000 to over $70,000. When products are 

modified, these costs are incurred once again along with delays of up to 3 months. 

Respondent has used U.S. WTO TBT Inquiry Point services for over 15 years (before her current 

position with the Division). She considers Inquiry Point services “extremely valuable. Company 

would not otherwise have access to timely and reliable information about changing technical 

standards and regulations. Information from NOTIFY U.S. can also be used for financial 

planning to estimate benefits and costs associated with product changes and other export related 

business decisions. Finally, information from NOTIFY U.S. makes it possible to submit 

comments before proposed changes go into effect. While the associated benefit depends on many 

other factors, the ability to comment on impending changes in a timely manner can be of 

significant value.”

Inquiry Point services are also helpful in “narrowing and focusing effort for assessing the risks of 

product modifications. Rather than looking for a needle in a haystack – this is particularly useful 

- even critical - when in uncharted territory (with a new product rather than an amended or 

modified product).” Beyond using NOTIFY U.S., respondent stressed the additional value of 

being able to obtain additional information and clarification from Inquiry Point staff. 

Without U.S. WTO TBT Inquiry Point services, export market technical information would have 

to be procured on a commercial basis at an estimated annual cost that could range from $50,000 

to $75,000. Without this information, it is unlikely that the planned doubling of Brazil exports 

over the next 2 to 3 years could be achieved. 

Beyond avoiding these additional costs, the absence of Inquiry Point services could “result in 

more export mistakes such as delayed customs clearance, additional shipment costs, delays in 

getting product to market, and possibly lost sales.”

The respondent indicated that U.S. WTO TBT Inquiry Point Services make exporting faster, 

better, cheaper. This could be taken to imply that an increase of one or two percent additional 

exports could be conservatively inferred. 

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Company Information 

Large U.S. company with: 

o Over $4 billion in 2010 revenues (exclusive of its Financial Services Division revenues) 

o Long-term exporter to many export markets, including Latin America 

o Exports are targeted to grow to 40% of company revenues 

The company has sold vehicles in Brazil since 1993 and has had assembly plants in Brazil since 

1999. 

“Duties and tariffs levied in foreign countries can make the product un-competitively 

priced for local markets. One way we mitigate that problem is through postponement 

strategies. For example, we ship the product in component kits and delay final assembly 

until they reach Brazil. Completing final assembly in Brazil results in lower import 

duties. Using this strategy for Brazil reduces duties by nearly 85 percent.”(Company 

website, March 31, 2011).

Components are thus manufactured in the U.S. and shipped as component subassembly kits for 

final assembly in Brazil. The company does not report a breakdown of revenues from Brazilian 

sales or from sales in the Latin American region. 

Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

The Brazilian export market has been subject to many regulatory changes concerning 

environmental and energy efficiency standards, among other technical issues. 

The company has used U.S. WTO TBT Inquiry Point services for over 10 years to become aware 

of impending regulatory changes, to be able to offer comments on these changes and to respond 

to these changing technical requirements in a planned and efficient manner. Beyond occasional 

information provided by the company’s Brazilian assembly subsidiary, NOTIFY U.S. provides a 

COMPANY #3 

U.S. Automotive Industry

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“very useful early warning system, without which the Brazil export program could be hamstrung 

and not fully understand that changes that are going on.”

Without NOTIFY U.S. and Inquiry Point services, the company would have to develop new 

expertise to dig out information about impending changes in-country as well as through direct 

interaction with WTO sources. Building the required in-house capability would have additional 

costs. However, these costs were not estimated. 

Even with additional in-house capability, the information yield might not be as good as is 

currently provided through NOTIFY U.S. services. This could result in “not getting appropriate 

early warning and would increase the difficulties of exporting. Costly export mistakes are likely 

as some engineering changes can take as long as 2 years to implement. In the absence of early 

warning systems, expedited engineering changes can be very expensive and can cause delays in 

getting products to market, possibly resulting in lost export sales.”

The above company input indicates that U.S. WTO TBT Inquiry Point services make exporting 

faster, better, and cheaper and led to improved export profitability. This could be taken to imply 

that an increase of one or two percent additional exports could be conservatively inferred. 

Company Information 

Large U.S. company with: 

o $1.7 billion in 2010 revenues 

o 32% of worldwide exports worth over $540 million 

o The company has exported to Brazil for over 10 years 

o Current Brazil exports are approximately $1 million per year and Brazil is viewed as a 

promising export market with significant growth potential 

COMPANY #4 

U.S. Power Equipment Industry

12
Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

Important technical requirements include energy efficiency, restricted substances (such as 

cadmium), engine emissions (contributing to ozone emissions), and battery performance, etc. 

The company first started using NOTIFY U.S. in 2008. Before that time, the company relied on 

a law firm to work on the regulatory compliance issues. NOTIFY U.S. appears to be more cost 

effective. Without NOTIFY U.S., the company would have to subscribe to other regulatory 

compliance-type services for identifying and obtaining information about changing technical 

requirements. In addition, the respondent would have to spend more time on regulatory 

compliance issues herself. 

In general, the respondent agreed that Inquiry Point services make exporting faster, better, 

cheaper. From this it may be conservatively inferred that Inquiry Point services promote greater 

exports, perhaps an increase of one or more percent exports per year. 

Association Information 

This major U.S. association for appliance manufacturers was established in 1915. 

Exports from association members to Europe, Asia, and Latin American markets used to be very 

substantial. Over the years, while headquarters often remained in the U.S., many large 

manufacturers have moved manufacturing operations offshore. Still, the coordination of exports 

typically remains in the U.S. and supply chains have become more complicated than before. 

ASSOCIATION - #1

Consumer Products Industry

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The global export market is greatly affected by rapidly changing technical requirements and 

regulations. While “10 to 15 years ago tariffs were the most important barriers to exports, now 

rapidly changing technical regulations are often the greatest problem.”

Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

The Brazilian export market is relatively stable. Beyond Brazilian consumption, U.S. appliance 

shipments to Brazil are often transshipped to Uruguay, Argentina, and other Latin American 

countries. Longer term, over the next 5 to 10 years, it is expected that the Brazilian export market 

will grow substantially. 

The association has a heavy reliance on the NOTIFY U.S. and other Inquiry Point services and 

uses the information to funnel it to association members. 

The technical issues that the association is typically most concerned with include environmental 

regulations, energy efficiency regulations, safety regulations, and often rapidly changing 

conformity assessment systems. “NOTIFY U.S. service is valuable and provides accurate 

information about the (above technical) items of concern. 

“Without NOTIFY U.S. Inquiry Point services companies would need to hire law firms 

or consulting firms to obtain similar information. Beyond the additional cost, commercial 

firms would be unlikely to generate the timely validation of changing technical 

requirements to the same degree as NOTIFY U.S. services can provide. The likely reason 

is that under WTO, Member country obligations are intergovernmental obligations (not 

private obligations) and governmental TBT Inquiry Point service organizations are in a 

stronger position to obtain timely and valid TBT information than commercial service 

providers.”

In the absence of WTO TBT Inquiry Point services, the more significant penalty (i.e., more 

significant than the additional cost of commercial information services) would be reduced 

timeliness and reduced information content and accuracy about changing technical requirements. 

“A single forty-foot container can hold up to $150,000 worth of high-value appliance 

products. If the container is stopped at customs due to non-compliance with technical 

requirements, unplanned shipping and reshipment costs, cost of product modifications, 

14
and other penalties could easily be in the high five figures, i.e., $60,000 or more per 

container or forty percent of the value of the shipment.”

“Without NOTIFY U.S. and the associated Inquiry Point services, as much as a five 

percent of U.S. exports might experience customs delays, problems, modifications and 

reshipment requirements.”

With five percent of shipments expected to experience customs problems along with the 40 

percent associated cost penalties the aggregate impact from the non-availability of NOTIFY U.S. 

service could be as high as 2% lost exports (e.g., five percent times forty percent). 

Association Information 

In 1973, three associations merged to form this national association of distilled spirits 

manufacturers. The association plays a pivotal role in providing information and analysis for 

member companies, including distributing information from NOTIFY U.S. to its members. 

Over the last two decades, U.S. exports of distilled spirits “have risen dramatically to exceed $1 

billion” on an annual basis. At this time, the European market is a maturing market (but not 

expected to grow much further), while the developing world and Brazil are rapidly growing 

markets for U.S. distilled spirits. 

Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

There are many differences in technical regulations among the different export markets. These 

technical requirements continue to undergo significant changes (including labeling requirements, 

excise stamps, etc.) and have become the predominant export challenge in contrast to import 

tariffs which have somewhat receded in importance. 

ASSOCIATION #2 

Beverage Industry

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The association and its member companies use NOTIFY U.S. as a timely and accurate “early 

warning system” that helps identify upcoming changes in technical requirements as well as to 

validate information obtained from other sources. 

“The association and its members rely heavily on NOTIFY U.S. This saves lots of time making it 

possible to avoid going directly to the WTO for the information. The timely and accurate 

information provided through NOTIFY U.S. makes it possible to anticipate impending technical 

requirements and also to weigh in on these requirements before they enter into force”. 

Based on information from six interviews with U.S. companies and associations of companies 

exporting to Brazil, it would appear that U.S. WTO TBT Inquiry Point services are generating 

significant annual economic benefits for the U.S. economy including: 

o Direct cost savings by avoiding or minimizing the need for commercial export 

consultants and/or law firms to identify changing regulatory requirements in a timely and 

accurate manner. These savings (avoided cost of commercial services) can range from 

$50,000 to $100,000 per company per year. 

o In addition to avoided costs, commercial consulting firms or law firms are unlikely to 

provide the timely validation of changing technical requirements to the same degree as 

the U.S. WTO TBT Inquiry Point services are able to provide. In this fashion, Inquiry 

Point information services help U.S. exporters manage export risks more effectively. The 

likely reason is that under WTO, Member country obligations are intergovernmental 

obligations (not private obligations) and governmental WTO TBT Inquiry Points are in a 

stronger position to obtain timely and valid TBT information than commercial service 

providers. 

According to companies and associations interviewed to date, WTO TBT Inquiry Point 

services generally make exporting faster, cheaper and easier and can thereby increase the 

level of exports by one to two percentage points. 

SUMMARY US INTERVIEWS 

Preliminary Findings

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These projected export increases are associated with the ability to avoid “export mistakes” 

due to insufficient knowledge about changing technical requirements. “Export mistakes” 

increase the likelihood of being unable to clear customs and can be costly, necessitating 

delays, fines and penalties, possible reshipments, expedited (and therefore more costly) 

engineering changes, and product or packaging modifications. Avoiding costly export 

mistakes is likely to increase the profitability of export programs and expand the level of 

export activities. 

MINI-STUDIES OF BRAZIL INQUIRY POINT SERVICES 

Company Information 

Products are customized high-quality systems for retail applications. Company has: 

o Over $R 30 million (USD 18.9 million) in 2010 revenues 

o Over $R 3 million (USD 1.9 million) in 2010 world-wide exports 

In 2002, the company sent a “scout” mission to the U.S. to check out market opportunities and to 

take samples. A U.S. export program was started in 2003. Initial U.S. export volume was 

$R 100,000 (USD 62,900). Current U.S. export volume is approximately $R 500,000 

(USD 315,000). Over the next five years, the company plans to increase U.S .exports threefold to 

$R 1.5 million (USD 944,000). 

While the company has a U.S. partner for product distribution (sales and service), it does not rely 

on the U.S. partner to obtain timely and reliable information about TBT issues (changing 

regulations, labeling, testing, and other requirements). 

COMPANY #1 

Brazilian Computer Hardware / Software Industry

17
Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

The company started using INMETRO inquiry point services in 2007 (four years after the start 

of the U.S. export program). Services include: 

o Notification “Early Warning” services and 

o INMETRO assistance to resolve specific problems 

An example of value-added INMETRO assistance was the identification of power cable design 

requirements in accordance with changing U.S. regulations 

INMETRO services make U.S. exporting faster, cheaper, easier. Without INMETRO Inquiry 

Point services, the five-year plan for a threefold increase in U.S. exports would be difficult to 

achieve. It is estimated that increased U.S. exports: 

o May not happen at all (30% probability) 

o May only reach $R 750,000 or USD 472,000 (50% probability) 

o May only reach $R 1 million or USD 629,000 (20% probability) 

Without INMETRO services, the company would have to hire attorneys and/or consultants to 

track changing Federal and State regulations and requirements in the U.S. The approximate 

annual cost of these services could be $R 85,000 (USD 53,000). This amount represents 17% of 

current U.S. exports and illustrates how INMETRO services can help avoid considerable 

exporting expenses and thereby facilitate the viability and competitiveness of this Brazilian 

exporter in the U.S. market. 

Company Information 

An established large Brazilian company in the beverage industry with: 

COMPANY #2 

Brazilian Beverage Industry, 

(Both Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages)

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o $R 3.6 billion (USD 2.3 billion) in 2010 revenues 

o U.S. exports since 2005. Current U.S. exports are $R 1.5 million (USD 943,000) 

o By 2015, company is planning to increase U.S. exports to $R5 million (USD 3.1 million) 

and by 2020 to $R 10 million (USD 6.3 million). 

While the company uses two importers in the U.S. for distribution and sales, it does not rely on 

these U.S. importers for the timely and accurate identification of changing technical 

requirements. 

Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

The U.S. market is considered to be a difficult market with complex Federal requirements and 

complex State requirements different from State to State, and touching on many issues for 

Brazilian exports, including warning label requirements, recycling requirements, etc. Federal and 

State requirements are also subject to frequent changes. 

Due to the challenges of operating in the complex U.S. market, company exports to the U.S. did 

not grow significantly during the first five years of export operations. 

In early 2010, it became clear that better information was needed to maintain and grow the 

company’s U.S. export program and the company started using INMETRO Inquiry Point 

notification and inquiry services. After starting to use INMETRO services, it was determined 

that these services “helped a great deal” to support exports to the U.S. 

Without Inquiry Point services, improved information (more detailed and validated information 

than was typically available before 2010) would have to be procured from commercial service 

providers, including specialized law firms and/or specialized consultants to investigate changing 

Federal and State beverage import requirements. 

The annual cost of such commercial services (operating in four States including the California 

market) could range from $R 64,000 to $R 95,000 (USD 40,000 to USD 60,000) and may not 

provide equivalent information content and validation as provided by INMETRO. 

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Without INMETRO services, planned U.S. export growth from $R 1.5 million (USD 943,000) to 

$R 5 million (USD 3.1 million) to $R 10 million (USD 6.3 million) would not be achieved. 

One tangible barrier to growing export volumes (without improved and valid information) would 

be higher levels of expected delays at U.S. customs, higher levels of expected fines and penalties 

due to improper labeling and other export “mistakes.” These “mistakes” would necessitate 

product modifications and reshipments at considerable additional cost. They may also result in 

lost sales and negative profitability impact. 

Company Information 

Established company with: 

o Over $R 200 million (USD 126 million) in 2010 revenues 

o U.S. exports since 2008. Current export at approximately $R 9 million (USD 6 million) 

o Expect to grow U.S. export business. However, did not specify planned future export 

levels.

While the company has a U.S. partner for distribution and sales, it does not rely on the U.S. 

partner for the timely and accurate identification of changing technical requirements. 

Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

The U.S. market is considered to be a challenging market with complex technical regulations that 

have to be identified and followed, and with high customer expectations for functionality and 

quality. 

COMPANY #3 

Brazilian Transportation Equipment Industry

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Nevertheless, the company’s U.S. export program would proceed even without INMETRO 

services. However, without INMETRO services, the company would need to hire specialized 

U.S. consultants to identify and obtain required technical information for the U.S. market. The 

avoided annual cost of a commercial service provider is estimated at $R 95,000 (USD 60,000). 

Beyond avoiding these additional costs, INMETRO is a neutral and authoritative information 

source that can efficiently establish and validate U.S. technical requirements. The information 

provided by commercial service providers may not be available as quickly and may not be as 

comprehensive and authoritative as the information provided through INMETRO services. 

By way of summary, INMETRO Inquiry Point services make it possible to operate in the 

challenging U.S. export market with fewer delays at customs, at lower cost, and at reduced risk 

of making costly export “mistakes.” Based on this response, it is assumed that INMETRO 

Inquiry Point services can be conservatively associated with 1% to 2% additional export growth. 

Company Information 

Privately held company in the Brazilian processed food industry: 

o Did not provide annual revenue estimates or annual export estimates 

o From its webpage information, the company is one of the top 100 Brazilian exporters 

o Company is partly owned by Marubeni Corporation of Japan 

o U.S. exports started 10 years ago. However, current export volume was not provided 

o Expect to grow U.S. export business, without specifying planned future export levels. 

COMPANY #4 

Brazilian Processed Food Industry

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Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

The company relies on key U.S. customers to obtain some regulatory information for the U.S. 

market. In addition, the company started using INMETRO Inquiry Point services in 2010. The 

INMETRO Inquiry Point services are considered “really good and really valuable.”

Without INMETRO services, no direct cost savings were indicated. However, INMETRO 

services make U.S. exporting faster, better, cheaper, leading to avoided delays at customs, 

avoided fines and penalties, and avoided lost sales. Based on this response, it is assumed that 

INMETRO Inquiry Point services can be conservatively associated with 1% to 2% additional 

export growth. 

Company Information 

Established in 1983, one of the largest companies in the Brazilian measurement equipment 

industry, with strong export programs to Latin American markets. The company does not 

currently have U.S. sales. 

Utilization of Inquiry Point Services 

INMETRO information services and assistance were recently used during the company’s initial 

attempt to export measurement products to Venezuela. The shipment encountered difficulties at 

Venezuelan customs. These difficulties could not be resolved and without resolution, the new 

Venezuelan export initiative could have been terminated. INMETRO’s active assistance helped 

resolve the Venezuela customs problem, underlining findings from other Brazilian exporters that 

INMETRO services make exporting faster, better, cheaper and thereby encourage the growth of 

Brazilian exports. 

COMPANY #5 

Brazilian Measurement Equipment Industry

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Based on a limited number of interviews, it appears that INMETRO Inquiry Point services are 

generating significant annual economic benefits for the Brazilian economy along three 

dimensions: 

o Direct cost savings from avoiding or minimizing the need for commercial export 

consultants to identify changing regulatory requirements in a timely and accurate manner. 

These savings (avoided cost of commercial services) range from $R 64,000 to $R 95,000 

(USD 40,000 to USD 60,000) per company per year. 

o In addition to avoided costs, commercial consulting firms are unlikely to provide the 

timely validation of changing technical requirements to the same degree as INMETRO is 

able to provide. Under WTO, Member country obligations are intergovernmental 

obligations (not private obligations) and governmental TBT Inquiry Point service 

organizations are in a stronger position to obtain timely and valid TBT information than 

commercial service providers. INMETRO information services thereby help Brazilian 

exporters manage export risks more effectively. 

o TBT Inquiry Point services generally make exporting faster, cheaper and easier, perhaps 

increasing the level of exports by one or more percentage points, all other factors being 

equal. One important indicator is the ability to avoid “export mistakes” due to insufficient 

knowledge about changing technical requirements. “Export mistakes” increase the 

likelihood of not being able to clear customs and can be costly, requiring delays, fines 

and penalties, possible reshipments, engineering changes, and product or packaging 

modifications. Avoiding costly export mistakes is likely to increase the profitability of 

export programs and expand the level of export activities. 

SUMMARY BRAZIL INTERVIEWS 

Preliminary Findings

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The results of the exploratory investigation – based on a limited number of interviews with U.S. 

companies, U.S. industry associations, and Brazilian companies – point to potentially significant 

economic benefits for U.S. and Brazilian exporters and for the U.S. and Brazilian economies. 

Asking interview respondents to compare their actual export experience (utilizing NOTIFY U.S. 

and Alerta Exportador, respectively) to a counterfactual scenario without WTO TBT Inquiry 

Point services, our preliminary findings point to the following benefits 

: 

o Direct cost savings from not hiring commercial information providers - cost savings 

ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per company per year (for U.S. exporters) and from 

$40,000 to $60,000 per company per year (for Brazilian exporters) 

o Reducing exporting risks and avoiding exporting mistakes through access to up-to-date 

and reliable information about product technical requirements. The avoided consequences 

of exporting mistakes include delayed customs clearance, customs fines and penalties, the 

need for expedited (and therefore more costly) engineering changes, and reshipments. 

o Avoiding exporting mistakes can have economic benefits equivalent to increasing export 

volumes by as much as one to two percentage points. Depending on companies’ annual 

export volumes, this benefit can range from 

$10,000 to $20,000 per company per year (with export volumes of $1 million) 

$100,000 to $200,000 per company per year (with export volumes of $10 million) 

$5 million to $10 million per company per year (for large exporters with export 

volumes of $500 million per year). 

If these results were representative of the entire population of NOTIFY U.S. and Alerta 

Exportador users and could be extended to all NOTIFY U.S. and Alerta Exportador users, the 

economic benefits from avoiding export mistakes due to the availability of U.S. and Brazilian 

WTO TBT Inquiry Point information services to the economies of the U.S. and Brazil could be 

substantial. 

CONCLUSION FROM U.S. AND BRAZIL INTERVIEWS 

Preliminary Findings

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MODELING ECONOMIC BENEFITS 

After a review of various macro-economic models (including the gravity model which attempts 

to predict economic impact by positing that international trade flows are governed by forces 

analogous to gravitational force in Newton’s equation), information from exploratory interviews 

led us to conclude that an empirically based micro-economic model will provide the appropriate 

(practical, transparent and rigorous) analytical approach for estimating the economic benefits of 

information services provided by WTO TBT Inquiry Points. 

The proposed empirical model is based on findings from an initial literature search and the 

results of approximately a dozen initial mini-studies. It posits that economic benefits (EB) are a 

function of avoided direct exporting costs (ADEC), avoided costs from failures to clear customs 

expeditiously (ACCC), generation of additional export volumes, i.e., increasing market share 

(AEV), and other factors to be determined. Other factors include potential interaction effects 

among model variables ADEC, ACCC, and AEV. 

Expressed as a linear equation with coefficients C1, C2, and C3, economic benefits are estimated 

by specifying the four terms of the equation: 

 EB = C1 (ADEC) + C2 (ACCC) + C3 (AEV) + Other Factors 

The model is intended to encompass U.S.- Brazil trade flows as well as trade flows with the 

other 152 WTO Members, i.e., it aims at being a general model for estimating economic benefits 

from WTO TBT Inquiry Point information services for the entire WTO space. 

To specify the terms of the above linear equation and to use it for the assessment of bilateral 

economic benefits from U.S.- Brazil trade flows, it is recommended that during a subsequent 

(future) Phase II effort: 

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o Coefficients be estimated through a process of additional discovery to generate a 

sufficient number of data points to parameterize the model and facilitate drawing general 

conclusions about economic benefits 

o The universe for additional discovery and data generation will consist of all current users 

of WTO TBT Inquiry Point information services (NOTIFY U.S.) 

o To avoid analytical bias, due diligence will be employed to ensure that data points are 

generated in an independent and objective manner (as opposed to focusing on those 

information service users who are currently most satisfied) 

Given the expected differential impact of WTO TBT Inquiry Point information services for: 

o Exporting companies of different sizes and capabilities as well as the 

o Differential challenges of exporting to established markets in developed countries vs. 

exporting to emerging economies, 

the coefficients of the proposed linear equation will be separately estimated for each of the four 

cells in Table 1, resulting in a set of four linear equations for different combinations of exporter 

capabilities and types of export markets. 

Table 1: Analytical Space for Linear Equation

Large Exporting

Companies (with Revenues

> USD 1 Billion)

Small Exporting Companies

(with Revenues

< USD 1 Billion)

Exporting to 

Established Markets in the 

Developed World

Exporting to 

Emerging Economies 

In every step of the analysis, an effort will be made to use a practical approach for estimating 

economic benefits in a transparent and rigorous manner, avoiding unnecessary complexities and 

arbitrary assumptions that are not logically compelling or that cannot be documented. 

Finally, recognizing that economic analysis is subject to many uncertainties, linear equations will 

be used to generate range estimates rather than point estimates of economic benefits. 

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