12/28/2025
๐จ๏ธ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
The world runs on silent agreements. When they work, they go unnoticed: the socket that fits the plug, the kilogram that weighs a kilogram in Nairobi, Kenya, as surely as in Nagpur, India, the barcode that rings up a carton of milk or registers a container at sea. Standards, the shared rules that ensure consistency, compatibility, and quality, are not mere technicalities. They are part of the invisible infrastructure of modern economies, as vital to prosperity as roads, ports or power grids. Treat them as a springboard and they propel development. Make them into a straitjacket and they will stifle it.
Our new ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต 2025: ๐๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต is the first comprehensive analysis of todayโs global standards landscape. It asks, ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ? The report provides a practical policy framework for countries at all stages of development. And its lessons could not be more timely. Technological and geopolitical shifts are making standard-setting increasingly urgent. Artificial intelligence (AI), synthetic biology, and other fast-moving innovations are racing ahead of the worldโs rule-making capacity. The result is a dangerous paradox: a cornucopia of standards for relatively inconsequential products, like packaged potato chips, and glaring gaps for transformative, high-stakes technologies like biotechnology and AI.
๐๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ. Most international standards have been created since the turn of the century and non-tariff measuresโoften related to standardsโnow cover nearly all global trade. This increase reflects the complexity of supply chains, the digitization of commerce, and rising demand for safety and quality in high-income countries. Complying with standards, and shaping them, is now a prerequisite for export growth, technology diffusion, and resilient public services.
Yet developing countries are often absent from the ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ. On average, they sit on less than one-third of the technical committees that set global standards at the International Organization for Standardization and even fewer are in bodies that are not inter-governmental. This absence amounts to acquiescing to the priorities of advanced economies. When lower-income countries do not participate, they relinquish vital opportunities to advance their own priorities and lose crucial avenues to speed up job creation and economic growth.
Voluntary standards, mostly industry-led, can spread good practices in flexible ways. Mandatory standards, embedded in government regulations, can protect health, safety, and the environment. ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌโand tiering them by the capacity to comply by riskโcan maximize efficiency while safeguarding the public interest. Tiered standards can also widen participation: small firms can start at a basic tier and climb upward, rather than face a compliance cliff that only dominant incumbents can scale.
To turn standards into a springboard, governments of developing countries must resist the urge to overregulate and instead focus on ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ. This includes improving their โquality infrastructure,โ which comprises metrology (the existence of reliable and internationally aligned measurements), conformity assessment (testing, inspection, and certification), accreditation (โchecking those who checkโ), and standardization itself. When this system works well, businesses and consumers need not worry about everyday routines. Firms can concentrate instead on demonstrating quality at a reasonable cost. Consumers can trust what they buy. Regulators can focus on outcomes.
Avoiding the straitjacket requires ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ. Regulators might be tempted, for instance, to copy the most stringent international pollution standards to signal seriousness. But standards that exceed a countryโs capacity to comply are a recipe for uneven enforcement, rampant corruption, and market concentration. Where capacity is strong, governments should raise their ambition and align with global norms. Where it is weak, they should adapt standards to local realities while instituting mechanisms to build capacity over time.
Countriesโand sectors within themโshould chart a realistic trajectory for standard-setting that matches their stage of development. Our report proposes a progressive framework to do this: ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ, ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ง, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ. For countries at an early stage of development, where compliance capacity is typically low, the smartest course is to adapt international standards to domestic conditions. At more advanced stages, countries should aim to align their markets with international standards. And at every stage, countries should author international standards in priority areas where they have built expertise. That means showing up in committees, commenting on drafts, and convening domestic stakeholders so learning flows in both directions.
At the same time, higher-income countries and international bodies should create seats at the standard-setting table for low-income countriesโand provide the support they need to succeed. They should cut duplication in the notorious โspaghetti bowlโ of overlapping voluntary standards and cooperate internationally to minimize divergence, especially where public interests are shared and the costs of fragmentation are high. In frontier technologies, leading economies should press their top firms to set baseline standards and stress-test them with diverse stakeholders before markets harden around proprietary defaults.
This is vital because ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐. Standards reduce transaction costs, diffuse know-how, and enable scale. In low-trust environments, they substitute for reputation; in high-tech ones, they are the only way complex systems interoperate safely. Done well, standards lower entry barriers, expand opportunity, and protect the vulnerable. Done badly, they entrench incumbents and stymie progress.
Developing countries are in a race against time. Several middle-income countries have set their sights on becoming high-income within a generation. To succeed, they must run a relay. Standards are the baton, passed from lab to factory to regulator to border and back again through feedback and learning. When standards are designed and implemented effectively, the whole team runs faster.
โ๏ธ ๐๐บ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ, ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค๐ด
