Export quality management
Quality is more than a requirement—it is a competitive advantage. As businesses expand across borders, meeting international standards builds trust and unlocks new markets.
But many small businesses struggle to navigate the complex international landscape of technical regulations, health and safety measures, and compliance procedures.
ITC’s Export Quality Management team works to overcome these challenges. We work with small businesses, policymakers, and quality institutions to turn compliance challenges into opportunities for growth.
We help enterprises secure certifications. We assist policymakers to develop efficient regulatory frameworks. And we work with conformity assessment bodies to achieve their international accreditation. In all these ways and more, ITC’s Export Quality Management team equips small businesses to meet market demands, build credibility and compete globally.
Key publication
The Challenge
Over 50% of enterprises face difficulties related to standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment. That’s because of:
- Information: Many small businesses don’t have clear, updated information on technical regulations and market-specific requirements.
- Capacity: Many businesses lack the expertise, technical knowledge, and management systems.
- Infrastructure: Competent, affordable and timely services – such as testing, certification, and inspection – aren’t always available.
- Policy: Weak or inconsistent regulatory frameworks create additional barriers.
The Solution
Creating a conducive regulatory environment
ITC’s Export Quality Management team helps guide policymakers and regulatory bodies to:
- Improve technical regulations through best practices, risk management, better coordination and harmonized health and technical measures.
- Enhance transparency and access to information with digital platforms that easily answer questions.
- Craft national quality and food safety laws, policies and strategies.
- Assess infrastructure services and promote a culture that emphasizes quality.
- Improve national standards in line with the Code of Good Practice and with international processes.
Empowering conformity assessment bodies
We strengthen national quality infrastructures by:
- Providing training and technical assistance to testing laboratories, inspection and certification bodies.
- Supporting conformity assessment bodies in obtaining international accreditation.
- Assisting accreditation bodies to meet international peer evaluation requirements.
- Facilitating mutual recognition agreements for cross-border compliance.
Building capacity for compliance
We help small businesses access global markets by:
- Helping companies achieve compliance and obtain certification in quality management, food safety, occupational health and safety, energy management, and more.
- Developing and teams of Quality Champions and other experts to help small businesses improve their products and food safety, working with national institutions.
- Guiding businesses to comply with market access requirements, international standards and other quality requirements through online tools, in-person training workshops and awareness events.
Our team has delivered results across the globe, helping countries build stronger, more resilient infrastructure that ensures the quality of products and services. Our work spans the entire quality ecosystem—from developing national strategies and updating regulatory frameworks, to strengthening conformity assessments and enabling small businesses to achieve internationally recognized certifications.
We work closely with national governments, quality institutions, and businesses to address technical barriers to trade and unlock new opportunities for inclusive, sustainable growth. Here’s a look at what we do, and the countries we’ve worked successfully with.
We support countries in designing comprehensive quality policies and strategies that align with trade and development goals. These documents guide national efforts to improve quality infrastructure, harmonize standards, and ensure long-term institutional coordination.
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To work with the World Trade Organization (WTO), countries need systems for sharing trade information. National Enquiry Points are a one-stop government office that handles trade questions. National Notification Authorities relay a country’s health and safety rules to the WTO. We help establish and strengthen these entities, ensuring countries meet their WTO obligations and businesses can access market-relevant information.
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To improve market alignment, we assist countries in developing national standards that align with international ones—helping reduce technical barriers to trade and supporting smoother access to regional and global markets.
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We work with regulatory authorities to modernize and harmonize technical regulations and food control systems, in line with international best practices that strengthen consumer protection and trade readiness.
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We help national metrology institutions make accurate and traceable measurements—essential for quality control, product certification, and international credibility in trade.
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We support laboratories and inspection bodies in meeting international accreditation standards, so they provide trusted testing and inspection services that are recognized by global markets.
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Through training, infrastructure upgrades, and technical support, we strengthen food safety systems—from testing to certification—ensuring food products meet international hygiene and safety standards.
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We build networks of trained national experts—Quality Champions—who support small businesses in good practices, quality systems, and food safety and technical requirements.
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We work directly with companies to achieve certification in internationally recognized food safety and quality standards, so they can access new markets, meet buyer requirements, and increase export readiness.
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