After reviewing the current state of standards and trade in Central America, the authors suggest top priorities for reform from a trade policy perspective in a new and increasingly important area of public policy and development. They conclude that it makes sense to: a) take a regional rather than a national approach to setting up accreditation, testing, and metrology infrastructure - to share equipment, experts, and information to get more bang out of limited funding
b) promote regional bodies as venues for Central American countries to develop common positions in international discussions of the development of standards
c) regionalize information-gathering efforts and use information technology to disseminate that information rapidly
and d) push for a sunset clause in international standards developments, because standards have value only if adopted and used.