As a signatory of the WTO TBT Agreement, Barbados follows the Agreement’s Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards.  The BNSI serves as the WTO TBT Inquiry Point and notifies the WTO of its development agenda. 

For the most part, there have not been significant technical trade barriers due to compliance problems.  To facilitate international trade, Barbados generally bases its national standards on international standards.  Some of the BNSI mandatory standards are based on Codex Alimentarius standards.  The government announced plans to upgrade the BNSI’s laboratory to ensure that BNSI’s testing, and certification standards are to current international standards.

Barbados is a member of the World Customs Organization (WCO), the WTO, and the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC).