WASHINGTON – Today the technology industry trade group ITI, the global voice of the tech sector, released a study finding that India tops the list as the most difficult market for information technology (IT) companies to import and sell their products when it comes to product safety regulations. The report, IT Product Safety Regulations and their Impact on the Ease of Doing Business, assesses the regulatory practices of 44 governments and the European Union (EU) and their impact on the ease of doing business for IT companies in these markets. The report names the EU as a top performer and the United States ranked in the middle of the road.

“Tech companies are innovating and creating new products that meet or exceed the highest international standards but find themselves stymied by unnecessarily complex or artificially burdensome requirements that shut them out of markets,” said ITI Director of Global Policy Josh Rosenberg. “When governments pursue unique and localized requirements outside of global norms they are not just a burden, they create uncertainty that can drive up costs for consumers or force companies to stop selling products. Like the World Bank’s annual ease of doing business report, we hope this assessment of our tech companies’ experiences encourages countries to follow global best practices, so their consumers can access the benefits of cutting edge innovations and they can encourage fresh foreign investment in their countries."

The report scores countries based on criteria drawn from the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, which governs the process by which countries enact technical regulations relating to IT equipment and other products. In addition to assessing markets, the report recommends positive steps governments can take to identify, reduce, and prevent impediments to doing business and improve their rankings. ITI intends to release further similar reports in the future. Highlights of the study included the following:

  • Within the group of countries that have product safety requirements for a broad range of IT equipment, the median score for ease of doing business was 22 out of a perfect score of 30.
  • India ranked last with a total score of 7 due to onerous requirements from its Compulsory Registration Order.
  • Based on its Low Voltage Directive regulatory model for product safety, the EU received one of the highest scores of 28.
  • Most countries with broad requirements, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, and China, were ranked between 20 and 24 out of 30, with Argentina at 17 and South Africa at 15.

To read the full report, click here.

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