Describes the country's standards landscape, identifies the national standards and accreditation bodies, and lists the main national testing organization(s) and conformity assessment bodies.

Standards
In general, U.S. standards set the pace for Guatemalan standards.  Many products made in the U.S. already meet Guatemala’s standards. The main area of difference is found in items intended for human consumption, such as pharmaceuticals and food. In Guatemala, registration and labeling requirements for these cases require U.S. exporters to follow strict local guidelines.

The United States actively serves as a resource to assist Guatemala in developing or streamlining standards. The objectives of Chapter 7 (Technical Barriers to Trade) in the CAFTA-DR agreement are to: increase and facilitate trade through improvement to the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreement and eliminate unnecessary barriers and enhance bilateral cooperation.  Read more on Technical Barriers to Trade under CAFTA-DR.

Food Products:
Products labeled as “diet supplements”, “homeopathic”, “and prophylactic” or “phyto-therapeutic” must be registered as medicines. All products that apply for registration must be tested by the Health National Laboratory (LNS), which is the Ministry of Health’s only laboratory. Product samples must be provided at time of registration.

RTCA 67.01.15:07 rules fortified wheat flour, providing specifications and approved additives for wheat flour, http://www.sieca.int/index.php/download/resolucion-no-201-2007-aprueba-rtca-67-01-1507-harinas-harina-de-trigo-fortificada/.

Testing, Inspection and Certification

Publication of Technical Regulations
“Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to notify the WTO of proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that could affect trade. Notify U.S. (www.nist.gov/notifyus) is a free, web-based e-mail registration service that captures and makes available for review and comment key information on draft regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Users receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are added by selected countries and industry sectors of interest, and can also request full texts of regulations.  This service and its associated website are managed and operated by the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.” 

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.