Quotas

• One type of non-tariff barrier is a quota. A quota limits the number of a specific type of goods that can be imported. Quotas can be used to protect industries in the domestic market and to encourage their growth or resurgence. Quotas can also be used as a type of consequence for a nation by not accepting its exports.
  
  

Prohibitions

• Prohibitions are complete bans of importing a specific product or goods from a specific country. Prohibitions entirely stop a specific type of trade and may also be referred to as embargos.
  
  

Import Licensing

• Import licensing is essentially the submission of the proper administrative procedures required to import or export a specific set of goods. In the past, this paperwork has been designed to be confusing and difficult to complete, allowing for countries to stop the import of goods. The process for the procedures has also been difficult to find and variable not only from country to country, but from one time period to another in the same country.
  
  

Rules of Origin

• Rules of origin are the information that specific nations require in order to determine where the good was manufactured. One way these rules can be used as a non-tariff barrier is by not being clearly stated, allowing governments to deny the entrance of an import. Another way rules of origin can be used as a barrier to trade is through the differences in rules from country to country. When different countries have different criteria for determining origin, the incorrect procedure may be used for processing an import.
  
  

Voluntary Export Restraints

• Voluntary Export Restraints (VER) were used commonly in the 1980s as a way to avoid quotas and tariffs. VERs are agreements between two countries to export goods through one another to a third country in order to get around the third country's rules and requirements.
  
  

Uruguay Rounds

• The Uruguay Rounds not only created the World Trade Organization but also began to establish global standards for business dealings. During these rounds, nations dealt with various non-tariff barriers, eliminating many of them. Now, most nations follow the mandates created during the Uruguay Rounds.