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Trading standards
貿易標準
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
What makes trading between rich countries difficult?
Chickens slaughtered in the United
States, claim officials in Brussels, are not fit to grace
European tables. No, say the American: our fowl are fine, we
simply clean them in a different way. These days, it is
differences in national regulations, far more than tariffs,
that put sand in the wheels of trade between rich countries.
It is not just farmers who are complaining. An electric razor
that meets the European Union's safety standards must be
approved by American testers before it can be sold in the
United States, and an American-made dialysis machine needs the
EU's okay before is hits the market in Europe.
As it happens, a razor that is safe in
Europe is unlikely to electrocute Americans. So, ask
businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of
tests where one would do? Politicians agree, in principle, so
America and the EU have been trying to reach a deal which
would eliminate the need to double-test many products. They
hope to finish in time for a trade summit between America and
the EU on May 28TH. Although negotiators are optimistic, the
details are complex enough that they may be hard-pressed to
get a deal at all.
Why? One difficulty is to construct the
agreements. The Americans would happily reach one accord on
standards for medical devices and them hammer out different
pacts covering, say, electronic goods and drug manufacturing.
The EU -- following fine continental traditions -- wants
agreement on general principles, which could be applied to
many types of products and perhaps extended to other
countries.
From: The Economist, May 24th, 1997
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
slaughter
v. 屠宰
fit
adj. 適合
grace
v. 給…增光
tariff
n. 關稅
standard
n. 標準
dialysis
n. 分離，分解；透析，滲析
electrocute
v. 使觸電身亡
eliminate
v. 消滅
accord
n. 協(xié)議
device
n. 儀器，器械
hammer out
v. 推敲
pact
n. 合同，條約，公約
參考譯文
布魯塞爾的官員說，在美國屠宰的雞不適于用來裝點歐洲的餐桌。不，美國人說，我們的家禽很好，只是我們使用了另一種清洗方式。當前，是各國管理條例上的差異，而不是關稅阻礙了發(fā)達國家之間的貿易。并不僅僅是農民在抱怨。一把符合歐洲聯(lián)盟安全標準的電動剃須刀必須得到美國檢測人員的認可，方可在美國市場上銷售；而美國制造的透析儀也要得到歐盟的首肯才能進入歐洲市場。
碰巧在歐洲使用安全的剃須刀不大可能使美國人觸電身亡，因此，大西洋兩岸的企業(yè)都在問，當一套測試可以解決問題時，為什么需要兩套呢？政治家在原則上同意了，
因此，美國和歐洲一直在尋求達成協(xié)議，以便為許多產品取消雙重檢查。他們希望盡早達成協(xié)議，為5月28日舉行的美國和歐洲貿易的最高通級會議作準備。然談判代表持樂觀態(tài)度，但協(xié)議細節(jié)如此復雜，他們所面臨的困難很可能使他們無法取得一致。
為什么呢？困難之一是起草這些協(xié)議。美國人很愿意就醫(yī)療器械的標準達成一個協(xié)議，然后推敲出不同的合同，用以涵蓋
-- 比如說 --
電子產品和藥品的生產。歐洲人遵循優(yōu)良的大陸傳統(tǒng)，則希望就普遍的原則取得一致，而這些原則適用于許多不同產品，同時可能延伸到其它國家。
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