The invisible barriers to trade How businesses experience non-tariff measures Mohammad Saeed

The invisible barriers to trade
How businesses experience non-tariff measures
Mohammad Saeed
Trade Facilitation Implementation and Performance
Monitoring Workshop
Wuhan, China, 22 October 2015
ITC’s Programme on Non-tariff measures
•
•
•
Pillar 1
Pillar 2
Pillar 3
NTM Data
Collection
Business
Surveys
Follow Up
Actions
Transparency pillar:
making regulations
publicly available
Searchable by HS
code, country, NTM
Dissemination
through Market
Access Map
www.macmap.org
•
•
Giving SMEs a voice:
identifying trade
obstacles
Surveys of exporters
and importers on their
experiences with
government
regulations
www.ntmsurvey.org
•
•
Overcoming trade
obstacles: designing
technical assistance
to overcome trade
obstacles
E.g.: Trade Obstacles
Alert mechanism
www.tradeobstacles.org
Transparency of NTMs: Information for businesses
ITC’s NTM database: www.macmap.org
-
Data collected in collaboration with
UNCTAD, African Development Bank
and World Bank
-
Data availability: more than 70
countries
-
Upcoming in 2015 (among others):
-
India
Jamaica
Pakistan
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
ITC’s Programme on Non-tariff measures
•
•
•
Pillar 1
Pillar 2
Pillar 3
NTM Data
Collection
Business
Surveys
Follow Up
Actions
Transparency pillar:
making regulations
publicly available
Searchable by HS
code, country, NTM
Dissemination
through Market
Access Map
www.macmap.org
•
•
Giving SMEs a voice:
identifying trade
obstacles
Surveys of exporters
and importers on their
experiences with
government
regulations
www.ntmsurvey.org
•
•
Overcoming trade
obstacles: designing
technical assistance
to overcome trade
obstacles
E.g.: Trade Obstacles
Alert mechanism
www.tradeobstacles.org
ITC NTM Business surveys: Coverage
20,000
More than
phone interviews
5,500
Over
face-toface interviews
30
developing countries
+ 28 EU countries
From over
NTM survey ongoing / finalized
Under discussion / planned
6
Selected questions we are able to answer
WHO is affected and how much?
Sectors, products, types of companies (women/men-owned, size, region), trade flows with
which partner countries, type of trade flow (export/import), etc.
WHY are NTMs perceived as burdensome?
Strict regulations, procedural obstacles, both
WHICH NTMs are perceived as burdensome?
Technical regulations, conformity assessment, rules of origin, inspections, etc.
WHAT procedural obstacles do exporters/importers encounter?
Delays, high fees and charges, large number of documents, limited testing facilities,
problems with recognition of certificates, etc.
WHERE does the problem occur?
At home, in the partner country, institution(s) involved, …
How do exporters and importers perceive
non-tariff measures?
8
Who is affected? Who applies the burdensome NTMs?
ITC’s NTM Survey results: www.ntmsurvey.org
The share of companies affected by burdensome NTMs varies across sectors
and trade direction
-
Exporters of agricultural products report more problems than those in manufacturing
Exporters are more affected than importers
Small firms report more frequently problems related to burdensome NTMs
-
57% of firms with 1-4 employees face burdensome NTMs compared to about 43% of firms
with more than 250 employees
Trade-hampering measures lie much closer to home than one might expect
-
About 25% of obstacles reported by exporters concern measures applied by the home
country on exports
Another 20% (agriculture) to 30% (manufacturing) are NTMs applied by regional trading
partners (members of regional trade agreements)
 Despite existing agreements, regional market access is disproportionately difficult,
especially for manufactured products
Source: ITC (2015);The Invisible Barriers to Trade – How Businesses Experience
Non-Tariff Measures; www.intracen.org/publications/ntm
Most regulations pose a problem because of procedural
obstacles
Share of NTM cases, by type of difficulty
Source: ITC (2015);The Invisible Barriers to Trade – How Businesses Experience
Non-Tariff Measures; www.intracen.org/publications/ntm
The majority of procedural obstacles are encountered at home
(in the exporting country)
Share of procedural obstacles*, by location
60%
In the home country
40%
In the partner country
*Note: Only cases reported by exporters; only cases of NTMs applied by partner countries.
Source: ITC business surveys on NTMs in 25 countries, 2010-2014
Where should we look to find the solutions?
Source: ITC (2015);The Invisible Barriers to Trade – How Businesses Experience
Non-Tariff Measures; www.intracen.org/publications/ntm
Other
Lack of recognition/
accreditation
Information/ transparency
issues
Discriminatory behaviour
of officials
procedural obstacles
Customs authority
Ministry in charge of international trade
Ministry in charge of agriculture
Ministry in charge of public health
Public/private organization for standard and quality
Chamber of commerce and trade support institution
Public/private organizations for certification
Ministry in charge of environmental affairs
Public/private organizations for inspection
Products testing and analysis laboratory
Port authority
Airport
Ministry in charge of finance
Other ministries/agencies
Other private companies/banks
Not specified
Lack of sector-specific
facilities
Location of the
Administrative burdens
related to regulation
procedural obstacles
Time constraints
Type of
Informal or unusually high
payment
Distribution of procedural obstacles, by agency
Take-aways from ITC’s NTM Surveys
Market access begins at home
The ‘advantage’ of home-based problems is that you can solve them
 There is a great need to tackle before-the-border problems that
businesses experience with behind-the-border measures
Trade facilitation: make trade agreements work
Having policies, laws and agreements is one thing – effectively
implementing them another
Transparency is key
Processes may be complicated and lengthy for good reasons. But there is
no good reason for them to be unclear or non-transparent.
ITC’s Programme on Non-tariff measures
•
•
•
Pillar 1
Pillar 2
Pillar 3
NTM Data
Collection
Business
Surveys
Follow Up
Actions
Transparency pillar:
making regulations
publicly available
Searchable by HS
code, country, NTM
Dissemination
through Market
Access Map
www.macmap.org
•
•
Giving SMEs a voice:
identifying trade
obstacles
Surveys of exporters
and importers on their
experiences with
government
regulations
www.ntmsurvey.org
•
•
Overcoming trade
obstacles: designing
technical assistance
to overcome trade
obstacles
E.g.: Trade Obstacles
Alert mechanism
www.tradeobstacles.org
Example: Trade obstacles alert & resolution mechanism:
www.tradeobstacles.org
Ensures the
transparency of the
email
information
+ website
exchanged by trade
operators and
public authorities,
4
and promotes the
National
platform
focal point
Alerts the public authorities of
the trade obstacles they face
1
Trader
creates an
alert
publishes
the answer
TOA Platform
email
Takes action in order to solve
the obstacles and reports back
to the trade operators
3
Relevant
authority
answers to
the alert
email
2
National
focal point
validates
and publish
the alert
email
+ website
Monitors the
mechanism;
includes
representatives
of the different
public authorities
and private
sector in
Mauritius.
National monitoring committee
Ensures the transparency and
reactivity of the mechanism
ITC’s trade obstalces alert mechanism
First results
• To date, the trade obstacles alert and resolution mechanism was
launched in Côte d’Ivoire (2014) and Mauritius (Sep 2015)
• Resolved cases include examples of
• Streamlined procedures,
• Reduced time to obtain certifications and other documents
•
necessary for exporting and importing and
Better dissemination of information on regulations and related
procedures.
ITC Survey results online: http://ntmsurvey.intracen.org
For more information:
ITC publication series on NTMs
Making Regional Integration Work –
Company perspectives on Non-Tariff Measures in Arab States (Oct 2015)
The Invisible Barriers to Trade –
How Businesses Experience Non-Tariff Measures (2015)
Country reports
Burkina Faso (French, 2011)
Cambodia (English, 2014)
Côte d’Ivoire (French, 2014)
Guinea (French, 2015)
Jamaica (English, 2013)
Kazakhstan (English, Russian, 2014)
Kenya (English, 2014)
Madagascar (French, 2013)
Malawi (English, 2013)
Mauritius (English, 2014)
Morocco (French, 2012)
Paraguay (Spanish, 2013)
Peru (English, 2012; Spanish, 2013)
Rwanda (English, 2014)
Senegal (French, 2014)
Sri Lanka (English, 2011)
State of Palestine (English, 2015)
Trinidad and Tobago (English, 2013)
Tunisia (French, 2014)
Uruguay (Spanish, 2013)
Available from: www.ntmsurvey.org/publication
Thank you!
For further information:
http://ntmsurvey.intracen.org
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