Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Creation and Development of Market Institutions
103
Tunisia’s state institutions which govern its food market and its distribution circuit is
regulated by Law n°94-86 of 23 July 1994. This Law defines the food market as consisting of
production markets, wholesale markets, and retail markets, as well as the calibration and
packaging units and refrigerated storage warehouses for agricultural and seafood products.185
Tunisia’s domestic pricing policies, border protection policies, and investment incentive
policies are implemented through market institutions with the objective to support the
stability of Tunisia’s agricultural market through maintaining a level of domestic production of
staple food products (e.g. cereals and milk) while increasing Tunisia’s export capacity of other
products (e.g. olive oil and dates).
5.2.2 Agricultural & Food Market Institutions
A number of line Ministries and market institutions exist to implement these policies and
strategies with respect to intervening, regulating, and enabling various market channels of
Tunisia’s agricultural and food sector. The institutional framework of Tunisia’s agricultural
market system is set and governed by a number of Government entities and non-Government
entities.
This section only focuses on selected agricultural market institutions based on the
classification accentuated in the Conceptual Framework in Chapter 1 (i.e. six key agricultural
market institutions). These institutions collect, import, and regulate and coordinate
transportation and distribution of the commodities and compete with the private sector in
production and trade
.186
Table 3 – Overview of the six selected agricultural market institutions in Tunisia
Classification Institution Description
Cooperative Central
Cooperatives
Structured as state-owned organizations, a number of central
cooperatives organize the collection and distribution of oils, seeds,
wheat, cereals, viticulture crops, and field crops. However, only 4%
of Tunisia’s farmers are operating in state-owned cooperatives. 187
However, in an attempt to liberalize Tunisia’s agricultural sector to
foreign investors, the Government of Tunisia is planning to abolish
the cooperatives and transform them into public limited
development companies to rent agricultural land to private
(foreign) companies.188
Commodity
Market
Regulation
Authority
Tunisian
Association for
Agriculture and
Fisheries
The Tunisian Association for Agriculture and Fisheries (UTAP)
serves as main union representing the interests of the entire
industry but also has an intervening role.189 UTAP has about
350,000 members, which equals about 70% of Tunisia’s famers,
and is represented through regional offices in all 24 governorates
and in all 246 counties.190 UTAP is active in a decision-making
public body together with UTICA, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry
185 Nawaat (2015), Food Markets in Tunisia: State Institutions and Controls for Distribution Circuits of Agricultural and
Seafood Products, available a
Accessed May 2017].
186 WTO (2016), Tunisia Trade Policy Review Report by the Secretariat, World Trade Organization: Geneva.
187 Interview conducted with Ministry of Investment, Development, and International Cooperation in Tunis, May 15, 2017
188 WTO (2016), Tunisia Trade Policy Review Report by the Secretariat, World Trade Organization: Geneva.
189 Ibid
190 Interview conducted with Union Tunisienne de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche in Tunis, May 16, 2017