Reviewing Agricultural Trade Policies
To Promote Intra-OIC Agricultural Trade
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saying that diseases carried over by imported meat and dairy products and fresh fruits and
vegetables are always risk factors which have to be managed by using modern techniques such
as tests and analyses.
The reduction of border processing times and the digitalization of commercial transactions and
payment systems will be important in increasing the level of agricultural trade within the OIC.
Also important are the efforts that would lead to improvements in the ease of doing business in
fellow OIC countries, e.g., visa exemptions to business owners.
Halal Certification within the OIC is a critical initiative for increasing the intra-OIC agricultural
trade since efforts to increase the recognition of the Halal Certification eligibility requirements
among the OIC member countries may create awareness on the part of consumers.
One other avenue through which intra-OIC agricultural trade would be indirectly promoted is
to design and implement projects that intensify technical cooperation among experts,
technicians and administrators from the OICmember countries through exchange programs and
information sharing. Cooperation among the OIC countries in terms of agricultural trade is not
particularly strong. Turkey, as a top exporter of agricultural products within the OIC and a major
trading partner of the Asian group through imports, has a good record of the state-of-the-art
practices within the OIC. With its largely modernized SPS standards and innovative market
institutions such as the Farmer Registration System, Turkey can serve as a hub country in such
technical cooperation activities regarding agricultural trade policies. Indeed, the General
Directorate of Agricultural Reform in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry began a project
titled “Establishment of Database, Network Connection and Web Pages of Smallholders/ Family
Farmer’s Agricultural Cooperatives between OIC Member States” (project funded by COMCEC)
and initiated a web portal for agricultural trade across OIC countries )
(Islamic Countries Products Common Exchange Market-ICPCEM). The project is now enduring
merely with individual efforts and needs support for wider coverage and perseverance. In terms
of cooperation among the OIC countries, a noteworthy example that has been mentioned by a
specialist from the Ministry of Trade is that of a Kyrgyz firm that has recently expressed a formal
demand for consultancy services in agricultural trade from Turkey.