Reviewing Agricultural Trade Policies
To Promote Intra-OIC Agricultural Trade
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mover advantage by using their own Halal certifications for products they export to
Islamic countries or countries where Islamic minorities live. Last but not least, the Halal
certification issue should be viewed by the OIC member countries within a broader
perspective of labeling, advertisement and standardization. SMIIC has compiled three
sets of guidelines that establish the OIC standards for Halal product producers, agencies
that grant Halal certifications, and accreditation bodies that accreditate certification
agencies, respectively. The OIC member countries should envision that these existing
sets of guidelines would serve as a foundation to establish a unique Halal certification
to be approved and implemented by all OIC member countries that also signify health,
safety, and environmental protection standards as in the case the CE marking of the
European Economic Area.
4. The Trade Preferential Systemwithin the OIC: The large number of existing bilateral
and multilateral trade agreements of the OIC member countries with non-OIC countries
stands out as a source of concern since such trade agreements pose the risk of limiting
the scope of trade policy coherence within the OIC. Accelerating the implementation of
the Trade Preferential System among the OIC Member States (TPS-OIC) is thus an
important element that would be on the policy agenda. Besides, a potential customs
union within the TPS-OIC should be defended as the logical next step after the TPS-OIC
by the member country governments.
5. Promotion of niche products: The OIC member countries face competition from each
other in certain agricultural products and in certain markets around the globe as their
geography, climate conditions and factor endowments exhibit some degree of similarity.
This makes the promotion of intra-OIC agricultural trade a particularly challenging
objective, and policies that aim further trade facilitation within the OIC should be
designed and implemented. These policies range from product diversification and
trademarking to marketing strategies and advertising campaigns. More specifically, the
OIC countries should promote the niche agricultural products of their fellow OIC
countries under a reciprocal understanding of benefits.
6. Commercial cooperation: The OIC member countries differ in relative abundance of
land and natural resources and of financial funds and credit. This type of diversity is a
source of complementarity and opens a window of opportunity in commercial
cooperation. There already exist some joint ventures among the OIC countries where
businesses from one OIC member country invest in another OIC member country by
purchasing unused land and initiate agricultural production and export. Policies should
be designed and implemented to incentivize commercial cooperation among the OIC
member countries in the field of agricultural investment as it directly increases trade
among at least two OIC member countries. Removal or reductions in the cost of
obtaining business visas all across the OIC member countries, for instance, is a concrete
policy action that would contribute to commercial cooperation.
7. Non-commercial cooperation: Non-commercial cooperation among the OIC member
countries in terms of technical expertise, skills, and safety standards stands out as an
important action that would facilitate intra-OIC trade in agricultural products. Naturally,
the OIC member countries have a diverse set of safety standards, market information
systems, market institutions and human capital stocks. For this reason, the OIC member