Reviewing Agricultural Trade Policies
To Promote Intra-OIC Agricultural Trade
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International Trade Center (ITC) – Market Access Map (Macmap): It contains applied
tariffs collected fromnational institutions. It covers 54 of 57 OIC countries (data for Iraq,
Somalia, and Turkmenistan is missing). This dataset includes AVEs calculated according
to WTO methodology for all non-ad valorem (NAV) tariffs. It has just HS classification
rather than SITC Rev.4. It is not designed for bulk download while it limits the size of the
queries. Nonetheless, it is consistent with WTO data and its coverage is larger than
WTO’s public database.
Hence, ITC Macmap database is chosen as the main source of “tariff data implemented by the
importer”. Tariff rates are taken into consideration with AVE tariff rates based on World Tariff
Profile at HS 6 digits. Aggregation from national tariff line to HS 6 digits is completed by simple
average method because of lack of standardized trade flow data on national tariff lines. Since
most of the HS 6 codes covers just one national tariff line, simple mean is not be a hindrance for
the success of the further analyses. However, aggregation from HS 6 digits to the product list
shared in Annex B is done with weighted average method since there are multiple HS 6 products
under one product listed in Annex B and the simple average may distort the further results and
findings.
Up to date tariff schedules for 54 OIC members, 28 EU (European Union) members, 3 NAFTA
(North American Free Trade Agreement) countries, 5 MERCOSUR (Mercado Común del Sur-
Southern Common Market) countries, 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
countries are gathered from Macmap.
Countries base their tariff schedules on the HS nomenclature but they may use a different
version of HS classification across years. For instance, for the year 2016, Turkey reports its tariff
schedules with HS 2012 revision but Mozambique reports its tariff schedules with HS 2007
version. Moreover, for some countries, up to date tariff schedules is dated to older years like
2015 or 2014. For 5 countries (Sierra Leone (2006), Libya (2006), Philippines (2007), Suriname
(2007), Maldives (2009)), up to date data belongs to pre 2010 period. While measuring
weighted means, tariff schedules are combined with related trade flow data from UN Comtrade
and CEPII BACI in line with their HS versions. Following, each HS version is related to SITC Rev.
4 with the related concordance tables. Concordance tables from HS2017, HS2012, HS2007,
HS2002, HS1996 and HS1992 to SITC Rev. 4 are collected from UN Stats and EU RAMON.
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1.1.4. Non-Tariff Measures
Non-tariff measures (NTMs) are trade policy measures other than ordinary tariff rate
arrangements which are expected to met in international trade (UNCTAD, 2012).
Different set of data sources for NTMs are listed with their advantages, and drawbacks below.
International Trade Center (ITC) – Market Access Map (Macmap): This data has been
collected from national offices by ITC from 2008 onward. It covers up to date
information. However, it is not designed for bulk downloads with limiting queries.
CEPII NTM-MAP: It is not up to date, ending in 2015.
UNCTAD NTM Hub: It does not have a user-friendly interface to download NTMs by
product and partner groups simultaneously. Moreover, it is not designed for bulk
downloads or querying data.
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There are no direct concordance tables from HS 92 to SITC Rev. 4 and from HS 96 to SITC Rev.4. Hence, these products are
related to HS 07 and then from HS 07 to SITC Rev.4. See Annex B for more information on product classification and data
sources.