Reviewing Agricultural Trade Policies
To Promote Intra-OIC Agricultural Trade
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Considering that non-tariff barriers’ power in protecting the domestic markets is higher than
the tariffs, the analysis of the trade measures will be completed with Table 2.5, where the
number of measures implemented by trading blocs is given together with the ones applied by
the OIC member countries, separately for the three agricultural product categories and also for
all members and the ones on a bilateral basis.
In terms of the total number of measures in agri-food category, NAFTA is leading, and mostly to
all members and mostly in the form of Special Safeguard Measures (496) followed by Sanitary
and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures (84) and Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ) (78). The second highest
number of non-tariff barriers is by the EU-28 (683), with Special Safeguard Measures (305)
followed by the TRQ (251) and Export Subsidies (114). This last measure is to be ended
according to WTO Nairobi Decisions of 2015 within an allowed time-frame and as explained
below. The third most protected country group is OIC member countries with 642 measures in
total, mostly of SPS both on bilateral basis (172) and to all member countries (300).
In fish products the most protective country group is OIC (733) and mostly with SPS (172
bilateral and 153 to all members) followed by the anti-dumping measures.
It is well known that NTBs are the most highly difficult barriers to detect, thus the ongoing heavy
reliance of all the world big trade actors to them. An additional difficulty is to find related
trustable data. The fact that OIC has the highest number of SPS for agri-food and fish products
vis-a-vis OIC members is a clear evidence that those measures are used as protectionist
measures and even towards OIC member states.
The raw materials trade is the most liberalized category, with very few non-tariff barriers.
The Ministerial Decision of Nairobi 2015, required all developed countries to immediately
remove export subsidies, except for a few agricultural products to be followed by developing
countries in 2018, with a longer period in a few cases. Developing countries will benefit from
the flexibility of covering marketing and transport costs for agricultural exports until the end of
2023. The Nairobi Decision permitted the poorest and food-importing developing countries to
use more time to abolish export subsidies (WTO, 2015).
Other export policies, such as export financing ease, international food aid and support provided
by the exporting state trading enterprises of agriculture, can be used to maintain agricultural
exports and recover the effects of the removal of export subsidies.