Reviewing Agricultural Trade Policies
To Promote Intra-OIC Agricultural Trade
47
countries and especially developed countries such as USA and EU members, may result in trade
diversion due to the higher tariffs to the OIC member countries from the Asia or Arab groups.
The Asian group’s average tariff applied to its top 5 imports is 7.8% for imports from the same
group, 1.3% for imports from the African group and 13.3% from the Arab group. This means a
more preferential rate is applied to the African group, and the highest rate applied to its top 5
imports by any group is the Asian one. Here again the tariff rate applied to non-OIC is lower
(11.9%) than the one applied to the Arab group and thus has a potential to divert trade from
Arab countries to outside of the OIC.
Table 3. 3 Percentage of Intra-OIC Exports Taking Place within RTAs, 2005 and 2016, %
Product
African Group Arab Group Asian Group
2005 2016 2005 2016 2005 2016
Live animals 99.6 99.95 99.94 98.94 8.02 78.2
Tobacco 83.39 71.56 91.69 50.32 50.9 49.41
Oil seeds 99.93 89.62 72.5 85.98 32.84 47.01
Crude rubber 87.93 98.95 93.75 95.44 51.37 25.62
Cork and wood 97.98 78.34 97.4 96.77 46.3 47.2
Rice 72.94 49.7 96.04 94.16 54.76 42.21
Vegetables 43.05 23.65 93.4 95.85 89.37 69.94
Fruit and nuts 9.38 76.61 97.66 97.84 69.77 63.6
Coffee 91.83 78.85 75.57 83.65 51.76 56.11
Other edible products 98.44 77.69 81.86 74.66 75.7 62.75
Cotton 50.24 59.65 57.93 99.53 90.81 88.97
Bread products 16.7 85.08 88.14 83.22 61.7 55.24
Palm oil 36.5 33.32 94.75 92.11 30.65 28.65
Fish and crustaceans 66.04 45.06 39.78 94.67 88.86 65.92
Cocoa and chocolate 99.19 21.05 87.04 77.91 73.06 72.79
Rest of 06 98.12 91.08 52.83 74.44 96.68 77.58
Rest of 04 99.98 86.1 45.31 99.14 60.46 68.07
Source: COMCEC (2018b).
Note: The product division 04 is for “Cereals and cereal preparations” and the rest of 06 includes those
other than wheat, rice, maize, barley, cereal flour, macaroni, and bread. The product division 06 is for
“Sugars, sugar preparations and honey” and the rest of 06 includes those other than beet and cane sugar,
natural honey, and sugar confectionery.
Finally, the Arab group’s average tariff applied to its top 5 imports is 0.8% for imports from the
same group, 8.6% for imports from the African group, and 16.3% from the Asian group. Again,
the 11.2% of average tariff applied to imports coming from the non-OIC countries is
considerably lower than the 16.3% applied to the Asian group, thereby implying a trade
diversion risk.