Non-tariff barriers

Lupien, J. R. (2002). The precautionary principle and other non-tariff barriers to free and fair international food trade. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 42(4), 403-415. 

The ruling Swedish political establishment is, of course, well aware that issuing restrictions based on its own extremist version of the PP may cause serious international complications. In particular, the EU Commission as well as the WTO can be expected to raise objections about Sweden introducing non-tariff barriers to trade. To head off complaints appearing before the European Court of Justice and WTO, Sweden has devised various subtle means to circumvent its international obligations under, for instance, the articles on the Free Movement of Goods as stipulated by the 1957 Treaty of Rome. 

Anderson SP, Schmitt N (2000) Non-tariff barriers and trade liberalization, ifo Institut, Mtinchen... 

As a result of a lack of international reference standards for many commodities, particularly those produced in developing countries, pesticide residues have increasingly become a non-tariff barrier in international trade. This has been parent in several recent episodes involving the movement of minor crops in both regional and international bade. The port of many tropical fruits to Europe and the US is subject to the limit of determination for enforcement when national tolerances are not available. Though outright rejection usually does not take immediate effect, notice of the intention is always served to relevant national authorities. Many countries in the devele ing world are solely dependent on the Codex standards and in the event of their non-availability, the limit of determination is almost automatically lied. Such a practice is a common phenomenon... 

Member States1 within which citizens, goods and services may cross borders without let or hindrance. Naturally, if goods are to move freely, first of all customs barriers and then the so-called non-tariff barriers or technical barriers to trade must be removed. 

The major non-tariff barrier to the cross-frontier trade in motor vehicles is constituted by the Member States type-approval procedures, together with their various technical requirements and administrative practices. It has for good reasons been impossible simply to do away with each Member State s procedures and to replace them with an EEC type approval procedure which, however, was needed if barriers to trade of this type were to be avoided. 

An important note is that for product requirements set by Article lOOA Directives, Member States cannot set more stringent requirements (since they would otherwise be creating a non-tariff barrier to trade which was what the Directive sought to remove). This of course contrasts with Article lOOA Directive requirements which only set minimum standards and member states may apply more stringent measures. 

Among the motivations of Asian producers, the interest for export market, particularly the need of overcoming SPS non-tariff barriers is certainly playing a relevant role. However, the development of domestic markets is starting up, and interesting experiences have been made involving the development of short distribution ehains, community supported agriculture, and local development initiatives aimed at environment conservation and restoration. 

Barriers to trade (or protectionist measures) imposed by commodity importing countries can come in different forms, and may have varying motives which are not always easily discernible. The usual distinction is between tariff barriers (which discourage imports by raising their price) and non-tariff barriers. The latter include direet restrictions on imports, and those which act indirectly, like measures to promote domestic production. Commodity producing countries may, alternatively, try to improve the competitiveness of their exports (through subsidies, for example) or institute policies which restrict them. 

Measuring the extent of protection in any country or market poses a number of practical and analytical difficulties. While simple nominal tariff rates are widely available and easily measurable, where tariff escalation is prevalent these will tend to understate the level of protection facing processed products. A more rigorous approach would involve consideration of effective tariff (and protection) rates, but here there are major difficulties in estimation." The quite widespread application of preferential tariffs and non-tariff barriers in the lead industry compound the problems involved in any comparison. 

There are a wide range of non-tariff measures in place affecting both imports and exports of lead, although in volume terms their impact is likely to be relatively minor. However, the 1987 GATT study, for instance, identified 80 separate non-tariff measures applied to lead and lead products, and considered this to be an imderestimate of actual protectionist barriers. The following forms of non-tariff barriers appear to be the most widely applied in the lead industry ... 

Stephenson, S. (1997) Standards and conformity assessment as non-tariff barriers to trade. World Bank Development Research Group Policy Research Working Paper No 1826, World Bank, Washington DC, September. 

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