Assessment of non-tariff measures for selected agri-food exports from Africa to the European Union

Non-tariff measures (NTMs) gain in importance in view of tariff reductions, by multilateral and bilateral agreements. African agri-food exports have benefited from considerable tariff reduction by the European Union (EU), but the share in EU imports has not risen. This paper describes possible methodologies to assess NTMs and an exporter survey conducted in 2009 in five African countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and Uganda. 95 respondents graded 35 NTMs in five categories. The results have been rather positive in general terms but specific issues like transportation, EU procedures and SPS measures have been regarded as considerably hampering trade. On the other hand, there has been also the mentioning of the positive effect of SPS standards. The country specific assessment of the answers showed that exporters in South Africa and Morocco are more concerned by NTMs