The Ministry of Commerce is studying non-tariff barriers faced by Pakistani exporters in various export destinations, including but not limited to U.S., E.U., India, etc. In a joint meeting with the Collector of Customs, Lahore, APTMA, LCCI and FPCCI it was decided to make a list of various types of non-tariff barriers without regard to their legality, and ask the exporters to provide a feedback.
This is an important exercise as the feedback can be used to form positions on negotiations on NTBs (a Doha Round agenda item), trade policy reviews of various countries done by WTO Committee and more specifically in trade negotiations going on under SAFTA.
Exporters and manufacturers are also encouraged to provide feedback on the information available with them about subsidies (actionable or not) being availed of by industries in competing countries. All feedback is invited by e-mail to
Following is a list of potential non-tariff barriers identified for the purpose of circulation among the business community for inviting their comments.
IDENTIFICATION OF NON-TARIFF BARRIERS:
Technical barriers to trade (TBT eg ECO labelling, dye restrictions for textiles etc.); Sanitary and phyto sanitary measures (eg for fruits/vegetables etc.); Trade remedies: 3.a. Anti-dumping duties; 3.b. Countervailing duties; 3.c. Safeguards; Child labour concerns (mostly buyer driven) Environmental concerns (mostly buyer driven) Labour welfare concerns (mostly buyer driven) Security issues (specially US) Discriminatory customs clearance (specially vis a vis India particularly after SAFTA) 8.a. unfair customs and administrative procedures 8.b. discriminatory and arbitrary customs valuation rules/methods; Delay in settling business claims of exporters; Cumbersome process of opening LCs in some importing countries; Non-acceptability of certification of quality of products issued by the appropriate official agency of the exporting country; Too long sensitive list; Negative list; Classification, testing and certification, packaging and labelling requirements; Registration Requirements; Quarantine requirement; Local content and export balancing requirements (automotive industry); Government participation in trade; Quotas; Levies/charges on imports/transit goods; (collected for the use of port or terminal facilities); Excessive documentation and formalities; Rules of origin; Pre-shipment inspection; Consular invoice or legalisation or visa of export documents
Transportation regulations and costs; Restrictive finance measures 26.a. Banking system weaknesses; 26.b. Restrictive government regulations on exchange requirements; 26.c.; Capital controls; 26.d. Finance and payment mechanisms; Import restrictions; Intellectual property laws; Minimum pricing and price control measures; Access to final users; Legal differences; Lack of information of foreign markets; Competition from other countries; Bribery, corruption, theft and fraud; Political/social economic instability; Inadequate infrastructure/over-elaborate infrastructure; Low demand on export markets; Cultural differences; Linguistic barriers; Manufacturing or production requirements of goods; (eg EU's restrictions on genetically modified organisms or beef treated with growth hormones); 'Buy national' policy; Currency deposit on importations; Product labelling in foreign language; Designation of port of entry.
(The Writer is the chairman WTO Committee of APTMA and LCCI).
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