Streamlining Non-Tariff Measures A Toolkit for Policy Makers

by Cadot, Olivier; Malouche, Mariem; Saez, Sebastian

• ISBN13: 9780821395103
• ISBN10: 0821395106
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-14
• Publisher: World Bank Publications

Summary

This toolkit provides a novel approach and a set of tools that allow policymakers and analysts to identify non-tariff measures (NTMs), assess their trade restrictiveness and impact on prices and welfare, and to strengthen the institutional coordination mechanism, transparency, and regulatory governance on NTMs. It also aims at encouraging economies to increasingly address the NTM agenda from a domestic competitiveness and/or poverty perspective rather than from a mercantilist standpoint of concessions to trading partners.NTMs are policy measures, other than ordinary customs tariffs, that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices or both. While most NTMs are already subject to WTO disciplines, the main challenge is to allow governments to address public policy concerns without unnecessarily hurting trade competitiveness and while preventing disguised protectionism. This toolkit is predicated on the idea that the complexity and diversity of NTMs should be recognized. Problems should be identified at the country level through consultations with the private sector, and technical solutions should be sought through careful analysis and private/public dialogue. The underlying philosophy is similar to what is known as Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), but applied to the review of existing measures (no ex ante analysis), in response to specific demands from countries struggling with legacies of complicated and penalizing regulations. Dealing with existing measures has the advantage of responding to an immediate need and focusing on measures whose effects are known. The toolkit is organized as follows. Chapter 1 discusses the newly revamped NTM classification and pervasiveness of NTM. Chapter 2 elaborates on the analytics of an NTM review, walking the reader step by step through the key questions. Chapter 3 focuses on the institutional set up and key principles to successfully pursue the streamlining of regulations. Finally, chapters 4 and 5 provide some practical cases of streamlining both at the country and regional levels, and for product specific examples.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
About the Authors	p. xv
Abbreviations	p. xvii
Overview	p. 1
NTMs: Definition, Data, and International Regulations	p. 9
The New NTM Dataset	p. 10
Living Up to International Commitments	p. 21
Notes	p. 33
References	p. 34
Streamlining NTMs: The Issues	p. 37
Beginning the NTM Review	p. 40
Reassessing the Benefits of Government Intervention	p. 41
Reassessing the Costs of Government Intervention	p. 46
Assessing the Sourcing Costs of NTMs	p. 48
Balancing Costs and Benefits	p. 52
Notes	p. 59
References	p. 60
Streamlining NTMs: Processes and Institutions	p. 63
Getting the Institutional Setup Right	p. 64
Steps in the NTM Review Process	p. 72
Annex: Approaches to Streamlining Existing NTMs	p. 81
Notes	p. 83
References	p. 84
Country and Region Experiences with Streamlining NTMs	p. 87
Unilaterally Driven Reforms	p. 87
Reforms Anchored in Regional Integration	p. 108
Notes	p. 118
References	p. 119
Streamlining NTMs: Case Studies	p. 121
An SPS Measure: Import Ban and Environmental Protection	p. 121
A TBT Measure and Incoherence along the Value Chain	p. 127
Prohibition and Its Impact on Welfare	p. 128
Notes	p. 132
UNCTAD NTM Classification, February 2012	p. 133
Request Form for NTM Review	p. 171
Questionnaire for the Review of Existing NTMs	p. 173
Price Gap and Welfare	p. 179
Boxes
NTMs and the Case for Risk Management in Border Agencies	p. 58
Brazil Challenges in Regulatory Reforms: Some Preliminary Lessons	p. 65
Institutional Setup to Streamline New NTMs in Indonesia	p. 70
Regulatory Reform in Mexico	p. 74
Mexico Standards Modernization: The Case of Food Labeling	p. 94
Two Regulations That Hurt the Competitiveness of Mauritian Firms	p. 99
The Tripartite NTB Monitoring Mechanism	p. 114
CEFTA and TBTs	p. 117
Risks to the Environment: A Biologist's Expert Opinion	p. 125
Figures
NTM Toolkit Howchart	p. 5
NTM Classification by Chapter (first tier)	p. 11
Frequency Index and Coverage Ratios by Chapter of NTM	p. 13
Frequency Index and Coverage Ratios by Region and Chapter of NTM	p. 15
Frequency Indices and Coverage Ratios, by Country	p. 16
Seven Most Prevailing Types of NTMs Experienced by Surveyed Companies as NTBs, by Regional Destination	p. 20
Flowchart of an NTM Review	p. 42
Costs and Benefits of a Technical Regulation: The Case of Organic Shrimp	p. 54
Political Commitment and NTM Reforms	p. 64
Sample Institutional Setup for NTM Review	p. 69
SOPs for Introducing NTMs in the Indonesia Ministry of Trade	p. 71
Review Process Flow	p. 76
Numbers of Products Subject to NTMs in Indonesia	p. 104
NTMs Issued by Agency	p. 105
Decline in Mauritius Exports of Cut Flowers (HS 060310)	p. 123
Real-Income Gain from Eliminating Import Bans, by Income Level and Product Category	p. 131
Tables
NTMs Experienced by Exporting Companies as NTBs	p. 19
BCC Categories of Compliance Costs	p. 47
Average Domestic Price Indices by Category (world average = 100), Indonesia and the Philippines	p. 51
NTM Classification Following WTO Consistency-Criteria	p. 110
NTBs Cited in the NTBMM	p. 115
Nigeria's Prohibited Imports	p. 129
Price Gap Calculations, Lagos vs. Nairobi (% of price gap)	p. 130
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