Trade barriers faced by EU companies

The European Commission publishes an annual report looking at progress made towards eliminating trade and investment barriers. Such barriers are faced by European Union companies in accessing certain global markets.

ACT

Report from the Commission to the European Council: Trade and investment barriers report 2014 (COM(2014) 153 final of 12 March 2014 - not published in the Official Journal).

SUMMARY

The EU has a market access strategy. By means of this, the EU works to keep markets in non-EU countries open and trade flowing for EU businesses by tackling tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade.

The Trade and investment barriers report (TIBR) 2014 published by the Commission looks at progress made in 2013 in dismantling barriers to trade with the markets of six strategic economic partners of the EU: China, India, Japan, Mercosur (Brazil/Argentina), Russia and the United States.

Its findings include the following:

CHINA

China adopted a more business-friendly investment policy; It also implemented an important World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling on raw materials export restrictions and withdrew a VAT exemption for locally made regional aircraft.

Remaining issues include local content rules, information security barriers and cosmetics regulations.

New protectionist measures were introduced affecting the logistics and shipping industries, as well as imports of wine and spirits from the EU.

INDIA

Some policies that gave preference to locally produced electronic goods were suspended, as were the mandatory testing and certification of telecom network elements.

Tyre certification systems and sanitary/phytosanitary (plant health) issues persist. Import duties on certain luxury cars have increased significantly.

Investment rules changed, allowing for 100 % foreign telecoms ownership and single-brand retail investments.

BRAZIL/ARGENTINA

For both countries, there was progress on temporary exceptions to the Common External Tariff (CET). However, tax advantages remain for some domestic manufacturers in relation to local content rules.

In Argentina, most non-automatic import licences were eliminated in 2013, but other restrictive measures continue, such as sworn prior importer declarations for all imports (i.e. importers must obtain government approval prior to importing goods).

The 2012 expropriation by Argentina of 51 % of YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales), a unit of Spain's oil company Repsol, without fair compensation, was subsequently resolved.

JAPAN

In 2013, Japan introduced the so-called Wood Use Points Program which results in discriminatory treatment of imported wood in favour of domestic species.

RUSSIA

Over a year after its WTO accession, Russia had still incorrectly implemented its WTO bound tariffs on more than 150 products.

EU companies face many barriers to trade in Russia, such as:

• burdensome technical regulations,
• the ambiguous application of requirements, and
• overlapping and excessive certification and conformity rules which are largely incompatible with modern international standards.

UNITED STATES

The EU is still concerned about long delays in treating certain sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) export applications and by a number of other SPS-related issues.

Last updated: 10.08.2014