Who Has Trade Barriers?

By kekepana.com

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has released its 2011 version of the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. This is a report to Congress in its 26th year, but it is also a key document for companies to look at before venturing into a new market. The information is similar to what you find in the U.S. Commerce Department’s Country Commercial Guides (but which cover far more than just barriers), but it tells you which trade barriers have caught Washington’s attention (i.e., the more egregious ones). If you spot a problem for your product line, you know it is worth paying attention to. And if you have additional knowledge about that particular barrier, your company might want to make sure that USTR’s negotiators are fully up to speed.

I am currently doing a bit of market research for a company that exports toiletry products from the United States. A quick search of the NTE report turned up the following:

Since March 2009, the government of Paraguay has required non-automatic import licenses on personal hygiene products, cosmetics, perfumes and toiletries, textiles and clothing, insecticides, agrochemicals, and poultry. Obtaining a license requires review by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and sometimes by the Ministry of Health. The process is slow, taking up to 30 days for goods that require a health certification. Once issued, the certificates are valid for 30 days.

Hmm … maybe I’ll put Paraguay lower on my target list.

There are two more reports that accompany the NTE and are even more important if they concern your company’s products. These are the Report on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), focused, of course, on agricultural and food product restrictions; and the Report on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). The TBT report addresses the panoply of product standards restrictions and testing requirements around the world.