Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are proving to be as much an obstacle to intra-African trade as customs red tape and official tariffs.NTBs include port congestion, country-specific technical standards, customs valuation above invoice prices, sanitary and phytosanitary regulations, theft of goods, import permits, anti-dumping measures, foreign worker visa permitting, complicated customs procedures and excessive paperwork.A United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) report estimates that NTBs cost the African economy around $20 billion a year, which is much more than the $3.6bn that would be recovered by eliminating tariffs.In response to the challenge, the African Union (AU) has launched tradebarriers.africa, described as a non-tariff barriers reporting mechanism tool. “The success of the AfCFTA depends in part on how well governments can track and remove non-tariff barriers,” said Albert Muchanga, the AU commissioner for trade and industry, at the launch. Exporters and importers lodge their complaints on the website. Complaints which have been resolved, according to the website, include the Ghana revenue authority not recognising the same standards as their Rwandan counterparts for food products; Nigeria refusing to accept a sisal conformity certificate supplied by Tanzania; numerous disputes between Cameroon and Chad; South African authorities detaining and searching traders from Lesotho who were suspected of purchasing fake brands in Zambia; the high costs of a single-entry temporary permit at the Ressano Garcia KM4 facility on the South Africa-Mozambique border; and Kenya banning poultry imports from Uganda.Complaints can be registered through the website or mobile phone.NTBs significantly affect small businesses in Africa, particularly micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). These barriers create challenges that disproportionately hinder their ability to engage in intra-African trade. Tralac researcher Rwatida Mafurutu has identified a new iteration of NTBs that will also need to be resolved – non-tariff measures (NTMs), which are proving to be a barrier to the growth of e-commerce. “NTMs are put in place with the aim of preserving legitimate policy objectives such as environmental protection, consumer safety, good health, and protection of the society,” he writes.They become NTBs in the case of women-owned businesses, for which customs clearance is estimated to take one and half times longer compared to their male counterparts, and which disadvantages women-led e-commerce businesses, his research found.The solution, he believes, lies in providing more technical support to the women-owned companies, and policy reforms. ER
