Vinokurov E. et al. (2015) Assessing the Impact of Non-Tariff Barriers in the Eurasian Economic Union: Results of Enterprise Survey. EDB Centre for Integration Studies Report no. 30, EDB: Saint-Petersburg.
This report includes the classification of NTBs used in the CU and SES according to UNCTAD’s approach and based on a survey of enterprises to determine the restrictive impact of NTBs on mutual trade and the impact that they have on the value of exported goods and services. When classifying NTBs from the list of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), it was found that the greatest number of NTBs in the CU and SES are for sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers, price control measures and measures affecting competition. There were also many measures relating to subsidies and restrictions on government procurement. The SES list does not contain measures relating to restrictions on marketing and post-sales service, nor to trade defence measures.
Nevertheless, during the survey a number of enterprises indicated that such NTBs are used in the CU and SES. This also emphasizes the need to gather more information on barriers and restrictions to trade in goods within the Eurasian integration union. Given the lack of a unified approach to the internationally recognized NTBs in the services sector, this study does not use the classification list of restrictions on trade in services proposed by the EEC. However, barriers contained on this list were used in the survey of financial institutions and the transport sector. Given that the current UNCTAD classification is the most comprehensive and internationally recognized, it would be advisable for the EEC to use it in the future to gather information and create a database on NTBs in mutual trade in goods in the EEU. This database should also include information on normative legal acts of CU and SES countries that introduce particular NTBs. This will facilitate the classification and coding of NTBs, and allow for a more accurate assessment of their impact on trade among member countries.
