World Trades at 2002 en

Syrian Agricultural Trade
2002
National Agriculture Policy Center
With the Support of the FAO Project

GCP/SYR/006/ITA
Damascus, January 2003

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This report was produced by the National Agricultural Policy Center (NAPC) as one of
the outcomes of the effective international co-operation realized under the Project
GCP/SYR/006/ITA “Assistance for Capacity Building through Enhancing Operation of
the National Agricultural Policy Center”.
The Project is executed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
in close coordination with the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform,
counting on the generous financing provided by the Italian Government.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform gratefully acknowledges the support
extended by the Project and especially the long term training and the daily technical
assistance which allowed establishing and making operational the NAPC.
Last but not least the NAPC wishes express warm gratitude to the Ministry of Agriculture
and other Institutions and individuals that made possible this publication by providing
data and information.
3
Foreword
The world is witnessing significant social and economic changes as result of the
new trade environment promoted by the liberalization process activated, at regional
level, by a variety of trade agreements, and, at global level, by the increasing
political and economic relevance of the World Trade Organization.
In recognition of the increasing relevance of international trade for national

development, Syria is promoting foreign trade by increasing its market openness,
promoting the private sector participation in trade, and taking an active stand in
trade negotiations. In particular, Syria has joined the Arab Free Trade area, signed a
number of bilateral trade agreements and is negotiating an Association Agreement
with the European Union. Moreover, it has formally applied for WTO membership.
In support of this endeavor, the National Agricultural Policy Center (NAPC) is

committed to make available periodically a report on Syrian Agricultural Trade (SAT)
documenting agricultural trade trends and policies, with the aim of supporting
research and decision making in the field.
The present issue of SAT was produced by a team of four NAPC researchers,
namely Majd Abdullah, Waficca Hussni, Abeer Munlahasan, and Al Muhannad
Melhim, working under the joint supervision of the Director of the NAPC, Mr. A. El
Hindi, and of the Chief Technical Advisor of the FAO Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA, Mr.
C. Fiorillo. The FAO Project made also available the technical support of two
international consultants, Mr. F. De Filippis and Mr. F. Santucci, and the translation
services of Ms. Asma Matar.
The NAPC management wishes to extend compliments to the readers of this report,
apologizing for inaccuracies that might have been overseen in this first issue. On
this ground, the NAPC welcomes any critic and suggestion useful for improving
future editions.
5
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement..................................................................................................... 3
Foreword .................................................................................................................... 5
Table Of ContentS ...................................................................................................... 7
List Of Abbreviations................................................................................................. 9
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 11
Chapter 1 The World Trade................................................................................... 15
1.1. Principles Of The Trading System Under WTO Rules ..................................... 15
1.2. The Doha Ministerial Conference....................................................................16
1.3. Globalization And Trade ..................................................................................18
1.4. World Trade Development ..............................................................................19
1.5. Leading Exporting And Importing Countries In 1999 And 2000 ....................... 22
Chapter 2 The World Agricultural Trade.............................................................. 23
2.1. Agriculture In The WTO ...................................................................................23
2.2. World Agricultural Trade In 2000 .....................................................................25
2.3. Leading Exporting And Importing Countries Of Agricultural Products In 2000 . 25
2.4. The Agricultural Trade By Region Of Origin And Destination In 2000 .............. 26
Chapter 3 Syrian Trade ......................................................................................... 27
3.1. The Setting Of Syrian Trade Policies...............................................................27
3.1.1. Exchange Rate And Access To Currency Use........................................... 27
3.2. Trade Policies..................................................................................................28
3.3. An Overview Of Total Syrian Trade .................................................................29
Chapter 4 Syrian Agricultural Trade .................................................................... 33
4.1. Agricultural Trade Measures: An Overview ..................................................... 33
4.2. Major Trends In Syrian Agricultural Trade .......................................................34
4.3. Syrian Agricultural Exports ..............................................................................35
4.4. Syrian Agricultural Imports ..............................................................................37
4.5. Syrian Agricultural Terms Of Trade .................................................................39
Chapter 5 Agricultural Agreements With Arab Countries .................................. 41
5.1. The Bilateral Agreements With Lebanon .........................................................41
5.1.1. Trends In Syrian Agricultural Trade With Lebanon .................................... 41
5.2. The Bilateral Agreements With Jordan ............................................................42
5.2.1. Trend Of Syrian Agricultural Trade With Jordan.......................................... 42
5.3. Arab Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) ...............................................................43
5.3.1. The Executive Program Of AFTA ...............................................................44
5.3.2. Trend Of Syrian Agricultural Trade With AFTA Region ............................... 44
5.4. Current Initiatives Towards More Trade Integration With Arab Countries........ 45
5.5. Agreements With Countries Other Than Arab And European Ones.................. 45
Chapter 6 The Syrian Agricultural Trade With The European Union................ 47
6.1. Introduction......................................................................................................47
7
6.2. The EU-Mediterranean Agricultural Trade ...................................................... 48
6.3. Syria-EU Agricultural Trade (1995-1999) ........................................................50
6.4. The Syria-EU Association Agreement .............................................................51
References ............................................................................................................... 53
ANNEX TABLES BY CHAPTER ...................................................................................... 55
8
List of Abbreviations
AA: Association Agreement

AFTA: Arab Free Trade Area
AMS: Aggregate Measures Supports
CEE: Central and Eastern Europe
CIS: Community of Independent States
EU: European Union
GATT: General Agreement on Tariff and Trade
GCC: Gulf Cooperation Council
GDC: General Directorate for Customs
GDP: Gross Domestic Product
MCs: Mediterranean Countries
MFN: Most Favored Nations
NGOs: Non Governmental Organizations
WTO: World Trade Organization
9
Introduction
Introduction
In recent years, the global economy has been sliding into a recession. Developing
countries have seen their economic growth rates plunge. In this context, the growth
in trade has undergone one of the most severe decelerations of the last few
decades, from about 10% in 2000 to about 1% in 2001. Demand for developing
countries’ exports has dropped despite substantial liberalization of trade policies. In
addition, there has been a dramatic shift in the trade pattern of developing countries.
First, there has been a shift away from dependence on commodity exports to a
much greater reliance on manufactured goods and services. Second, the volume of
trade among developing countries has increased significantly.
In this new international framework, a reduction in trade barriers could accelerate
growth, provide stimulus to new forms of productivity, enhance specialization, and
lead to a rapid pace of job creation and poverty reduction around the world. The
international community faces a clear challenge. It must choose between continuing
on the path toward greater openness that has led to increased integration and
prosperity for more than five decades, or to allow the gap in the aftermath of the
WTO meeting in Seattle (1999) to endure. Talks should continue in order to
stimulate a new wave of global prosperity. However, they must also address
problems of income disparity and ensure economic and ecological sustainability.
In the late 90s, Syrian economic policies changed mainly in response to the rapid
transformation of the global economic environment. In agriculture, the new policy
approach has been characterized by a gradual move toward indicative, participatory,
and decentralized planning, without denying the government’s role in promoting
resource allocation. This new orientation stimulates private sector participation,
especially in the processing and marketing of agricultural products. The transition
toward a market economy is aimed at increasing competitiveness on international
markets and enhancing the efficiency of the Syrian agro-business.
The Syrian Government has continued to reduce administrative barriers to trade.
Prospects for private sector investment and imports have continued to improve,
spurred by economic reforms. Liberalization measures have permitted private
exporters to retain foreign exchange earnings in order to finance imports.
Monetary policy remains a passive tool, used almost exclusively to cover fiscal
deficits. All five banks in the country are controlled by the Goverment. Since interest
rates are fixed by law, the Central bank has no independent policy role. Until 1998,
the Syrian Government maintained a multiple exchange rate system. In that year,
the offshore value of the US dollar fluctuated between SP 51 and SP 52.5. The
Government devalued the “neighboring country” rate to SP 46 SP in the beginning
of 1999, as a further step to unify the exchange rates. Total unification happened at
the beginning of 2001, so that all domestic prices are now set on the basis of the
unified exchange rate.
Exchange controls, however, are still strict. Hard currencies can be imported, but not
exported. Private capital outflows are prohibited, unless approved by the Prime
Minister or done under the Investment Law 10. The Ministry of Supply and Internal
Trade maintains controls on the prices of virtually all products, imported or locally
produced, even though this policy is not strictly enforced. The ministry also sets
profit margin ceilings – usually 20% – on private sector imports.
11
Syrian import tariffs are high, expecially for finished and luxury products. They may
exceed 250%, as it happens for passenger cars. Syria has agreed to reduce
customs duties for Arab League members by 10% a year starting from late
November, 1998. Moreover, Syria and Lebanon agreed to reduce customs duties by
25% per year for industrial products, whereas agricultural products have been fully
liberalized with the exception of 17 products which were subject to 50% reduction
starting from 2000 and an annual reduction of 10% in the subsequent years.
Recent Government decisions allowing private firms to transact exports and imports
at the unified exchange rate, as opposed to the overvalued official rate, have
encouraged private trade through official channels. Similar concessions for public
sector companies have enhanced their foreign exchange position.
In the agricultural sector, the production of strategic crops (e.g. cotton and wheat) is
guided by the planning system, procurement prices and limited subsidies on inputs,
such as seeds, fuel, and electricity. Public companies are exporting some of these
strategic products, such as wheat and cotton, at prevailing international prices,
which are lower than the prices paid by public procurement.
Syrian main agricultural exports are raw cotton, sheep, meat, tomatoes, lentils,
grapes, citrus, vegetables, fruits, potatoes, chickpea, and wheat. Main imported
agricultural products are sugar (raw and refined), bananas, rice, maize, barley, tea,
milk powder, coffee, vegetables oils, cake of olives, and canned fish.
The most important markets for Syrian agricultural exports are other Arab countries,
such as the Gulf countries, Lebanon, Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia, together with
some European and Mediterranean countries, such as Italy, Turkey, and Russia.
Imported commodities mainly come from Europe, Latin America, Thailand, Vietnam,
and Egypt.
During the period 1990-2000, the volumes (exports plus imports) of total and
agricultural trade increased. The improvement in agricultural trade is also the result
of the many bilateral and regional trade agreements signed in the recent past with
several countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, and the AFTA group. These
agreements have recently come into force. The Association Agreement between
Syria and the EU is still in the negotiation phase. With respect to multilateral
agreements, Syria is not yet a member of the WTO, but has formally applied for
membership.
This report is organized in six chapters giving a general picture of Syrian trade policy
and trade relationships with the rest of the world, particularly the EU and the Arab
countries.
The first chapter covers the principles of the trading system under WTO rules, the
Doha ministerial conference, many aspects of globalization and trade, and describes
world trade development.
World agricultural trade is the focus of Chapter Two, which describes the peculiar
position of agriculture under the WTO, presents the main agricultural trade flows in
2000 and illustrates the network of agricultural trade.
Chapter Three explains the Syrian trade patterns and policies, the exchange rate
policy, and the share of trade to GDP.
Syrian agricultural trade is addressed in Chapter Four, which deals with current
agricultural trade measures and related policies, non-tariff import constraints,
exchange rate policies, and provides an overview of the Syrian agricultural trade
12
Introduction
flows.
Taking into consideration the close relationship with other Arab countries, Chapter
Five discusses, with special reference to agriculture, the trade agreements with
Lebanon, Jordan, and AFTA, providing quantitative evidences on the related trade
flows, in term of both volume and value.
Finally, Chapter Six illustrates the Syrian agricultural trade with the European Union,
the EU-Mediterranean agricultural trade, and presents data on the Syria-EU
agricultural trade for the years 1995-1999.
13
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
The World Trade
1.1. Principles of the Trading System under WTO Rules

The WTO is the result of long multilateral negotiations at the world level, and its
purpose is to improve the GATT, an agreement that had been in place since 1947.
As far as its ability to promote liberalization is concerned, GATT suffered from three
main shortcomings. First, it was an agreement originally limited to western countries,
with the only exception of Japan. Second, it was weak in ensuring compliance due
to the absence of a formal procedure to enforce its commitments. Third, its
approach to trade policy had become outdated in latter years of its life.
In this context, during the eighties, the need to establish a formal organization
capable of regulating the international trade relations among countries rapidly
increased. As result of the latest, longest, and broadest rounds of GATT
negotiations, the so-called Uruguay Round, the WTO was established in 1994. It is
currently the only international body dealing with trade rules among nations, with an
increasing number of members (143 on July 31st, 2001 – Box 1.1).The three main
objectives of the WTO are:
I. to liberalize international trade;
II. to serve as a forum for trade negotiations;
III. to handle the Dispute Settlement procedure between nations.
Before the establishment of WTO, GATT has tried to introduce rules of commercial
behavior, in order to promote free trade and to reduce the risk of trade wars. The
guiding principles of the GATT approach, then adopted by WTO, to promote
multilateral trade liberalization can be summarized as follows.
Trade without discrimination, or Most Favored-Nation (MFN) clause, which means

that countries cannot discriminate between their trading partners and must grant all
of them the MFN status. In other words, the MFN principle implies that once a
country lowers its trade barriers or opens up a market, it has to do so for the same
goods or services from all its trading partners, whether they are rich or poor, weak or
strong. This principle governs trade in goods, services and in related intellectual
property rights. There are some exceptions to the MFN rule. The most important one
is related to regional agreements, which allows exchanging preferential treatment
among countries adhering to the agreement (NAPC, 2002). Another one is the
possibility of raising “countervailing duties”, i.e. import barriers against products from
specific countries that are considered to behave unfairly, because not complaining
with their international commitments. As far as trade in services is concerned, some
discrimination is allowed, but only under strict conditions.
National treatment: under this principle, each country should treat local and foreign
goods, services, trademarks, copyright and patents equally. National treatment only
applies once a product, a service or an item of intellectual property has entered the
national market.
15
Freer trade: this means lowering trade barriers to encourage trade. Trade barriers
include tariffs, import bans or quotas that restrict quantities selectively and non-tariff
barriers on goods, services, and intellectual property. It is obvious that opening
markets to imported products is beneficial only after the country has made the
required adjustment gradually. In any case, countries have to liberalize their trade
and related systems in order to fulfill their obligations toward WTO.
Predictability and transparency: this is a general principle, which is very important

for encouraging investment, creating jobs, and to pass the benefits of competition
(many choices, and lower prices) to consumers. The multilateral trading system
aims at making the economic environment stable and conducive, improving
predictability and transparency in several ways. In the particular case of market
access, this means to accept only tariffs as policy instrument, prohibiting the use of
quantitative restrictions and other non-tariff-barriers to restrict imports. More
generally, predictability and transparency call for a set of multilateral trade rules as
clear and fair as possible.
Promoting fair competition: This goal is pursued by reducing trade distortion, not
only by decreasing tariffs, but also by enforcing rules against dumping and subsidies
(especially export subsidies) that distort competitiveness.
Encouraging development and economic reform: WTO recognizes the need for
developing and least developed countries to reform their economic system and for
being active and more effective in international trade system. Therefore, in the WTO
these countries are granted special treatment and are allowed to implement their
international commitments with more flexibility. Since over three quarters of the
members of WTO are developing countries, which are showing an increasing
negotiating capacity, one of the most urgent items on the WTO agenda is to
effectively address the issues concerning development, in order to facilitate the
effective integration of these countries in international trade.
1.2. The Doha Ministerial Conference

WTO holds regular ministerial conferences, every two years. The last one was held
in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. The previous one had been the famous Seattle
(USA) conference in 1999, which ended up in failure, being also marked by the birth
of the anti-globalization movement.
The Doha conference did not succeeded in launching the so-called “millennium
round”, i.e. a comprehensive round on all the emerging issues (development,
environment, and labor standards), but an agreement was reached on a mandate
for negotiations on a relatively wide range of subjects. Moreover, this mandate
includes all the relevant issues concerning the implementation of the previous
agreements, as explicitly requested by many less developed countries.
The Doha ministerial declaration was adopted on 14 November 2001. It covers
several items that had been previously discussed as well as new issues. It
reaffirmed some commitments and recognized the importance of some objectives
related to sustainable development. The following are some of the main points of the
Doha declaration1:
1
The full text of Doha Declaration can be downloaded at the WTO website (www.WTO.org), where a large amount
of information, documents and papers is available.
16
Chapter 1
I. it is fully recognized that the multilateral trading system contributed

significantly to economic growth, development and employment throughout
the past fifty years. Consequently, the Doha Declaration confirms the
objective of maintaining and reinforcing the process of reform and
liberalization of trade policies;
II. it insists on the major role that can be played by international trade in
promoting economic development and alleviating poverty. Since the majority
of WTO members are developing countries, the Declaration seeks to give
adequate space to their needs and interests within the Work Program
adopted for the next round. Moreover, WTO should continue to make
positive efforts to ensure that developing countries and least developed
countries are secured with a share in the growth of world trade
commensurate with the needs of their economic development;
III. it stresses the importance of regional trade agreements in promoting
liberalization and trade expansion and in fostering development;
IV. it notes with particular satisfaction the completed WTO accession
procedures for China and Taiwan, and welcomes the accession of new
members since the previous session.
The Work Program of Doha ministerial conference deals with a huge number of
subjects and issues, according to the following list:
• Agriculture
• Services
• Market access for non-agricultural products
• Trade related aspects of intellectual property rights
• Relationship between trade and investment
• Interaction between trade and competition policy
• Transparency in Government procurement
• Trade facilitation
• WTO rules
• Dispute settlement understanding
• Electronic commerce
• Small economies
• Trade, debt and finance
• Trade and transfer of technology
• Technical cooperation and capacity building
• Special and differential treatment of least-developed countries
• Organization and management of the Work Program.
With respect to the agenda agreed at Doha Ministerial conference, it is worth noting
the concerns of developing countries about new issues to be included in the WTO.
For a long time, the EU, Japan and USA have tried to include new issues in the
mandate of the WTO, such as labor and environmental standards, foreign
17
investment, competition and transparency in state trading enterprises of developing

countries. These new issues raised the serious concerns of many developing
countries and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), because they could result in
the creation of onerous obligations for poorer and weaker countries. In particular, a
potential risk was pointed out by developing countries, in terms of opening their
market to foreign investment with a small censorship and control by the
Governments, with the possible consequence that local firms, which are small and
weak compared with the foreign ones, could find it hard to survive. Furthermore, it
would be very difficult for Governments to design domestic policies in economic and
social areas and national sovereignty could be compromised.
More precisely, the concerns pointed out by developing countries on these new
issues can be described by the following:
I. the WTO is a multilateral organization that makes and enforces rules
concerning trade liberalization. It should stick to its mandate for dealing with
trade issues;
II. the traditional GATT principles, such as reciprocity, transparency, national
treatment, and non-discrimination, were created for a regime only dealing
with trade issues, and may not be suitable when applied to non-trade issues;
III. developed countries would like to bring many non-trade issues into WTO, not
because this would strengthen the trade system, but only because they want
to make use of the enforcement system of WTO. The risk is that the
application of WTO principles to developing countries could produce a great
disadvantage for them, especially in terms of losing their economic
sovereignty, and their ability to make national policies of their own on
economic, financial, social and political ground;
IV. as the new issues heavily favor developed countries, the WTO system would
become even more unbalanced and inequitable.
1.3. Globalization and Trade

GATT had been playing an important role in organizing the trade relations among
nations for at least four decades. Since 1995, with the conclusion of the Uruguay
round of GATT, WTO has been handling these issues by providing a framework for
conducting trade relations in a world characterized by much complexity and
interdependence.
Over the last 50 years, i.e. since the establishment of the international trade system,
the total output has increased seventeen fold, while the foreign investment
increased fivefold in the last decades (WTO, 1999).
Due to the GATT action and to the new rules applied by WTO, many trade barriers
have been removed or kept at lower level. In agriculture, this is not only represented
by removing or reducing tariffs and other trade restrictions, but also by applying new
standards and regulations in terms of market access and subsidies given to
exporters or to farmers. Moreover, WTO competence is rapidly expanding to include
trade in services, investments, international competition and intellectual property
rights. In general, the overall objective is to support globalization by bringing nations
closer, in encouraging communications and in improving telecommunication
information by setting a special regulation in WTO rules.
As far as agriculture is concerned, WTO rules focus on three major areas, which will
be described in the following chapter:
18
Chapter 1
• Market access;
• Domestic support;
• Export subsidies.
Trade liberalization can produce very high benefits in the long-run, but the
adjustment needed may be painful and costly in the short run. This is particularly
true for developing countries, due to the policy adjustments needed to complain with
the new international trade system. These structural changes can cause stress and
disturbance and can create needs for dramatic changes in the internal resource
allocation. For other countries, a mismatch between their potential skills or
capacities and the demands coming from the free market economy may put
incomes under pressure. Many worries have also been raised in connection to the
potential costs of trade liberalization, increasing globalization, technology-driven
interdependence and economic specialization.
Nevertheless, this multilateral trading system based on trade liberalization is
expected to contribute to the improvement of standards of living, employment,
economic growth, and welfare. In this framework, the benefits from globalization
should be widely spread among nations, but many countries and many actors, such
as NGOs and other interest groups representing the so-called “civil society”, do not
share this optimistic vision.
Actually many concerns are emerging about the potential negative implications of an
increased trade and international competition for the quality of the environment and
the relationship between trade and labor legislation. Worries have also been
expressed with regard to the implications of globalization for national sovereignty
and the capacity of societies to exercise choice and determine their own future. This
resulted in the birth of the anti-globalization movements.
As a matter of fact, a number of different actors act within the anti-globalization
movements in both developing and developed countries, from the traditional
protectionist interest groups to the environmentalist movements, and all are showing
a strong resistance to further expansion of world trade. Now, these groups have
turned their argument and pointed out that corporate-driven global trade practices
create a breeding ground for unequal trade that has resulted in poverty and
inequality. Therefore, greater attention than in the past will be needed in order to
ensure that globalization will effectively benefit the masses of workers and
consumers throughout the world, and not only a few multinational companies or a
limited number of stakeholders of developed countries.
1.4. World Trade Development

The world trade has largely expanded between 1999 and 2000. The value of world
merchandise exports went up by 10%, increasing from US$ 5.6 trillion in 1999 to
US$ 6.2 trillion in 2000 (Table 1.1). This was a “real” growth, since it was largely due
to the increase in the volume of exports and only for a minor part to the increase of
prices. Western Europe recorded the highest exports value, reflected in a share on
world export of 39.5%, followed by Asia (26.7%) and North America (17.1%). Latin
America, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)/Baltic States/ Community of
Independent States (CIS), Africa and Middle East have a small share of world
exports, ranging between 2.5 and 5.8% (Table 1.1).
19
The same trend is obviously observed for total imports2 (Table 1.2). At regional level
Western Europe has again the highest share of world imports (39.6%), followed by
North America and Asia, with a share of 23.2% and 22.8 % respectively.
In 2000, total export value significantly exceeded total import value both in Middle
East, where exports were estimated at US$ 263 billions corresponding to a share of
4.3% on world exports, and in the transition economies, where exports reached US$
271 billions at (4.4%).
Over the period 1990-2000, value of world trade increased by about 80%. Trade
flows expanded in absolute terms in all regions, but the variable speed of the
relative growth is reflected in declining or increasing share of different regions on
world imports and exports (Tables 1.1 and 1.2).
The highest export growth during the 90s was registered for the groups CEE/Baltic
States/CIS (157.1%), Latin America (144.6%) and North America (102.8%). In the
same period, Western Europe maintained the highest exports share despite the
significant decline due to the slower growth during the decade (Table 1.1).
Noticeably, the faster exporting regions have been also registered higher import
growth: 198% for Latin America, 135% for North America and 113% for CEE/Baltic
States/CIS.
For the Middle East region growth was significantly higher for export (+96%) than
import (+72%), as shown by opposite the trends registered for the relevant shares:
increasing on export, decreasing on import.
Large variability can be observed in exports of manufactured and raw goods among
regions, over the period of 1997-2000 (Table 1.3). Western Europe is the first
exporter of manufactured goods, while Middle East is first for non-agricultural raw
material, reflecting the importance in oil export. Western Europe is first also for
agricultural raw materials followed by North America. Noticeably Asia is second in
export of both manufactured and total raw materials.
On the import side, in 2000 Western Europe was in the first position in almost all
categories of goods except fuels, where Asia became first. Asia was second in all
other imports except manufactured good, for which North America, which was third
for all raw materials, remains second as result of a sustained growth. Noticeably,
Middle East has the least weight on raw imports, while Africa is last for
manufactured goods (Table 1.4).
2
The difference between import and export value at world level is only due to the fact that imports is comprehensive
of the Cost Insurance and Freight costs (valued CIF), while exports are valued FOB (Free On Board).
20
Chapter 1
WTO MEMBERSHIP (July 2002)

Albania Fiji Malawi
Angola Finland Malaysia
Antigua and Barbuda France Maldives
Argentina Gabon Mali
Austria Gambia Malta
Bahrain Georgia Mauritania
Bangladesh Namibia Mauritius
Barbados Germany Mexico
Belgium Ghana Moldova
Belize Greece Mongolia
Benin Grenada Morocco
Bolivia Guinea Bissau Mozambique
Botswana Guinea, Republic of Myanmar
Brazil Guyana Netherlands
Brunei Darussalam Haiti New Zealand
Bulgaria Honduras Nicaragua
Burkina Faso Hong Kong, China Niger
Burundi Hungary Nigeria
Cameroon Iceland Norway
Canada India Pakistan
Chad Indonesia Panama
Chile Ireland Papua New Guinea
Colombia Israel Paraguay
Congo, Dem. Republic Italy Peru
Costa Rica Jamaica Philippines
Cote d’Ivoire Japan Poland
Croatia Jordan Portugal
Cuba Kenya Qatar
Cyprus Korea, Republic of Romania
Czech Republic Kuwait Rwanda
Denmark Kyrgyz Republic St. Kitts and Nevis
Djibouti Latvia St. Lucia
Dominican Republic Lesotho St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Ecuador Liechtenstein Senegal
Egypt Lithuania Sierra Leone
El Salvador Luxembourg Singapore
Estonia Macau, China Slovak Republic
European Union Madagascar
21
1.5. Leading Exporting and Importing Countries in 1999 and 2000

In 1999 and 2000, the leading ten exporters remained nearly the same. The USA
has the first position followed by Germany, Japan, France, United Kingdom and
Canada. It is worth noting the substantial growth of China, which in 2000 reached
the seventh position, with a total export value of US$ 249.3 billion, and an annual
growth of 28% (Table 1.5), whereas in the previous year its exports valued
US$195.2 billion, with an annual growth of 6% (Table1.6).
The Russian Federation achieved an even better performance, with its exports
increased by US$31 billions (+42%). This improved the position of the Russian
Federation in the ranking of the leading exporting countries, from the twentieth to the
seventeenth position, corresponding to a 2% share on world exports (Table 1.5).
Also noticeable are the good positions of Asian exporters, such as Hong Kong,
Korea, Taipei, Singapore, and Malaysia (Table 1.6). In particular, Hong Kong’s
exports reached US$ 202.4 billions (3.33 % of total world exports), reaching the
tenth position. Singapore has the fifteenth position among major exporters with US$
138 billions (Table 1.5).
As far as imports are concerned, USA is the major importing country, followed by
Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Italy. This situation did not
change from 1999 to 2000.
Asian countries are also big importers. Hong Kong, China, Korea and Singapore
have high import value and high share of world imports, ranging between 3.3% for
Hong Kong, and 2.1% for Singapore.
China, which had the seventh position as an exporter, had the eighth position as an
importer in 2000. In 1999, China imports were US$ 166 billions and its share of the
world imports was 2.8% with annual change of 18% (Table1.7). Its imports in 2000
increased to US$ 225 billions (Table 1.8).
22
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The World Agricultural Trade
2.1. Agriculture in the WTO

Agriculture has traditionally been granted special status within GATT, so that non-
tariff measures and subsidies were allowed before the conclusion the Uruguay
Round. The latter established the WTO and included comprehensive provisions on
agricultural trade and related policies. The so-called Agriculture Agreement3 aims at
reforming trade in agriculture in order to enhance predictability and security for both
importing and exporting countries. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the
agreement on agriculture covers three main areas: market access, domestic
supports, and export subsidies.
In the area of market access, all the non-tariff measures, such as quotas, import
licenses and other non-tariff border measures have been converted into their “tariff
equivalent”, through a process known as “tariffication”. These tariffs have to be
reduced gradually over time. Developing countries have a special treatment both in
the (lower) percentage of this reduction and in the (longer) time of implementation.
The newly committed tariffs and tariff quotas covering all agricultural products, took
effect in 1995. Uruguay Round participants agreed that developed countries would
cut the tariff (the higher out of quota rates in the case of tariff quotas) by an average
of 36%, in equal steps over six years. Developing countries were committed to 24%
cuts over 10 years. Several developing countries also used the option of offering
ceiling tariff rates in cases where duties were not “bound” before the Uruguay
Round4. Least developing countries do not have to cut their tariffs at all. For
products whose non–tariff restrictions have been converted to tariffs, Governments
are allowed to adopt emergency measures able to prevent the adverse effects of
swiftly falling prices or surges in imports (safeguard clause). The agreement
specifies when and how those measures can be introduced.
Domestic support component of the agreement deals with policies that distort
competition and encourage over-production by increasing domestic prices or
subsidizing production in some other way. These policies reduce imports or
subsidize exports and lead to lower prices on world markets. The agricultural
agreement distinguished between support programs that directly stimulate
production (coupled policies), which have to be reduced over time, and those that
are considered to have no direct effect (decoupled), which are not affected. In order
to know how much the coupled policies have to be cut, the WTO members agreed
on a methodology to calculate the support derived from this type of measures. All
supports measures have been listed and quantified, in order to have one final
3
The Agreement on agriculture is part of the agreement resulting from the Uruguay Round of negotiation launched
in 1986 and concluded after seven and half years in Marrakech in 1994. As mentioned in the previous chapter, this
round brought about the largest reform of the world trading system since the establishment of the GATT at the end
of the Second World War, including the setting up of the WTO that replaced the GATT itself.
4
The “bound” tariff indicates the level of the tariff that is included in the market access schedules of each country:
they are “bound” in the sense that they represent the maximum applicable level of the tariff, which cannot be
increased by a country without the consensus of all members of WTO. For developing countries the bound rates are
generally the rates actually charged.
23
indicator summarizing the aggregate level of national support to agriculture in the

baseline period 1986-1988. This indicator is called Aggregate Measures Supports
(total AMS). Also in this case different treatments applied to developing and
developed countries. Developed countries had to reduce their support “represented
by the figure of total AMS” by 20% over six years, while developing countries had to
reduce their supports (total AMS) by 13% over 10 years. Least developed countries
were not committed to reducing their domestic supports.
Usually, Government uses the domestic support in order to achieve the following
main purposes:
I. supporting farmers’ income;
II. ensuring a food production adequate to satisfy the country’s needs;
III. shielding farmers and consumers from the negative effects of instability of
domestic production and fluctuation in world prices;
IV. to preserve rural society.
These policies are very expensive in terms of budget. Moreover, they distort very
much the world market and make competition unfair among countries. The
agricultural agreement classified these policies into three groups indicated as
“boxes”:
I. green box, including policies that are permitted because do not have any
distortion effects or cause minimal distortion;
II. blue box, including policies exempted from the general despite consisting of
subsidies at least indirectly linked to production and that should be reduced
or kept within defined minimal levels. It covers payment directly linked to
acreage or animal numbers, but under schemes that also limit production by
imposing production quotas or requiring farmers to set aside part of their
land;
III. amber box, including prohibited policies of support that distort production and
trade. The total value of these measures is embodied in the AMS, and must
be reduced according to the above mentioned percentages.
As far as export subsidies are concerned, the agreement prohibits export subsidies
on agricultural products unless they are specified in a member’s list of commitments.
The agricultural agreement requires WTO members to cut both the amount of
money spent on export subsidies and the quantities of exports that receive
subsidies. WTO defined the base level to be cut as the average of subsidies that a
country was giving in the base period 1986-90. Developed countries have agreed to
cut the value of export subsidies by 36 % over six years, starting in 1995 (24% over
ten years for developing countries). Furthermore, developed countries agreed to
reduce the quantities of subsidized exports by 21% over six years (14% over 10
years for developing countries). Least developed countries do not need to make any
cut .
A major problem in this area is that some developing countries have been highly
dependent on supplies of cheap food, derived from the subsidized exports of the
major industrialized nations. They include some of the poorest countries and,
although their farming sectors might receive a boost from higher prices, they might
need temporary assistance to make the necessary adjustments needed in order to
deal with higher priced imports.
24
Chapter 2
2.2. World Agricultural Trade in 2000

Agricultural trade fluctuated heavily since 1980, with an annual average variation of -
2% during the period of 1980-1985, and increased up to 9% in the period 1985-
1990. This high growth reflects a considerable increase in agricultural output. In the
following period 1990-00, the annual rate of change decreased noticeably (3%)
remaining on average positive. In recent years (1998, 1999, 2000), the agricultural
trade recovered from a negative growth, first reducing and then inverting the
negative trend (Table 2.1).
Latin America is characterized by the highest share of agricultural products on total
exports (18.4%), followed by Africa (12.9%) and North America (10%). The Middle
East recorded the lowest share of agricultural products on total export (2.4%).
Conversely, on the import side, with a share of 13.2% of agricultural products on
total, it is second only to Africa (15.1%).
In terms of share of agricultural products on primary exports, North America stands
first (85.2%), followed by Western Europe, Asia and Latin America. In terms of share
of agricultural products on total primary import, the Middle East recorded the highest
share (59.9%) and North America the lowest one.
Western Europe, Latin and North America traditionally controlled a large part of the
world trade in agricultural products. In 2000, the agricultural exports from Western
Europe were estimated at US$230 billion, equivalent to 41.2% of world agricultural
exports. Asia also plays an important role with agriculture exports estimated at
US$107 billions in 2000 corresponding to an 11% increase compared to the
previous year. As result, its share on world exports increased from 17.4% in 1999 to
19.2% in 2000. The Middle East controlled the smallest share of agricultural export,
estimated at US$ 6 billions in 2000, showing high variability during the last 2 years.
2.3. Leading Exporting and Importing Countries of Agricultural

Products in 2000
The United States is by large the first exporter of agricultural products, with a value
estimated at US$71 billions and an increase of 7% on the previous year. It is
noticeable that the export value of the second major exporter, France, was US$37
billion, i.e. almost half of the value registered for US exports. Canada, the
Netherlands, Germany and Belgium follow with export values ranging between US$
35 and US$ 20 billion. Change in their relative position has been quite relevant as
shown by the comparison between shares in world export in 1999 and 2000. All
these countries registered a contraction of exports in 2000, except Canada, whose
exports increased by 7% in 2000 and 4% in 1999. Spain, United Kingdom, China,
Australia, and Italy showed similar value of agricultural exports in 2000 with share in
world agricultural exports close to 3%. Among these countries, China shows the
highest annual growth in 2000 (15%). (Table 2.4)
The USA has the first position also among importing countries, with a total imports
value of US$ 67 billions in 2000. As an importer, the USA is closely followed by
Japan with US$62 billions, resulting from an average annual growth of 2% over the
last decade. Many European countries are very important importers too. Germany is
third with US$ 42 billions (6.9% of world agricultural imports in 2000). France is the
fifth importer with US$30 billions (5% of world agricultural imports). Asian countries
(China, Korea, Hong Kong) account together for a substantial share of agricultural
imports at world level. China is eighth among major importers with US$ 20 billions
25
and a share of 3.2%, resulting from an annual increase of 41% in 2000. Another
important importing Asian country is Korea, with US$13 billion. The Russian
Federation has the lowest agricultural imports value among the first fifteen major
importing countries. Its imports value is estimated at US$10 billions with 1.6 % of
world agricultural imports, and -7% annual changes in 2000. (Table 2.5)
2.4. The Agricultural Trade by Region of Origin and Destination in 2000

World agricultural trade has increased from US$ 414.2 billions in 1990, to US$
576.7 billions in 1995, and remained almost stagnant from 1995 to 2000, when it
reached US$ 558.3 billions.
The trade within the North American region increased, almost doubling between
1990 and 2000, with an increase of nearly US$16 billions. Agricultural trade
originating from the region increased remarkably as well, reaching a maximum in
1995 and a minimum in 1999 with US$ 99.8 billions (Table 2.6).
Also agricultural trade originating in Latin America recorded a remarkable increase,
reaching US$ 66 billions in 2000. The intra-region agricultural trade increased in
1990s, as it was estimated at US$ 4.5 billions in 1990 and US$ 11.6 billions in 2000.
In spite of that increase in intra-regional trade, Latin American agricultural exports to
Western Europe remained high, increasing from US$ 13.3 billions in 1990 to US$
18.3 billions in 2000. Accordingly, Western Europe can be considered the main
partner of Latin America in agricultural trade (Table 2.6).
The agricultural trade originating in Western European countries increased from
US$ 187 billions in 1990 to 230 billions in 2000. Western Europe agricultural trade is
fairly dominated by intra-region trade, which reached US$ 174.2 billions in 2000,
down from the maximum of US$ 190.2 billions in 1995. The second partner is Asia,
with agricultural export estimated at US$ 14.7 billion. North America was the main
destination with US$ 12.9 billion.
The transition economies experienced an increase in their agricultural trade during
the 90s, when their exports, estimated at US$12.6 billions in 1990, almost doubled
reaching US$ 24.2 billions in 2000. Their main partner is Western Europe; the
second is Asia. Intra-trade in this region has been developing quite rapidly.
African agricultural trade was significant, estimated at US$ 16.3 billions in 1999 and
increased up to US$18.6 billions in 2000. The main partner is Western Europe, with
an export estimated at US$ 10 billions in 1990 and US$10.4 billions in 2000, that
exceeds by large the intra regional trade.
The Middle East situation is similar to the one of Africa. Its main partner is Western
Europe, but its intra regional trade has been growing quite rapidly.
Asia’s world agricultural trade is comparable to that of North America, estimated at
US$ 72 billions in 1990 and 107.2 billions in 2000. The main partner in agricultural
trade is also in this case Western Europe, followed by North America, but its exports
to other regions are relatively low. Meanwhile, intra-trade in this region is very high
and is estimated at US$ 67.2 billions in 2000.
26
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Syrian Trade
3.1. The Setting of Syrian Trade Policies

During the 80s, Syria witnessed a period of persistent economic hardship, which
resulted in economic imbalances, with particularly severe effects on foreign
accounts. This undesirable situation forced the Syrian Government to restore tight
controls on the external trade, particularly on imports, in order to cut down the
outflow of hard currency. A number of strict regulations, partly pre-existing but
progressively relaxed, were implemented. The most important were the following:
I. limiting most import and export to Governmental and public agencies, and
tightly linking imports to the availability of export revenues often at the level
of individual companies;
II. pre-planning the amounts of exports (based on estimates of production and
domestic consumption) and imports, within the framework of annual plans;
III. applying multiple exchange rates, as an instrument to manage domestic
prices and tariffs on the basis of economic and social consideration.
These measures proved inadequate to cope with the growing external and
budgetary imbalances that became unsustainable in the second half of the ’80. The
Syrian Government responded by initiating a process of gradual reform of its
economic regime.
The following sections provide an overall description of the present policy settings
related to trade as shaped by the reform process, while some more details on
agricultural trade policy will be given in a separate section of the next chapter, which
covers Syrian agricultural trade.
3.1.1. Exchange Rate and Access to Currency Use

The determination of exchange rates in Syria is still to some extent in the hand of
the Government, and represents the most important macroeconomic policy affecting
the Syrian economy as a whole. In the 80s and early 90s, a system of multiple
exchange rates was effectively used as an alternative policy tool to import and
export subsidies and tariffs, and as an instrument for stabilizing prices of imported
goods and limiting import to essential commodities. In particular, as far as the
agricultural and food sectors are concerned, the use of overvalued exchange rates
contributed to domestic producers’ income by subsidizing imported inputs.
The evolution of exchange rate policy during the last decade suggests that an
increasing policy orientation toward the unification of different rates has taken place.
In 1992 a gradual devaluation of some exchange rates has been implemented,
particularly the exchange rates related to inputs, with the objective of bringing them
to their free market equivalents (Table 3.1). More recently, the Government made a
great effort and a substantial progress in minimizing exchange rates distortions.
The result of the unification and devaluation processes is clearly represented by the
decreasing difference between the official exchange rate and the prevailing market
one.
27
The unification of the exchange rates relevant for agricultural inputs started in the
late 80s. In 1992, the exchange rate at which pesticides had to be imported was
raised from 11.25 to 422 SP/US$ (neighboring countries rate). In 1999, an
adjustment of similar magnitude followed with respect to the exchange rate at which
fertilizers were imported. In 2000 all remaining exchange rates were adjusted from
the previous value of SP/US$ 11.25 to 46.5.
One last important point is that the Syrian Government has recently allowed Syrian
and foreign citizens to sell foreign exchange to the Commercial Bank of Syria at the
prevailing market rate.
A parallel set of measures, whose aim was to control foreign currency use,
accompanied the reform of the exchange rate policy. According to these measures,
exporters are required to sell a variable share from 0 to 50% (depending on the
product) of the export revenues at the official exchange rate and are allowed to use
the export revenues in one of the following ways:
I. to import permitted goods;
II. to sell the foreign currency to other dealers on the so called export revenues
market or to the Commercial Bank of Syria;
III. to save it in a foreign currency account held at the Commercial Bank of
Syria.
Moreover, in this framework importers should prove that the foreign currency
needed for imports is either earned from exports or available to them abroad as
cash or credit.
3.2. Trade Policies

The economic liberalization started in 1987 aimed at promoting private sector's
contribution to both domestic production and external trade, which until that date
had been largely monopolized by the public sector. Equally important, the new
policy approach called for the gradual move toward indicative, more participatory
and decentralized planning, without taking away from the Government the role of
guiding resource allocation.
The private sector was allowed to import all inputs, machinery and spare parts
through self-financing of such imports. Similarly, public sector enterprises were
authorized to import inputs using their export revenues in hard currencies.
Accordingly, public and private sector exporting companies were allowed to open
accounts in foreign currency and deposit their export earning to be used in financing
imports.
The Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade is responsible for regulating and
supervising the import and export activities. In the past, it operated through the
Export Committee, including a number of concerned Ministers and chaired by the
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs (established under legislative decree no.
19 of 1986). This Committee was responsible for designing the export plan,
identifying the commodities to be exported by each organization or Ministry, and
supervising its implementation by all concerned organizations, with special
reference to state controlled firms. A special office chaired by the Minister of
Economy followed up the activity of the Export Committee in implementing the
export plan, and supervised all the export process. The Export Committee was
operating in close coordination with the Export Rationalization Committee, the
Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade and the Supreme Agricultural Council till
28
Chapter 3
their recent abolishment, Nowadays the special office has assumed the functions of
the Export Committee and reports directly to the Cabinet.
As far as foreign trade regulations are concerned, they are mainly related to the
agricultural sector and they will be better explained in the next chapter. However,
they can be briefly summarized as follows:
I. imports of a number of commodities are prohibited, both for economic
reasons, in order to protect domestic production from international
competition, or for security or religious reasons;
II. imports and exports of some products are restricted to public agencies;
III. an import or export license must be obtained for all traded products;
IV. imports have to be financed from export earnings. Hence, importers are
required to prove the source of their foreign exchange before getting an
import license;
V. imports are restricted to countries of origin; and
VI. imported and exported commodities should comply with approved
specifications and certificates of compliance from relevant authorities should
be obtained in advance.
Financing foreign trade is confined to the Commercial Bank of Syria, which is a
public body. The role of the Bank is limited to support exports and to control foreign
currency use. It does not directly finance imports but its role is important as a
regulator of the export revenue market, where importers can legally acquire foreign
currency coming from export revenues, in order to finance imports.
On the other side, export loans are granted within a maximum of 30-80% of the
value of exported commodities, taking export contracts, letters of credits, or shipping
documents as collaterals. Export loans cannot exceed the ceiling of 30 millions SP
and the interest rates applied range between 17 and 20% annually.
3.3. An Overview of Total Syrian Trade5

Volume6 of Syrian total trade grew from SP 82 billions in 1993 to SP 98 billions in
2000 at an annual average growth rate of 2.6% (Table 3.2). Trade Volume growth
was only a result of export expansion. Indeed, total export increased from 35 billions
SP in 1993 to 53 billions SP in 2000, at an average rate of 5.9% per year, compared
to a contraction of import over the same period from 46 to 45 billions SP,
corresponding to an average annual growth rate of -0.3%.
Table 3.2 also shows the great variability characterizing both exports and imports,
and hence total trade, during the period 1993-2000. Some encouraging
improvements are observed in some years, as in 1994, when total Syrian trade
experienced a very good recovery, and some opposite cases, such as in 1998,
when Syrian trade had the deepest fallback. It is important to note the boost of the
value of Syrian trade in 2000, which is not only due to the devaluation of the official
exchange rate used for accounting import-export. Indeed, the data sterilized from
the devaluation of the accounting exchange rate show increases of +34% for the
5
Trade values expressed in SP show a significant increase in the year 2000, due to the devaluation of the official
exchange rate from SP/US$ 11,25 to 46.5. In the text and in the annexed tables, trade values for the year 2000
were converted from US$ to SP using the old exchange rate whenever needed to allow comparability with previous
years and meaningful calculation of trend indicators (e.g., growth rates).
6
Trade volume is here defined as sum of import and export values
29
exports and +6% for the imports.

Between 1993 and 1999, total trade balance remained negative. The maximum
trade deficit occurred in 1994, mainly because of the booming imports, while the
minimum deficit took place in 1997, as result of substantial shrinking of imports
accompanied by a limited exports’ contraction. This shows some evidence of
negative correlation between trade balance and import trends, with the former
improving in presence of a contraction of the latter, and a less clear influence of
exports variations, at least until 1997. On the contrary, trade balance slump in 1998
seems mainly related to the strong contraction of exports, as it is the case of the
balance improvements registered in the following two years, when export improved
significantly in presence of a slow dynamics of import, leading to a significant
positive trade balance in 2000 for the first time after many years. In fact, the
Standardized Trade Balance7shows an improvement from -14.8% in 1998 to +7.4%
in 2000.
The structure of both Syrian total exports and imports by major economic sectors
suggests a case of “one sector dominance”. On export side (Tables 3.3 and 3.4),
mining and quarrying products are the main exports to the world. Syrian exports
became more dependent on this category of products over recent years as it
accounted for 68% in 2000, while the share of the other sectors has been
deteriorating.
On import side (Tables 3.5 and 3.6), the picture is similar, with a strong
concentration due to the high share of manufactured products. However, this share
showed a slightly declining trend and became 88% in 2000.
Agricultural exports declined in absolute and relative terms over the past two years,
mainly as effect of the harsh drought. On the contrary, export of manufactured
products shows a significant improvement in the year 2000, inverting the negative
trend observed in relative and especially absolute terms in the previous year. Food
and beverage exports accounted for 9% of total manufactured exports, which is the
lowest share in the whole period 1993-2000. Textile and processing industries
products8 are the main items manufactured exports, and their values increased in
2000 (Tables 3.3 and 3.4).
Agricultural imports' share on total imports has been consistently increasing over the
last years. Food and beverage imports declined to 13% of total manufactured
imports after the maximum registered in relative and absolute terms on 1999. The
other main manufactured imports are usually chemicals, machinery and basic
metals (Tables 3.5 and 3.6).
As far as the geographical distribution of the Syrian foreign trade is concerned, it
can be noted that it is very much concentrated. Actually, two main areas that
represent the traditional markets absorb 80% of Syrian exports for the whole period
1993-2000. The EU has continued to be the most important export partner, receiving
58% of Syrian exports. The second most important export market is the group of
Arab countries, receiving 21% of Syrian goods. Recently, however, new markets,
mainly in Asia, have been opening to Syrian exports and their share increased from
3% in 1993 to 11% in 2000 (Table 3.7).
7
The Standardized Trade Balance is defined as ratio of trade balance (exports minus imports) to trade volume
(imports plus exports).
8
This includes coke and refined petroleum products.
30
Chapter 3
On the other hand, countries of origin of imported goods are more geographically
differentiated. The EU still represents the main origin of Syrian imports, although its
weight has decreased in the last years from 39 to 29%. Over the last years, Arab
countries have been improving their presence on Syrian market, while also other
regions, such as Asia and Eastern Europe, can be still considered important
suppliers (Table 3.8).
A closer look at individual country level, confirms the increasing geographical
concentration of Syrian exports. In the period 1993-1995, four countries, namely
Italy, France, Lebanon and Spain, accounted for 58% of total Syrian exports (Table
3.9). In the period 1998-2000, export markets became even more concentrated, with
65% of goods going to only four countries, namely Italy, France, Turkey, and Saudi
Arabia (Table 3.10).
As far as imports are concerned, the first four countries of origin represented 31% of
Syrian imports in the periods 1993-1995 and 24% in 1998-2000 respectively.
Germany, Italy and USA are among the four most important countries of origin of
goods imported into Syria in both periods considered (Tables 3.11 and 3.12).
31
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
4.1. Agricultural Trade Measures: An Overview

Before 1987, all import and export operations were strictly controlled by the State.
Starting from 1987, as already mentioned in the previous chapters, a process of
gradual economic liberalization was undertaken, aiming at promoting private
sector’s contribution to both production and external trade. Public and private
exporting companies have been allowed to open accounts in foreign currency, in
order to deposit their export earnings to be used in financing imports. However,
there are still some restrictions on the use of foreign currency, which have been
reviewed in chapter three. Other main tariff and non-tariff trade measures can be
summarized as follows:
Custom tariffs, applied at rates that differ from one commodity to the other according
to the “custom tariff table” issued by the General Directorate for Customs (GDC)
under decree no. 265 of May 9th 2001. These tariffs range between 1% and 150% of
the value mentioned in the import invoice and converted in SP according to a set of
exchange rates (known as “custom exchange rates” or “custom dollar”, and
differentiated by commodity according to social and economic considerations).
The Unified tax on import, a comprehensive additional tax including a set of fees
(defense, consumption, school, statistics, harbor, sea transport, and import & export
license). It is imposed on all imported goods, with some exceptions according to
Law no.1/1980. This tax is imposed as a percentage of the value of the good, and is
paid together with the custom tariff mentioned above. It ranges from 6% to 35% and
increases with custom tariff rate. The unified tax on import is reduced according to
the following schedule:
- 1% reduction (relative to consumption fee) for goods that are exempted or
subject to a 1% custom tariff, and 4% reduction for goods that are subject to
custom tariffs above 1%;
- 4% reduction relative to the statistics fee;
- 2% reduction relative to import or export licensing fee;
- 0.02% exemption from the sea transport fee.
The harmonized custom tariff defined under Decree no. 265 concerns agricultural
and industrial inputs indicated in the decree no. 266 of May 9th 2001, which are only
subject to 1% tariff covering both the custom tariff and the unified tax. This tariff
applies on the value in SP, calculated according to the list of the neighboring
countries exchange rates issued by the Commercial Bank of Syria. In a more
advanced step the custom dollar exchange rates were unified at the rate of 46.5
SP/$US. Moreover, law no. 336 of September 28th 2002 was issued to unify in one
single set of tariff rate the custom tariffs and the unified tax. The new tariff rates
were set so as to preserve the current level of tariff revenues.
33
Non-tariff import constraints for agricultural commodities are imposed in Syria. In an

attempt to protect producers of fruit and vegetables, which are likely to be products
that can potentially enjoy relatively high comparative advantages, a total import ban
has been in force during the 90s. The import of some other products such as wheat,
sugar, and barley was restricted to the Government companies, and later the private
sector has been allowed to import these commodities subject to the approval of the
public company concerned. Agricultural imports from Arab countries were opened
according to the regulations of the Agreement of Arab Trade Facilitation. Imports of
vegetables and fruit from Lebanon and Jordan were allowed in certain periods of the
year, as result of bilateral trade agreements with the aim of accelerating trade
liberalization. Moreover, bilateral free trade agreements were signed with Saudi
Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Iraq.
Approval by the Ministry: only products for which no import ban exists can be
imported. However, most agro-food imports need to be awarded by the MAAR a
certification of compliance with sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards adopted by
the Syrian Government.
4.2. Major Trends in Syrian Agricultural Trade

As shown in Table 4.1, in 2000 the volume of Syrian agricultural trade (exports plus
imports) reached US$ 1,643 millions compared to US$ 1,505 millions in 1990,
equivalent to a moderate average annual growth rate of 0.9%. The level reached in
2000 was significantly below the maximum registered in 1997, mainly as result of
the contraction of exports, caused by the severe drought of the late 90s, which was
partly compensated by the import growth.
Over the same period, the volume of total trade increased from US$ 6612 millions in
1990 to US$ 8,733 millions in 2000, at an average annual growth rate of 2.8%. As a
result, the share of agriculture on the volume of total trade (all goods) has been
declining from 22.8% in 1990 to 18.8% in 2000, with a maximum of 24.5%
registered in 1998 (Table 4.1).
Syrian overall trade balance was positive in 1990, 1991, and 2000, and negative
from 1992 until 1999. A negative balance prevailed also for agricultural products in
all years except 1997 and 1998. This is reflected in the Standardized Balance index9
ranging between -21% (1994) and +27% (1990) for total trade, and between -15%
(2000) and +12% (1997) for agricultural trade (Table 4.7). Comparing the average
values for the last three years of the first and second half of the decade (1993-95
and 1998-2000), Table 4.2 shows improvements for both total and agricultural trade
balance, and an increase of the share of agricultural on total trade. This is especially
evident on the import side, resulting from the moderate increase of agricultural trade
volume (due to increasing exports and slightly declining imports) accompanied by
the decline of total trade volume (due to increasing exports and substantially
declining import).
The tables from 4.3 through 4.9 summarize information and indicators on the
products composition of agricultural trade. While details on individual products are
discussed below, two main general characteristics can be highlighted. First, Syrian
agricultural trade is increasingly concentrated on a relatively small number of
agricultural products. Indeed, on average during the period 1998-2000, the
2
For a definition of the Standardized Balance (SB) see footnote 7 in chapter 3
34
Chapter 4
aggregate value of the eleven most traded items accounted for about 72% of the
agricultural export and 66% of agricultural import, with a clear tendency to increase
concentration compared to the average flows registered for the period 1993-95 (see
tables 4.8 and 4.9). Second, the one-way trade is largely prevalent, i.e., products
are either only exported or only imported. As shown in table 4.7 in 2000, out of 39
products or narrow categories considered, only 12 are traded in two directions, while
11 are only imported and 16 are only exported. The limited number of products
traded in two directions reflects the existence of import bans on most domestically
produced agricultural products. However, the gradual relaxation of these restrictions
is reflected in the increase of two-way trade relative to the early 90s.
4.3. Syrian Agricultural Exports

Comparing the beginning and the end of last decade (Table 4.1), Syrian total and
agricultural exports show a relatively low average annual variability (+1.1% for total
and -0.6% for agricultural exports), but a high variability is observed within the same
period. Total export registered particularly low values in 1992, and 1998, and
reached an estimated historical maximum in 2000. The value of agricultural exports
registered the minimum level for the decade in 1992, markedly improving thereafter
until a maximum above US$ 1 billions in 1997, and declining thereafter to a new
minimum registered in 2000.
The share of agriculture on total Syrian exports shows high variability, oscillating
between a maximum of 30.6% in 1998 and the minimum of 14.9% registered in
2000 (Table 4.1). These sharp fluctuations are a joint effect of the climatic variability
on agricultural export and of the international oil price variability on total export. To
smooth out the annual variability Table 4.2 compares the three-year averages for
1993-95 and 1998-2000, showing that the share of agriculture remains between
21.5 and 22% on total export.
Table 4.4, provides details on individual commodity contribution to agricultural
export value. The most relevant individual exports, selected according to their
average weight on total agricultural exports value in 1998-2000, are summarized in
Table 4.9, which includes the products totaling about 72% of Syrian agricultural
export value. These products are shortly and individually reviewed below.
Raw cotton: cotton is by far the single most important agricultural export in Syria.
With an average export in 1993-95 of 148,000 tons and SP 2,166 millions it
accounted for 29.5% of the agricultural exports value and 13.8% of agricultural trade
volume. In 1998-00 the average export of raw cotton was about 176,000 ton and SP
4,641 millions (SP 2,343 millions if converted at the same exchange rate applied to
previous years), accounting for 28.1% of the agricultural exports value and 13% of
the agricultural trade volume. The exports of raw cotton recorded a significant
increase in both quantity and value terms between the two periods. The average
unit value was 14.6 SP/kg in the first period, decreased to 13.3 SP/kg in the second
period, equivalent to a decrease from 1.3 to 1.2 US$/kg (calculated using the
exchange rate applied in the official statistics each year). The main destination
countries are Italy, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia and Taiwan (Table 4.10).
Sheep: Syrian trade in live sheep has been traditionally characterized as a two-way
trade, mainly as result of quality and price differentiation. However, while the share
of sheep imports on total agricultural import value in 2000 was about 1.6%, with
Romania as the main country of origin, the share of sheep on agricultural export
35
value was 14%. The positive balance for sheep trade is summarized by a
standardized balance index of 44.9% (Table 4.7). Exported quantity has slightly
decreased, from an annual average of 32,000 tons in 1993-95 to 31,000 tons in
1998-00, while export value has increased mainly as result of the increased unit
value (from 1.9 to 2.2 US$/kg). The main destination countries are Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait and Qatar (Table 4.11).
Tomato: Syria exports a large variety of fruit and vegetables whose export revenues
exceed in value cotton exports. Within the group, tomato is the single most
important product. In 1993-95 the average export of tomato amounted to 77,000
tons and SP 445 millions with an average unit value of 5.8 SP/kg and a share on
agro-food exports value of 6.1%. During the period 1998-00, the average annual
export was 155,000 tons and SP 393 millions with an average unit value of 6 SP/kg.
The main destination countries are Saudi Arabia, Russian Federation, United Arab
Emirates and Kuwait (Table 4.12).
Fresh Vegetables not elsewhere specified. This group includes mushrooms, truffles,
cabbage, cauliflower, onion, garlic, artichokes, roots, radish, beat, beans, pea
beans, cucumber, squash, eggplant, and okra. It accounted for 10% of the
agricultural exports value in 1993-95 with an annual average of 82,000 tons and SP
737 millions. In 1998-00, the average exports declined to 53,000 tons and SP 490
millions equivalent to 4.4% of the agricultural exports. The main destination
countries are Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, and U.A.E (Table 4.13).
Selected Fruits (apple, cherry, and apricot). Syria’s climate allows the production of
several fruits, and particularly, apples, apricots, and cherries. The average annual
exports had an increase of 27 thousand tons in 1993-95 38 thousand tons in 1998-
00, accompanied by a more than proportional increase in export revenues due to a
significant increase registered in average unit export value (from 0.55 to 0.76
US$/kg). As a result, the share of these fruits on total agricultural exports increased
from 2.5% in the first period to 3.7% in the second period. The main destinations are
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, U.A.E. and Kuwait (Table 4.14).
Citrus. Citrus fruits (orange, lemon, and mandarin) constitute another important part
of Syrian fruit and vegetable exports. Average annual exports increased from 5,000
tons and a share of 0.7% of total agricultural exports value in 1993-95, to an
average of 30,000 tons, corresponding to 2.9% of the agricultural exports value in
1998-00. The main destination for Syrian citrus is Saudi Arabia, importing more than
two thirds of Syrian citrus in recent years, followed by Kuwait, U.A.E. and Qatar,
while the Russian Federation has been loosing most of its previous importance as
destination market (Table 4.15).
Wheat. Considered as the most important staple and strategic crop in Syrian
agriculture, its production has been encouraged on both rain-fed and irrigated areas,
with the objective of achieving self sufficiency. The outcome has been that Syria
became a net exporter of wheat during the last decade, a position only partly
reverted by the harsh drought of the recent years. In particular, Syria imported
17,000 tons in 2000, only for milling, and re-exporting mainly to allow new private
mills to continue their activities also during a period of low domestic production. In
1993-95, the average annual export was 25,500 tons valued at SP 94 millions. The
impressive increase in production of the mid 90s resulted in record exports in 1998,
year that boosted the annual average export up to 147,000 tons, and registered a
36
Chapter 4
value of SP 444 millions between 1998 and 2000. The main destination countries
are South and North Korea, Tunisia, and Algeria (Table 4.16).
Grapes. Syrian grapes are characterized by good shape, quality, taste, and for their
suitability for use in the wine industry. In 1993-95, the average export of grapes was
almost 17,000 tons with a value of SP 168 and a unit value estimated at 10 SP/kg.
In the second period, there was a remarkable increase of the exported quantity
(almost 27,000 tons and SP 245 million), accompanied by a unit value increase of
more than 45%, resulting in a share of 2.5% on total agricultural export. The main
destination countries are Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Kuwait and Jordan (Table 4.17).
Lentil. The high quality of Syrian lentils is recognized on international markets,

where they are usually sold at a premium price. In 1993-95, average exports were
estimated at 34,000 tons with an average unit value of 0.38 US$/kg. In 1998-00, the
average annual export increased up to 37,000 tons and the average unit value of
0.6 US$/kg. The main destination countries are Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and
Lebanon (Table 4.18).
Potato is characterized by a two-way trade, as Syria imports potato seeds (super

elite) and exports potatoes. The main countries of origin are Netherlands, France,
Ireland and Italy. On the export side, average annual exports decreased from 54
thousand tons in 1993-95 to 31,000 tons in 1998-00, while a decrease of about 25%
was registered for the average unit export value expressed in US$. The main
destination countries are Greece, U.A.E, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Germany (Table
4.19).
Chick-pea is another traditional Syrian exported product, mainly cultivated on rain-

fed land. For this reason its production and export is often affected by the drought,
so that average annual export declined from almost 36,000 tons in 1993-95 to less
then 15,000 tons in 1998-2000. The main destination countries in the second period
are Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon (Table 4.20).
4.4. Syrian Agricultural Imports

Over the period 1990-2000, imports grew faster than export both for total (5.3%) and
agricultural (2.1%) trade (Table 4.1). Agricultural import was less concentrated than
export with the first 11 products accounting for 61% of the value of agricultural
imports during 1998-2000. These eleven products, listed according to their share on
agro-food import value, are hereafter considered in more detail.
Sugar (refined and row) is the single most important Syrian agro-food import. Data
reviews indicate that the imports of sugar increased significantly over the 90s. The
average annual import increased from 360,000 tons and SP 1,288 millions in 1993-
95, to 501,000 tons and SP 1,472 millions (valued at constant exchange rate) in
1998-00. Accordingly, the share on total agro-food import increased from 11.9% to
14.1% despite a fall of the unit cost of import from US$/ton 317 to US$/ton 261. The
main countries of origin are France, Belgium, Spain, and Mexico (Table 4.21)
Maize. During the selected period, maize share on agricultural imports increased
substantially (from 5% to 9%) as result of imported quantity increase from 355,000
tons in 1993-1995 to 696,000 tons in 1998-2000. The increase in average annual
imported value from SP 543 millions in 93-95 to SP 963 millions in 1998-00 (at
37
constant exchange rate), corresponded to a unit value decrease from 136 to 123
US$/ton. During the more recent years, export origin has increasingly concentrated.
As a result, USA and Argentina accounted for more than 90% in the year 2000
(Table 4.22).
Rice. Despite limited growth of quantity and value of import, rice is still the third most
important Syrian agricultural import (5.6% of the agro-food import value). In 1993-95
the average import was 134,000 tons valued at SP 546 millions, with a unit value
US$/ton 362, while in 1998-00 the average quantity was 144,000 tons valued (using
the old exchange rate) at SP 583 millions with a unit value of US$/ton 321. The main
countries of origin are Egypt, Thailand, Australia, and Italy (Table 4.23).
Cakes and residues of oil extraction. This aggregate includes residues of oil
extraction and cakes of oilseed such as Soya, and is characterized by a two-way
trade, as the large import is accompanied by limited export. Indeed, in 1993-95 the
average imports were 127,000 tons (valued at SP 332 million) while the average
exports were 8 thousand tons. In 1998-00, the average imports were 214,000 tons
(valued, using the old exchange rate at SP 565 million) while the average exports
were 34,000 tons. Trade increased considerably on both directions, but despite the
faster growth of exports, imports remains prevalent. Unit import cost remained
almost constant (from 233 to 235 US$/ton). The main countries of origin are USA
and Argentina, while Brazil has lost its once significant share that used to be 25% in
the first period (Table 4.24). Main destinations of Syrian exports are Turkey,
Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Banana import was banned until 1994, when the private sector was allowed to
import on condition to use only export revenues in financing operations. In 1994
import boomed but contracted in the following year, so that the average import for
1994-95 was close to 70 thousand ton with a record unit cost of US$/kg 1.3. Import
stabilized in the following years, so that on average during the period 1998-00,
almost 67,000 ton and Sp 514 millions were imported each year at an average cost
of US$/kg 0.7. The most important country of origin is Ecuador followed by
Colombia, Panama, and, more recently, Lebanon (Table 4.25).
Canned Fish is the most important processed food import, counting for 4.6% of total
agro-food import value during the period 1998-00, as result of a fairly rapid growth:
from an annual average of 3,000 tons and SP 262 millions in 1993-95, to 6,000 tons
and SP 484 millions (at old exchange rate) in 1998-00. The unit import cost reduced
from US$/kg 8.5 to 6.8. The main countries of origin are Morocco, and Thailand
(Table 4.26).
Barley is an important source of livestock feeding in Syria, where it is cultivated in

dry and semi-dry areas. In order to protect domestic production, import was banned
until 1999, when the Government allowed purchasing abroad to compensate the fall
of domestic production caused by the drought. In the last two year an average of
586,500 tons was imported at an average cost of US$/ton 104, mainly from France,
Germany, Ukraine, Turkey and Austria (Table 4.27).
Tea is a very popular consumption good in Syria. Average annual import of Tea has
remained quite stable in quantity, at around 20,000 ton, while has increased in value
over the analyzed period: from SP 371 millions in 1993-95 to SP 436 millions in
1998-00 (at constant exchange rate). Conversely, the average unit imports cost
38
Chapter 4
increased from 1.4 to almost 2 US$/kg. The most important countries of origin is Sri
Lanka, accounting for more than 90% of total import in a typical year, while limited
import takes place from various other countries in different years (Table 4.28).
Milk powder. Over the 90s, the value of import increased mainly following the
increased demand for infant feeding and the increased unit price. Imported quantity
increased from 7,000 tons in 1993-95 to 11,000 tons in 1998-00, which, given an
increase in unit import cost from US$/kg 2.3 to 3.1, resulted in an import value
increase from SP 180 millions to SP 386 millions (at constant exchange rate of
SP/US$ 11.25). The main countries of origin are Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, and
France (Table 4.29).
Coffee, green or dry. The average annual imported quantity of this product
increased from 12,000 tons in 1993-95 to 14,000 tons in 1998-00. As the average
import cost declined from US$/kg 2.2 to US$/kg 1.7, reflecting international prices,
total value of imports (calculated at constant exchange rate) declined from SP 290
millions to SP 279 millions. The main countries of origin are Brazil, India, and Costa
Rica (Table 4.30).
Vegetable oils of various seeds (soybeans, maize and sunflowers) Despite the
demand growth, import of these oils decreased over the reference period as result
of the increasing availability of domestic substitutes. Indeed the average imported
quantity reduced from 32,000 tons in 1993-95 to 28,000 tons 1998-00. Import value
decreased from SP 276 millions in the fist period to SP 284 millions in the second
period, whereas the unit value remained fairly stable. The most important countries
of origin are Turkey, Cyprus, and UAE (Table 4.31).
4.5. Syrian Agricultural Terms of Trade10

After having reviewed the trends in unit values of main single commodities, it is
worth considering here the aggregate evolution of unit value for import and export,
i.e. the Syrian terms of trade. To this effect, Table 4.32 reproduces the unit value
indexes calculated by the FAO for Syrian imports and exports.
The unit value of Syrian export dropped at the beginning of the decade and it has
been since then constantly below the level of 1990, despite an increasing trend that
tended to accelerate in the second half of the 90s.
As far as imports are concerned, the unit value index fell between 1990 and 1991 as
well but, after two more years of decline, showed high variability around a faster
increasing trend, which led to reaching an unprecedented maximum of 156 in 1998.
In general, it is possible to highlight that the unit price of export tended to increase at
a slower pace than the unit price of import. This is clearly indicated by the fact that
the ratio between the two unit prices, which is a measure of the terms of trade, has
constantly been below the maximum of 1.2 registered in 1992, oscillating between
the minimum of 0.6 registered in 1995 and 1, a level reached in various years and,
most recently, in 1999.
In other words, given the faster growing trend observed for import in comparison
with export prices, in order to be able to pay for increasingly expensive imports
10
Terms of trade are defined as ratio between the unit price index of export and import.
39
Syrian needs to increase more than proportionally the exported quantities. The
alternative is to focus on increasing the unit value of export, which requires more
attention to the international profitability of domestic productions and the ability to
increase export of processed, higher value added products relative to unprocessed
and low value added crops. Indeed, price trends are closely related to trade flows
composition and, as shown in previous sections, the main Syrian agricultural exports
include almost exclusively raw agricultural goods (food and non-food), while
agricultural imports include a significant part of processed food.
40
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Agricultural Agreements with
Arab Countries
Syria has signed a number of trade and cooperation agreements, in order to

enhance its commercial relationships with neighboring Arab countries, to foster
mutual relationship, and to strengthen the economic development in the Region. In
the following sections, the three most important agreements, with Lebanon, Jordan,
and AFTA countries, are briefly summarized. After a description of the content of the
agreements, a brief account of the Syrian agricultural trade with the related
countries is provided.
5.1. The Bilateral Agreements with Lebanon

An agreement of social and economic cooperation and coordination was signed by
Syria and Lebanon in 1992. It aims at the establishment of a common market
characterized by free movement of goods, individuals, capitals, and settlements, as
well as at coordinating the agricultural policies and fiscal legislation. Moreover, the
agreement includes provisions on mutual committees and criteria to be followed in
implementing the agreement.
A special protocol referring to the cooperation in the field of agriculture was set in
1994. It provides for an exchange of experts as a form of cooperation in agricultural
research and several other field of common interest. An agreement on encouraging
and protecting investments was signed in 1997. It included rules and principles for
promoting investment between the two countries.
Further progresses were registered in the meetings among the Prime Ministers, held
in 1998, and in the ministerial meeting, held in 1999. The latter dealt with
coordination, cooperation, free trade, and movement of capitals, and paved the way
for reducing custom tariffs on national agricultural products starting from 12/10/1999.
The following meeting of the technical committee, held in Damascus in 2000, agreed
on the details for implementing the liberalization including the measures needed to
ensure enforcement and compliance of the Custom Departments in both countries.
5.1.1. Trends in Syrian Agricultural Trade with Lebanon

Tables 5.1 and 5.2 trace the evolution of agricultural trade between Lebanon and
Syria over the last decade considering averages annual flows for three periods:
1989-1990, 1994-1995, and 1998-1999. Syrian agricultural export to Lebanon is
much larger than the Lebanese agricultural export to Syria, which is almost
negligible.
Table 5.1 shows that the value of Syrian agricultural imports coming from Lebanon
is relatively low and decreasing over time especially in relative terms. It drops from
SP 36 millions, equivalent to 13% of Syria’s imports from AFTA countries and 0.5%
of imports from the world in 1989-90, to SP 13 millions, equivalent to 1.7% of Syrian
import to AFTA and 0.2% of the total import. As regards to the product composition
of the imports, it consists mainly of processed goods such as processed cereals and
meats, and beverages, while also significant are imports of fruits, sugar, and cocoa.
41
On the other side, Table 5.2 shows that the value of Syrian agricultural exports to
Lebanon are very significant in absolute term but show a tendency to decline in the
second half of the 90s, after the large increase registered in the first part of the
decade. Overall, Syrian agricultural exports declined both in absolute and relative
terms from SP 990 millions in 1989-90, equivalent to 26% of export to AFTA
countries and 15% of total agricultural exports, to SP 786 millions, equivalent to 16%
of the Syrian exports to AFTA countries and 8% of total agricultural exports. With
regard to product composition, fresh vegetables constitute by large the most
important group (59% of the total in 1998-99), followed by fruits, nuts, vegetables
(16%) and flowers (10%).
5.2. The Bilateral Agreements with Jordan

An agreement of economic cooperation and trade was signed in 1975 with Jordan,
aimed at fostering the economic relations between the two countries, and to
facilitate trade exchange by allowing import and export of all industrial, animal, and
agricultural products. The agreement included several exemptions from custom
duties and related fees, the establishment of trade promotion offices, the realization
of co-operation projects and the establishment of joint committees to follow up the
implementation of the agreement.
The trade protocol of 1999 stressed the need for simplification of custom procedures
in order to facilitate the movement of goods. The Syrian-Jordanian high committee
meeting held in 1999 initiated the elaboration of an agricultural calendar,
establishing preferential treatments consistent with the agricultural calendar
established under the AFTA. The agricultural committee meeting of 2000 activated
the agricultural calendar that gives tariff exemption to the exchanged commodities,
stressing the necessity of regular meetings for monitoring its implementation.
5.2.1. Trend of Syrian Agricultural Trade with Jordan

Also the agricultural trade flows between Syria and Jordan are characterized by the
strong prevalence of Syrian exports (Tables 5.3 and 5.4). Indeed, the average value
of the Syrian agricultural imports from Jordan during 1998-99 was SP 36 millions
corresponding to the 4.7% of its agricultural imports from AFTA and 0.4% of the
imports from the world, while exports to Jordan was SP 200 millions corresponding
to 5.1% of Syrian exports to AFTA and 2.7% of total export.
Concerning the evolution over the last decade, it is possible to notice that the value
of Syrian import reduced in mid 90s and recovered at the end of the decade, but the
share of Jordan on Syrian import reduced substantially, especially as a
consequence of the faster growing import from the AFTA group (Tables 5.3). As far
as Syrian exports to Jordan are concerned, in the mid 90s there was a very
significant increase so that their value reached SP 503.4 millions. This figure
corresponds to the very significant share of 9.5% of Syrian export to AFTA and 6.5%
of Syrian export to the world. However, export declined substantially in the following
years and at the end of the decade, Jordanian shares on Syrian agricultural export
to AFTA and to the World were below the level registered in the early 90s, despite
the absolute increase in export value (Table 5.4).
As far as specific products are concerned, Syrian exports to Jordan are dominated
by vegetables, which outweighed the cereals (especially barley) and cotton, two
products that played a major role during the previous years. Similarly concentrated
42
Chapter 5
is the import structure, characterized by the strict prevalence of few products in each
one of the period considered: oils and fats (hydrated vegetable oil) in the late 90s,
live animals in addition to oil and fats in mid 90s, and milling products (flour) at the
beginning of the decade. It is worth noticing that these products are not regulated by
the agreements. In other words, agricultural trade between Syria and Jordan has not
been significantly influenced so far by the trade agreements.
5.3. Arab Free Trade Agreement (AFTA)

The promotion of regional economic integration among Arab Countries has been the
objective of a number of agreements signed by Syria. A first agreement was signed
in 1953, to facilitate transit trade, but it was not effective, mainly because it lacked
adequate provisions for its implementation.
The agreement on the Arab Common Market (ACM) was signed in 1964, with the
aim of eliminating all custom and non-custom restriction to trade among Arab
countries. This agreement was never implemented, but it was resumed more
recently, in 1981, with the agreement signed to facilitate and enhance inter-Arab
trade by eliminating tariff and non-tariff restrictions on processed and semi-
processed commodities. Unfortunately, this agreement did not realize its objectives,
due to its dependence on very limited commodity lists and to the lack of real
commitment to the objective of trade liberalization.
The failure of the first pan-Arab regional liberalization attempts pushed some
Governments to promote smaller regional groupings, such as:
- the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), established in 1981 by Bahrain,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates;
- the Arab Cooperation Council, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and
Yemen;
- the Arab Maghreb Union, associating Algeria, Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, and Tunisia.
However, even these smaller groupings did not achieve substantial result in trade
liberalization.
More recently, the Arab Summit held in Cairo in June 1996 delegated the Social and
Economic Council of the Arab League for the establishment of an effective Arab
Free Trade Area (AFTA). A few months later, at the beginning of 1997, the Social
and Economic Council agreed on implementing the AFTA within ten years, starting
from the 1st of January 1998. The resolution aimed at the gradual decrease of
custom duties and taxes of similar effect imposed on all commodities of national
origin. The ten year period is considered a transitional phase allowing all member
countries to take the measures required in order to establish the AFTA.
The agreement signed in 1981 was adopted as the reference framework for the
setting up of the AFTA. Consequently, the Arab States that had signed that
agreement were automatically included in the membership of AFTA, and were
committed to its implementation. As for the countries that are not members, they
should first adopt the 1981 agreement. At present, the number of members is 11
(Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt,
and Morocco), while four more countries have been granted the status of observers.
43
5.3.1. The Executive Program of AFTA

The Arab Social Economic Council approved in February 1997 the executive
program and the timetable for the implementation of AFTA. It established the AFTA
according to the 1981 agreement on trade liberalization among Arab Countries, so
that it will also comply with the rules of the World Trade Organization. The Arab
Countries that are members in the agreement committed themselves to finalizing the
establishment of the AFTA in ten years, starting from January 1st, 1998.
The AFTA will be implemented by decreasing custom duties by equal annual
percentages (10%) so that total liberalization should be accomplished by December
31, 2007. Moreover, the trade of any commodities can be fully liberalized at any time
during the execution of the program.
The Social Economic council reviews the execution of the program every six
months. Under the program, exchanged commodities are treated like the national
commodities in the member countries in terms of rules of origin, standards and
specifications, medical and security protection conditions, local tax and fees. With
reference to dumping and technical barriers to trade, the agreement assumes as
reference to the existing international principles and procedures.
The custom duties that have to be gradually eliminated are those existent in every
country in January 1998. These reference duties will be the basis for calculating the
reductions foreseen in the program. If decreases in custom duties were made after
January 1, 1998, the decreased duties will replace the stipulated ones. Under the
rules of the agreement of 1981, any two or more members of the agreement can
agree among themselves to exchange additional trade concessions in advance with
respect to the agreed timetable.
5.3.2. Trend of Syrian Agricultural Trade with AFTA Region

In its trade relation with AFTA countries Syria is by large a net agricultural exporter.
Indeed, AFTA countries are not a major source of agricultural imports for Syria,
despite the fact that their relevance has been steadily increasing in both value
(+166%) and share on total Syrian agricultural imports (from 4% in 1989-90 to 9% in
1998-99). Syria imports from AFTA countries mainly processed meat and fish,
cereals and oils. Most imports have no potential to be produced locally, such as
dates, banana, rice, canned fish, and hydrogenated vegetable oil (Table 5.5). Dates
are imported from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, rice from Egypt, canned fish
from Morocco. Hides and animal leathers are imported as inputs for the domestic
tanning industry.
On the export side, Arab countries are by large the main destination of Syrian
agricultural products, with a share on total varying over the 90s between a maximum
of 69% in 1994-95 and a minimum of 53% in 1999-00 of total agricultural export.
Syrian exports to AFTA countries increased by 38% in the first part of the 1990s,
and, despite the trend inverted in the second part of the decade, by 28% over the
whole decade. Arab countries are the main destination of Syrian products such as
vegetables and fruits, fresh and processed, and live animals. Fresh vegetables and
fruits counted for over 67% of the total and live animals for almost 12%. It is worth
noticing that these are all products in which Government intervention is very limited
in Syria and trade is fully controlled by the private sector.
44
Chapter 5
It can be concluded that Syrian agricultural trade with AFTA countries developed
fairly rapidly over the 90s, particular on the import side, even though export
remained largely prevalent, ensuring a substantial net trade balance. It is difficult to
relate this positive development to the implementation of AFTA as this started only
toward the end of the decade. Instead, it is likely to be the effect of the Syrian
Government orientation, prevailing since the late 80s, to favor a growing
involvement of the private sector in import-export activities. It is in fact reasonable to
assume that this orientation had a more immediate and stronger effect in boosting
the trade flows with neighbor countries, while the implementation of AFTA had just
started in the years for which data are available.
In 2001, the Social Economic Council agreed on pursuing the acceleration of the
AFTA implementation through a set of measures, such as the reduction of the
custom tariff by 20% during the last two years, the reduction of the protection period
of some commodities from 45 to 35 months, and the reduction of the protected
commodities from 10 to 7.
5.4. Current Initiatives Towards More Trade Integration with Arab

Countries
Syria has recently signed two other agreements for establishing free trade zones to
boost commercial cooperation with Arab countries. The first is the one with Iraq. An
agreement was signed on 31/1/2000 and entered into force in 2002. Syrian-Iraq
products of local origin are exempted from custom and non-custom duties, starting
from the date of agreement ratification.
The second is the agreement with Saudi Arabia. It was signed on 20/2/2001 and its
application started from January 2001. The old agreement of 1972 between Syria
and Saudi Arabia remains valid, but in addition products not covered in that
agreement are subject to a 50% reduction of custom duties upon ratification of the
agreement, a 70% in 2002 and a 100% in 2003.
5.5. Agreements with Countries other than Arab and European ones
Since 1995, several agreements have been signed by Syria with various countries
outside the Arab and European regions, such as Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Pakistan,
India, and Chile.
All these agreements aim at fostering cooperation in various fields such as
agriculture, transportation, and research. None of them includes specific
commitments on agricultural trade, but all of them have a focus on technical
assistance in the field of agriculture.
In this framework, Syria signed two agreements with Iran, in 1994 and in 1999
respectively. These two agreements are related to research cooperation in plant
production research; crops, horticulture, food processing industry; plant protection
and plant quarantine; animal production and health; forest research and
management; agricultural extension, and development; research in aquaculture and
marine resources; training and exchange of experts and scientists in agriculture.
The agreement signed with Armenia refers to enhancing the technical, commercial
and economic cooperation in the field of agriculture. It is also related to improving
the bilateral trade between both countries, exchanging agricultural information and
experts, and encouraging the establishment of joints institutions.
45
The agreement signed with Turkey aims at strengthening, enlarging and improving
the cooperation in agriculture, animals breeding and rural issues, including
exchanging scientific and technical information and experts; encouraging the
establishment of joint business between private companies; establishing an
agricultural committee between the two countries in order to facilitate cooperation.
The agreement signed with Chile, like the previous agreements that were in place,
envisaged cooperation in agriculture research, plant and forest protection, animal
breeding, land and irrigation, agricultural and animal extension, and forestry.
The agreement with Pakistan focuses on cooperation on agricultural research,
animal production and health, irrigation and land, plant protection, facilitating export
of the surplus, and training.
Since the impact of all these agreements on agricultural trade is negligible, it is
possible to conclude that the real focus of Syrian agricultural trade agreements is on
the partnerships with Arab and European countries.
46
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
The Syrian Agricultural Trade with
the European Union
6.1. Introduction
The bilateral economic cooperation between Syria and the European Union dates
back to 1977, when Syria and the European Community signed a cooperation
protocol that has been guiding their economic relations since then.
The protocol covers two main aspects of bilateral cooperation: the economic,
cultural, and financial cooperation, and, more specifically the commercial
cooperation, aiming at encouraging trade between the two parties. This goal, also
taking into account the negative Syrian balance in agricultural trade with the
European Community, was specifically intended to increase the growth rate of
Syrian exports, improving, in particular, the access of Syrian agricultural products to
European markets, by granting Syria asymmetric trade concessions.
In this framework, the 1977 agreement granted free access to EU markets for Syrian
manufactured products, financial assistance to Syria through the Financial
Protocols, and some tariff concessions for agricultural products. In particular, Syrian
agricultural products imported by the European Community were subject to specific
tariff reduction rates as described in Table 6.1.
By late 1995, a new epoch of economic relations in the Mediterranean region began
by the launch of the so-called “Barcelona Process”, which represented a new
approach of Euro-Mediterranean partnership. In this new framework, the countries
from the southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, expressed their
wish to strengthen their reciprocal links. The ultimate goal perceived by all
participants to the Barcelona Conference was not only the establishment of a Free
Trade Area, but also the extension of the scope of a strong regional cooperation and
integration toward a prosperous, peaceful and integrated region.
The outcome of this new approach has been a series of Association Agreements
(AA) between Mediterranean Countries (MCs) and EU. Within this framework, in
addition to other several aspects, MCs can seek further trade concessions in
agricultural goods, and can have access to substantial financial assistance offered
by EU countries. In return, the EU can negotiate for free trade in manufactures, and
assure that the economic stability, possibly achieved as a result of the structural
adjustments in MCs economies, will help to overcome the problem of increasing
labor migration from the south.
Out of the 12 MCs involved in the process, Syria is the only one that has not yet
concluded the negotiations for the Agreement. Actually, while all the other
Mediterranean partners have signed their agreements with the EU and the majority
of them are already operating, Syria began its formal negotiation only in 2001.
However, several negotiating rounds have already taken place, showing a clear
commitment to conclude speedily. In this context, the Syrian Government has
initiated a structural reform program in order to create a more favorable economic
environment, thereby minimizing potential negative impacts that might occur from
47
the expected increased openness of its economy.

This chapter is specifically devoted to describing agricultural trade between Syria
and the EU, and to discuss some trade issues in the context of the forthcoming AA.
Nevertheless, some reference to the agricultural trade between other MCs' and the
EU will be made, in order to facilitate the understanding of the overall picture of
Euro-Mediterranean agricultural trade, identifying the position of Syria among MCs
in the same perspective, and addressing the issue of inter-Mediterranean
competition on the EU agricultural market.
6.2. The EU-Mediterranean Agricultural Trade11

The European Union is traditionally the main trade partner for all MCs. Trade indices
of a selected group of the MCs show that EU has a significant share in the total
trade of these countries (Garcia Alvarez Coque, 2001). Nearly 56% of the total
exports and 54% of the total imports of this group of countries are made by trade
flows with the EU.
Looking at individual MCs, some countries, such as Tunisia, Egypt, and, to a more
limited extent, Turkey show a very high dependence of their trade on the EU, either
as a destination of their exports or as an origin of their imports. Other countries are
by far less trade dependent on the EU. Jordan and Lebanon are a good example of
these countries, with about 16 and 24% of their total exports going to the EU.
However, EU is a more important partner on the import side, with shares of 33 and
47 %, respectively (Table 6.2).
One interesting point that is worth underscoring is that Syria, among the
Mediterranean group, is the only country with an overall positive trade balance with
the EU, due to the high share of crude oil and petroleum products in its exports
(Garcia Alvarez Coque, 2001). The EU accounts for 59% of total Syrian exports, and
38% of total imports (Table 6.2). As far as agricultural trade is concerned, the picture
is quite different, and it will be described in the next section.
The shares of total trade of the MCs with the EU are more significant than the
shares of agricultural trade. However, these shares of export and import are still
relevant as they account respectively for35% and 29%. (Table 6.3)
Among the countries considered, Tunisia, Egypt, and Turkey are more EU-oriented
in their agricultural exports, while there is a lower dependence on the EU in
agricultural imports. For the remaining countries, including Syria, according to data
assembled by Garcia Alvarez Coque (2001), the EU share is lower, both as a
destination of agricultural exports and origin of imports. In the case of Syria, only
15% of Syrian agricultural export goes to the EU market, while the EU is the source
of 25 % of Syrian agricultural imports (Table 6.3).
The previous description has illustrated the importance of the EU as a trade partner
of selected MCs. The following analysis looks at the other side of the picture, by
detecting the significance of Mediterranean countries in EU agricultural trade. The
eleven analyzed Mediterranean countries will be referred to as MC-11. The EU
agricultural trade with non-member countries, referred to as “extra-EU” trade, makes
up on average about one third of total agricultural trade of EU member countries.
Out of this relatively small share, only 11% of the extra-EU agricultural exports and
11
The data that were used for the analysis are drawn from various sources different from those used in other parts
of this report. Accordingly, data can differ from the ones reported in the other chapters.
48
Chapter 6
7% of the extra-EU agricultural imports are traded with the MC-11 (Table 6.4).
Turkey, Egypt, and the Maghreb countries, which are considered the most important
Mediterranean trade partners of the EU, have very small weights in both EU
agricultural exports and imports. On the import side, as a main destination of EU
exports in the Mediterranean region, Algeria has the highest share, with 2% of total
extra-EU agricultural exports, while Turkey, with a 3% share in EU agricultural
imports, is the main Mediterranean exporter to the EU.
Syrian position among MCs is one of the lowest, with a share of 0.4 on EU
agricultural exports and 0.2% share on agricultural imports (Table 6.4).
During the period 1995-1999, the agricultural exports of the MC-11 have grown by
3.3%, reaching Euros 4852 millions in 1999. Agricultural export value of individual
MC-11 suggests that the Mediterranean region could be divided into two subgroups.
Tunisia, Morocco, Israel, Lebanon, Malta and Turkey, witnessed a remarkable
growth in their agricultural exports to the EU, while an opposite trend was observed
for Libya, Cyprus, and, to a more limited extent, Egypt. Syria belongs to the second
group with agricultural exports to the EU decreasing by almost 28% (Table 6.5).
On the other hand, agricultural imports of MC-11 from the EU were overall stagnant,
even though highly variable among counties. The big increases of agricultural
imports witnessed by some countries like Cyprus, Lebanon, Malta, and Egypt, was
outweighed by the import reductions of others, like Libya, Tunisia, Turkey, and
Morocco. As far as Syrian imports from the EU are concerned, they were in 1999
almost at the same level registered in 1995 (Table 6.6).
In the late 90s, the overall agricultural trade balance of the MC-11 as a whole with
the EU remained negative, showing high variability but no specific trend (table 6.7).
Countries like Tunisia, Morocco, Israel, and Turkey, which are the major
Mediterranean exporters to the EU markets, showed positive agricultural trade
balances and improving standardized trade balances. The remaining countries kept
highly negative agricultural trade balances (particularly Algeria, Egypt, and
Lebanon). However, standardized agricultural trade balances of these countries
showed no deterioration. Syria is the only country of MC-11 that has showed a clear
deterioration of its agricultural trade balance with a worsening trend particularly in
1998 and 1999, when the country was seriously affected by the drought (Tables 6.7
and 6.8).
One complementary but important element of the analysis is given by the pattern of
agricultural trade composition according to product categories. In particular, it is
interesting to note that the composition of Syrian agricultural exports is
characterized by a very high weight of raw agricultural products (84%) against
manufactured ones (16%), while the pattern of the total MC-11 group is quite
different, with the manufactured agricultural products accounting for 56 % of
agricultural exports to the EU. In other words, the high dependence of Syria on low
value added products represents a unique case in the Mediterranean region, and
can provide a meaningful explanation for the deterioration of its Standardized Trade
Balance (Table 6.9). This is true especially in the medium long run, when the effects
of peculiar climatic conditions tend to smooth out.
As far as export concentration by products is concerned, the different structure in
product groups between Syria and MC-11 should be noted. Syrian agricultural
exports to the EU are very concentrated on four product categories, while the export
of other MC-11 is much more diversified, covering almost all product categories.
49
More specifically, Syrian agricultural exports depend mainly on vegetable fibers

(including cotton), with a share of 73%, fresh and frozen meat (11%), and fresh
legumes and vegetables (5%). As for other MC-11, agricultural exports are
concentrated on processed cereals (42%), dried fruits (21%), fresh legumes and
vegetables (13%), citrus (11%), processed vegetables (7 %), and processed fish
(6.5 %). (Table 6.9)
On the import side, the situation is not different. Agricultural imports from the EU to
the Mediterranean region consist mainly of processed agricultural products. This
feature is even clearer in the case of Syria, where manufactured products represent
85% of its agricultural imports. Syrian agricultural imports are highly concentrated,
too. They consist of sugar and sweets (55%); cereals (11%); dairy products (10%);
processed food products (6%); and oil seed cakes (4.5%). Conversely, the
agricultural imports of MC-11 from EU show a lower degree of concentration, with
the leading shares as follows: processed cereals (17%); cereals (14%); and fresh
and frozen meat (11%), to mention a few (Table 6.9).
Another interesting issue that can be pointed out is the degree of potential
competition between Syria and other MC-11 in exporting their agricultural products
on the EU markets. A simple way to identify the degree of potential competition is to
analyze the “similarity” of the export structure to EU between Syria and other MC-
11. Indeed, the larger is the similarity of the export composition, the higher is the
potential competition, since the countries have to sell the same products on the
same market. Table 6.10 shows the Product Similarity index12 between Syria and
selected MC-11 for selected years.
In general, six Mediterranean countries appear as close potential competitors for
Syria on the EU markets. Egypt shows very high and increasingly similar export
structure, so that it is likely to be the closest competitor for Syrian exports. Lebanon
and Turkey show relatively high but static value of export similarity. Morocco,
Cyprus, Malta and Israel, whose export similarity with Syria was relatively low in
1990, showed a substantial increased of the index (Table 6.10).
6.3. Syria-EU Agricultural Trade (1995-1999)

During the period from 1995 to 1999, the agricultural trade between Syria and the
EU declined remarkably, reaching its lowest value in 1999. The main contraction in
trade took place in Syrian exports, which have been declining throughout the whole
period, except for a one-year recovery in 1997. As far as imports are concerned,
they reached the highest value in 1998 before a new decline in 1999. As a result,
the shares of agricultural products on total Syrian trade with the EU declined sharply
on the export side (from 36 to 17%), and showed high variability on the import side,
from a minimum of 22% in 1996 to a maximum of 55% in 1998 (Table 6.11).
The bilateral trade between Syria and the EU is quite consistent with a typical
“North-South” pattern of exchange (Garcia Alvarez Coque, 2001). Syrian agricultural
exports are increasingly composed of raw agricultural products, as indicated by
increasing shares for the aggregate (Table 6.11) and the positive standardized trade
balance indexes registered for many products (table 6.12). Imports consist mainly of
processed food products, such as sugar and sweets, dairy, oils, processed cereals
12
The similarity index (PS) between two countries (“i” and “j”) is PSij = ∑t (min Pit, Pjt), assuming that Syria is the
country “i”, Pi,t is the share of the product t on total export from Syria to the EU and Pjt is the share on export to the
EU for the country to be compared (“j”). If the export structure is the same for the two countries the PS totals 100.
50
Chapter 6
and beverages, but also important are cereals, raw tobacco, and live animals (Table
6.12).
Only a small number of Syrian agricultural products are present on the EU markets.
Indeed, Syrian agricultural exports are concentrated on a small number of products
mainly due to the very high and increasing share of cotton: from an average of 63%
in 1995-97 to 73% in 1997-99 (Table 6.13). Over the two periods considered, only
one new product entered the very small group of Syrian agricultural products that
count for more than 1% of the total agricultural export to the EU (potatoes, whose
exports have shown a good improvement in recent years), while three products
disappeared (Tables 6.13). Import from EU is significantly less concentrated and
tends to articulate further, but sugar maintains a share well above 50% of total agro-
food imports (Table 6.14).
In short, Syrian agricultural trade with the EU appears as a weak trade link, also
compared to the good and important trade relation existing for non-agricultural trade.
Moreover, Syria is the only Mediterranean partner of the EU characterized by a
deteriorating standardized trade balance, and by high dependency of the agricultural
export revenues on a very limited number of non processed, low value-added
primary products
6.4. The Syria-EU Association Agreement

As already mentioned, Syria is the only participant to the Barcelona Process that
hasn’t signed yet an association agreement with the EU despite the fact that a draft
text covering political, economic, social, and cooperation issues has been produced
with the aim of establishing a free trade area by the year 2010.
Agricultural and agro-processing trade is the fundamental issue in the Association
agreement, due to its importance for Syria and its sensitivity for the European
countries. Moreover, the subsidies offered to agricultural commodities consume
around a half of the overall EU budget.
Nine formal negotiating rounds have taken place between May 1998 and November
2002 so far at various levels. Concerning agricultural negotiation, the Syrian initial
proposal included the reduction of the custom tariff applied by the EU on the
products that have a large surplus in Syria right after the entry into force of the
agreement, and gradual reduction for the remaining products. The EU counter
proposal delays the discussion on agricultural products liberalization till five years
after the signature of the agreement, and includes concessions in terms of
preferential entry based on the traditional flows as a base to be increased by agreed
rates. These concessions include tariff free and tariff reduced quotas for some
Syrian products.
Due to the different initial positions, the two parties agreed on identifying the
commodities that will enjoy tariff reduction or exemption and the quantities that will
be allowed into the markets of the two sides. The proposals can be summarized as
follows.
The European proposal included the liberalization of several Syrian products,

including products that are either not exported by Syria or needed by the EU for its
industry. Concerning the EU exports to Syria, the proposal foresees the full
liberalization of the European traditional exports, ignoring the sensitiveness for Syria
of some products such as citrus, olives, olive oil, apples, stone nuts, etc. Concerning
51
the agro-processing products, the EU will maintain its policy related to the
exemption of the industrial component and levying the agricultural one.
The Syrian proposal is based on the traditional flow of the agricultural commodities
that used to enjoy a zero tariff under the 1977 Protocol. Moreover, Syria has
requested some additional tariff quotas for sensitive products such as olives, olive
oil, citrus, apples, stone fruits, potato, tomato, etc that were not included in the
protocol because of the insufficient local production at that time.
Regarding Syrian imports from EU, the tariff exemptions will be consistent with the
traditional flow and quotas exempted will be identified for the products imported in
large quantities (like sugar), to avoid that full liberalization could affect Government
revenues since the entry into force of the agreement.
Concerning processed agricultural products, Syria has requested to extend to the
agricultural component the same exemption given to industrial products under the
1977 Protocol, given that Syria was unable to compete with the European industry
despite the exemption already in place.
The ninth negotiation round, held in Brussels on 11-12th of November 2002 was
devoted to discuss in detail the two proposals and reached an agreement to revise
the proposals taking into account the interests of the two parties.
Moreover, it was agreed to reduce the interval between the meetings in order to
accelerate the conclusion of the agreement.
52
References
References
Al Madani, A.H. et al. 2000. Agricultural Trade Liberalization in Syria, in the Context
of Bilateral Trade Agreements, Arab Free Trade Area and WTO. Damascus, FAO
Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA.
CBS-Central Bureau of Statistics. Statistical Abstract. Damascus.
Garcia Alvarez Coque, J.M. 2001. Syrian –EU Association and Its Impact on
Agriculture. Damascus, FAO Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA.
FAO Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA. 1999. Country Profile: the State of Food and
Agriculture in Syria. Damascus.
FAO Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA. 2001. Country Profile: the State of Food and
Agriculture in Syria. Damascus.
FAO. Trade yearbook. Rome.
General Custom Department. Foreign Trade Statistics. Damascus.
Munlahasan, A. et al. 2000. The Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement:
Option, Constrains and Opportunities for Syria. Damascus, FAO Project
GCP/SYR/006/ITA.
UNICTAD. 2001. Trade and Development Report. Geneva.
Wehrheim, P. 2001. Taxations and Net Transfers to the Agricultural Sector.
Damascus, FAO Project GCP/SYR/006/ITA.
WTO. 1999. International Trade Statistics. Geneva.
WTO. 2001. International Trade Statistics. Geneva.
Zarrouk, J. 1998. Arab Free Trade Area Potentialities and Effects on
Mediterranean. Marrakech.
Zarrouk, J. & Zallio, F. 2000. Integrating Free Trade Agreement. Marrakech.
53
Annexes
Annex Tables by Chapter
55
Table 1.1 - World exports by region, 1990-2000
Current Value (billion US$) Average Values % Variation
Regions
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 90-92 98-00 2000 / 1990 1998-2000 / 1990-92
World 3,442 3,509 3,759 3,746 4,243 5,078 5,345 5,535 5,440 5,625 6,186 3,570 5,750 79.7 61.1
North America 522 549 583 610 678 777 827 903 897 934 1,058 551 963 102.8 74.7
Latin America 147 145 153 162 188 229 256 283 279 297 359 148 312 144.6 110.2
Western Europe 1,637 1,619 1,719 1,591 1,808 2,215 2,294 2,282 2,362 2,353 2,441 1,658 2,385 49.1 43.8
- out of which EU15 1,509 1,493 1,584 1,466 1,668 2,052 2,120 2,110 2,194 2,180 2,251 1,529 2,208 49.2 44.5
CEE/Baltic States/CIS* 105 93 100 107 124 159 214 224 215 214 271 99 233 157.1 134.7
Africa 104 99 97 91 94 107 122 125 103 112 154 100 123 47.9 23.1
Middle East 134 119 127 122 125 146 170 178 138 170 263 127 190 96.1 50.1
Asia 792 885 980 1,063 1,226 1,445 1,462 1,540 1,446 1,546 1,649 886 1,547 108.1 74.7
Share of total world exports

Regions
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
World 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
North America 15.2 15.7 15.5 16.3 16.0 15.3 15.5 16.3 16.5 16.6 17.1
Latin America 4.3 4.1 4.1 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.8 5.1 5.1 5.3 5.8
Western Europe 47.6 46.1 45.7 42.5 42.6 43.6 42.9 41.2 43.4 41.8 39.5
- out of which EU15 43.8 42.5 42.1 39.1 39.3 40.4 39.7 38.1 40.3 38.8 36.4
CEE/Baltic States/CIS 3.1 2.6 2.7 2.9 2.9 3.1 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.8 4.4
Africa 3.0 2.8 2.6 2.4 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.3 1.9 2.0 2.5
Middle East 3.9 3.4 3.4 3.3 2.9 2.9 3.2 3.2 2.5 3.0 4.3
Asia 23.0 25.2 26.1 28.4 28.9 28.4 27.4 27.8 26.6 27.5 26.7
Source: WTO.
* Central and Eastern Europe/Community of Independent States
Table 1.2 - World imports by region, 1990-2000
Current Value (billion US$) Average Values % Variation
Region
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 90-92 98-00 2000 / 1990 1998-2000 / 1990-92
3,542 3,626 3,880 3,858 4,368 5,216 5,521 5,719 5,658 5,881 6,490 3,683 6,010 83.2 63.2
World
641 634 684 743 845 940 998 1,101 1,152 1,280 1,504 653 1,312 134.5 100.8
North America
130 148 177 194 226 254 278 329 345 335 388 152 356 198.0 134.8
Latin America
1,700 1,711 1,790 1,608 1,807 2,209 2,280 2,277 2,403 2,418 2,567 1,734 2,463 51.0 42.0
Western Europe
1,558 1,579 1,654 1,477 1,668 2,035 2,091 2,085 2,207 2,232 2,362 1,597 2,267 51.6 42.0
- out of which EU15
114 98 100 109 121 155 230 246 242 214 242 104 233 112.8 124.2
CEE/Baltic States/CIS*
95 94 99 97 105 126 124 132 132 133 137 96 134 44.5 39.8
Africa
99 111 130 121 117 130 140 151 146 150 171 113 156 72.4 37.2
Middle East
Asia 762 830 900 985 1,146 1,401 1,471 1,484 1,238 1,352 1,481 831 1,357 94.3 63.3
Share of total world imports

Region
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
World
18.1 17.5 17.6 19.3 19.4 18.0 18.1 19.3 20.4 21.8 23.2
North America
3.7 4.1 4.6 5.0 5.2 4.9 5.0 5.7 6.1 5.7 6.0
Latin America
48.0 47.2 46.1 41.7 41.4 42.4 41.3 39.8 42.5 41.1 39.6
Western Europe
44.0 43.5 42.6 38.3 38.2 39.0 37.9 36.5 39.0 38.0 36.4
- out of which EU15
3.2 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.8 3.0 4.2 4.3 4.3 3.6 3.7
CEE/Baltic States/CIS
2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.1
Africa
2.8 3.1 3.3 3.1 2.7 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.6
Middle East
Asia 21.5 22.9 23.2 25.5 26.2 26.9 26.6 25.9 21.9 23.0 22.8
Source: WTO.
Table 1.3 - Total exports in raw and manufactured goods by region (billion US$)
Raw goods Annual variations %
Mining products
Manufuctured
Regions Year Agr. Agr. Mining Manufuctured
Ores & Non- goods
Materials other Fuels ferrous Total Materials products goods
minerals metals
World
1997 121 64 457 104 625 3,991 - - -
1998 108 59 337 100 496 4,044 -10.9 -20.6 -26.3
1999 107 56 401 99 556 4,186 -0.6 12.1 19.0
2000 116 62 631 120 813 4,630 8.1 46.2 57.3
North America
1997 34 11 34 16 61 688 - - -
1998 30 9 28 15 52 700 -12.5 -15.2 -19.3
1999 30 9 30 14 53 736 0.4 1.7 8.8
2000 30 9 28 15 52 425 -0.4 -1.7 -8.1
Latin America
1997 7 9 42 11 62 150 - - -
1998 7 9 29 9 47 165 -10.5 -24.2 -31.3
1999 7 9 38 9 56 179 5.9 18.5 31.9
2000 8 10 51 12 73 217 15.8 31.1 35.2
Western Europe
1997 36 17 89 40 145 1,828 - - -
1998 35 15 69 39 123 1,903 -2.4 -15.7 -22.7
1999 34 14 76 39 129 1,894 -3.6 5.5 11.1
2000 34 16 112 45 172 1,959 0.0 33.3 46.0
CEE/BS/CIS*
1997 NA NA NA NA 69 114 - - -
1998 NA NA NA NA 58 125 - -16.1 -
1999 NA NA NA NA 60 122 - 3.8 -
2000 NA NA NA NA 93 147 - 55.2 -
Africa
1997 NA NA NA NA 62 32 - - -
1998 NA NA NA NA 45 31 - -27.3 -
1999 NA NA NA NA 53 34 - 17.5 -
2000 NA NA NA NA 86 36 - 63.2 -
Middle East
1997 NA NA NA NA 129 39 - - -
1998 NA NA NA NA 91 39 - -29.9 -
1999 NA NA NA NA 118 43 - 30.0 -
2000 NA NA NA NA 196 57 - 66.2 -
Asia
1997 27 14 63 18 95 1,140 - - -
1998 22 13 50 17 81 1,081 -20.0 -15.4 -20.2
1999 22 12 57 18 87 1,177 0.5 8.0 13.4
2000 25 15 79 22 116 1,389 13.3 33.0 39.2
Source: WTO.
* Central and Eastern Europe/Baltic States/Community of Independent States
Table 1.4 - Total imports in raw and manufactured goods by region (billion US$)
Raw goods Annual variations %
Mining products
Manufuctured
Regions Year Agr. Agr. Mining Manufuctured
Ores & Non- goods
Material other Fuels ferrous Total Material products goods
minerals metals
World
1997 121 64 457 104 625 3,991 - - -
1998 108 59 337 100 496 4,044 -10.9 -20.6 1.3
1999 107 56 401 99 556 4,186 -0.6 12.1 3.5
2000 116 62 631 120 813 4,630 8.1 46.2 10.6
North America
1997 19 8 86 18 111 834 - - -
1998 18 8 63 18 89 893 -5.6 -20.0 7.0
1999 19 7 79 19 105 991 6.9 18.4 11.0
2000 21 8 132 23 164 1,125 6.3 55.9 13.5
Latin America
1997 6 2 22 4 28 232 - - -
1998 5 2 17 4 23 243 -4.2 -14.8 4.5
1999 4 2 21 4 27 230 -16.8 13.4 -5.5
2000 5 2 18 4 24 266 20.9 -11.4 15.9
Western Europe
1997 49 27 150 47 224 1,639 - - -
1998 48 26 114 48 188 1,765 -3.0 -16.0 7.7
1999 45 24 129 45 198 1,774 -5.9 5.1 0.5
2000 46 25 195 52 271 1,839 1.8 37.2 3.7
CEE/BS/CIS*
1997 NA NA NA NA 33 160 - - -
1998 NA NA NA NA 26 160 - -19.9 0.0
1999 NA NA NA NA 24 142 - -9.8 -11.0
2000 NA NA NA NA 34 165 - 43.9 15.9
Africa
1997 NA NA NA NA 11 82 - - -
1998 NA NA NA NA 9 85 - -11.0 3.9
1999 NA NA NA NA 12 81 - 23.8 -4.2
2000 NA NA NA NA 17 82 - 43.3 1.1
Middle East
1997 NA NA NA NA 9 110 - - -
1998 NA NA NA NA 7 113 - -22.0 3.1
1999 NA NA NA NA 9 105 - 26.5 -7.3
2000 NA NA NA NA 13 112 - 43.5 6.8
Asia
1997 39 20 146 30 196 910 - - -
1998 29 16 101 25 143 756 -25.3 -27.1 -17.0
1999 31 17 123 26 166 830 6.6 16.2 9.8
2000 36 22 199 33 253 1,006 17.2 52.9 21.2
Source: WTO.
* Central and Eastern Europe/Baltic States/Community of Independent States
Table 1.5 - Leading exporting countries, 2000 (billion US$)
Rank Exporters Value % Annual % change
1 USA 781.1 12.6 12.4
2 Germany 551.5 8.9 1.8
3 Japan 479.2 7.7 14.3
4 France 298.1 4.8 -0.8
5 United Kingdom 284.1 4.6 5.6
6 Canada 276.6 4.5 16.0
7 China 249.3 4.0 27.7
8 Italy 237.8 3.8 3.1
9 Netherlands 212.5 3.4 6.0
10 Hong Kong 202.4 3.3 16.1
11 Belgium 186.1 3.0 5.6
12 Korea 172.3 2.8 17.8
13 Mexico 166.4 2.7 23.2
14 Taipei 148.3 2.4 19.8
15 Singapore 137.9 2.2 22.6
16 Spain 113.7 1.8 3.3
17 Russian Federation 105.2 1.7 41.6
18 Malaysia 98.2 1.6 16.2
19 Sweden 86.9 1.4 2.4
20 Saudi Arabia 84.1 1.4 NA

Source: WTO.
Table 1.6 - Leading exporting countries, 1999 (billion US$)
Rank Exporters Value % Annual % change
1 USA 695.2 12.4 2.0
2 Germany 541.5 9.6 0.0
3 Japan 419.4 7.5 8.0
4 France 300.4 5.3 -2.0
5 United Kingdom 269.0 4.8 -1.0
6 Canada 238.4 4.2 11.0
7 Italy 230.6 4.1 -6.0
9 China 195.2 3.5 6.0
10 Belgium 176.3 3.1
11 Hong Kong 174.4 3.1 0.0
12 Korea 146.3 2.6 9.0
13 Mexico 135.0 2.4 16.0
14 Taipei 123.8 2.2 10.0
15 Singapore 112.5 2.0 4.0
16 Spain 110.1 1.8 1.0
17 Sweden 84.9 1.5 0.0
18 Malaysia 84.5 1.5 15.0
19 Switzerland 80.4 1.4 2.0
20 Russian Federation 74.3 1.3 0.0
Source: WTO.
Table 1.7 - Leading importing countries, 1999 (billion US$)
Annual %
Rank Importer Value %
change
1 USA 1,059.1 18.0 12.0
2 Germany 472.5 8.0 0.0
3 United Kingdom 320.3 5.4 2.0
4 Japan 311.3 5.3 11.0
5 France 290.1 4.9 0.0
6 Canada 220.2 3.7 7.0
7 Italy 216.9 3.7 -1.0
9 Hong Kong 180.7 3.1 -3.0
10 China 165.8 2.8 18.0
11 Belgium 160.9 2.7 0.0
12 Mexico 148.7 2.5 14.0
13 Spain 144.8 2.5 9.0
14 Korea 119.8 2.0 28.0
15 Singapore 111.1 1.9 9.0
16 Taipei 110.7 1.9 5.0
17 Switzerland 79.9 1.4 0.0
18 Australia 69.1 1.2 7.0
19 Austria 68.8 1.2 1.0
20 Sweden 68.5 1.2 0.0

Source: WTO.
Table 1.8 - Leading importing countries, 2000 (billion US$)
Annual %
Rank Importer Value %
change
1 1,258 19.4
USA 19
2 503 7.7
Germany 6
3 380 5.8
Japan 22
4 337 5.2
United Kingdom 5.2
5 305 4.7
France 5
6 245 3.8
Canada 11
7 237 3.6
Italy 9
8 225 3.5
China 36
9 214 3.3
Hong Kong 19
10 198 3.1
Netherlands 5.5
11 183 2.8
Mexico 23
12 173 2.7
Belgium 7.5
13 161 2.5
Korea 34.0
14 154 2.4
Spain 6.0
15 140 2.2
Taipei, Chinese 26.5
16 135 2.1
Singapore 21.1
17 84 1.3
Switzerland 5
18 82 1.3
Malaysia NA
19 73 1.1
Sweden 6.3
20 Australia 72 1.1 3.5
Source: WTO.
Table 2.1- World agricultural trade, selected indicators
Value in 2000 (billion US$) 558
9.0
share in world merchandise trade (%)
share in world exports of primary products (%) 40.7
Average annnual growth (%) for selected years

-2.0
1980-85
9.0
1985-90
3.0
1990-00
-5.0
1997-98
-3.0
1998-99
1999-2000 2.0
Source: WTO.
Table 2.2 - Share of agricultural products in world trade by region, 2000 (%)
Regions Exports Imports
Share of agricultural products on total merchandise trade

9.0 9.0
World
10.0 5.9
North America
18.4 9.0
Latin America
9.4 10.0
Western Europe
8.9 10.7
CEE/Baltic States/CIS*
12.9 15.1
Africa
2.4 13.1
Middle East
Asia 6.5 9.4
Share of agricultural products on primary products

40.7 40.7
World
85.2 33.8
North America
47.3 44.1
Latin America
57.2 47.3
Western Europe
20.7 41.8
17.7 51.9
Africa
3.2 59.9
Middle East
Asia 48.0 34.7

Source: WTO.
Table 2.3 - Exports of agricultural products by region
Value (billion US$) Share in world exports (%) Annual percentage change
Region
2000 1990 2000 90-2000 1999 2000
World 558.3 100.0 100.0 3.0 -3.0 2.0
105.8 19.7 19.0 3.0 -2.0 6.0

North America
66.0 9.6 11.8 5.0 -7.0 8.0
Latin America
230.1 45.2 41.2 2.0 -3.0 -3.0
Western Europe
24.2 3.0 4.3 NA -9.0 10.0
18.6 3.9 3.3 1.0 -5.0 -17.0
Africa
6.4 1.1 1.1 4.0 9.0 -8.0
Middle East
Asia 107.2 17.4 19.2 4.0 -1.0 11.0

Source: WTO.
Table 2.4 - Leading exporters of agricultural products
Value (billion US$) Share in world exports (%) Annual percentage change
Exporters
2000 1990 2000 1990-2000 1998 1999 2000
71 14.3 12.7 2.0 -10.0 -6.0 7.0

USA
37 9.0 6.5 0.0 -1.0 -4.0 -7.0
France
35 5.4 6.2 5.0 -9.0 4.0 7.0
Canada
34 7.7 6.1 1.0 -3.0 3.0 -3.0
Netherlands
28 5.9 5.0 1.0 5.0 -4.0 -8.0
Germany
20 11.1 3.6 NA NA NA -2.0
Belgium
17 2.3 3.0 6.0 -1.0 -2.0 -4.0
Spain
17 3.6 3.0 1.0 -7.0 -9.0 -6.0
United Kingdom
16 2.4 2.9 5.0 -9.0 -1.0 15.0
China
16 2.8 2.9 3.0 -23.0 5.0 7.0
Australia
16 2.9 2.9 3.0 2.0 2.0 -7.0
Italy
15 2.4 2.8 5.0 -7.0 -6.0 -3.0
Brazil
13 1.9 2.4 5.0 -12.0 2.0 13.0
Thailand
12 1.8 2.2 5.0 2.0 -14.0 NA
Argentina
Denmark 11 2.6 2.0 0.0 -3.0 -5.0 -5.0

Source: WTO.
Table 2.5 - Leading importers of agricultural products
Value (billion US$) Share in world imports (%) Annual percentage change
Importers
2000 1990 2000 1990-2000 1998 1999 2000
66.7 9.0 11.0 5.0 1.0 6.0 1.0

USA
62.2 11.4 10.3 2.0 -16.0 6.0 4.0
Japan
41.5 10.7 6.9 -1.0 2.0 -7.0 -14.0
Germany
32.5 6.7 5.4 1.0 -1.0 -2.0 -6.0
United Kingdom
30.4 6.5 5.0 1.0 3.0 -5.0 -4.0
France
29.4 7.1 4.9 -1.0 -1.0 -4.0 -5.0
Italy
20.9 4.3 3.5 1.0 -1.0 5.0 -6.0
Netherlands
19.5 1.8 3.2 10.0 -14.0 10.0 41.0
China
18.5 12.3 3.1 NA NA NA -3.0
Belgium
17.0 2.8 2.8 3.0 4.0 0.0 -8.0
Spain
15.3 2.0 2.5 5.0 2.0 2.0 7.0
Canada
13.0 2.2 2.1 3.0 -34.0 19.0 17.0
Korea, Rep.
11.7 NA NA 3.0 -13.0 -11.0 4.0
Hong Kong, China
11.1 1.2 1.8 7.0 8.0 0.0 15.0
Mexico
Russian Federation 9.9 NA 1.6 NA -27.0 -23.0 -7.0

Source: WTO.
Table 2.6 - World agricultural trade by region (billion US$)
Destination World North America Latin America Western Europe
Origin 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000
414.2 576.7 562.3 545.6 558.3 46.0 62.4 72.8 76.8 83.6 15.9 27.7 33.6 28.8 31.0 209.0 271.9 263.5 252.3 243.8
World
North America 81.8 112.5 101.5 99.8 105.8 17.4 26.0 29.9 32.1 33.3 6.9 11.0 14.5 13.1 13.9 16.7 19.8 16.6 14.2 14.8
Latin America 39.6 58.5 66.0 61.0 66.0 10.4 14.6 17.4 17.9 21.7 4.5 10.2 13.0 10.4 11.6 13.3 19.3 19.9 18.6 18.3
Western Europe 187.4 248.5 243.0 236.7 230.1 8.6 9.5 11.2 12.5 12.9 3.0 4.7 4.0 3.1 3.5 146.5 190.2 185.9 181.8 174.2
C/E. Europe/BS/CIS 12.6 21.3 24.2 22.1 24.2 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 8.1 11.8 9.7 8.9 9.2
Africa 16.3 21.0 23.6 22.0 18.6 0.9 0.9 1.2 1.1 0.9 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.3 10.0 12.7 12.8 11.8 10.4
Middle East 4.5 6.4 6.4 6.9 6.4 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.1
Asia 72.0 108.5 97.7 96.7 107.2 8.2 10.7 12.1 12.4 13.9 1.1 1.4 1.6 1.3 1.5 12.4 15.9 16.4 15.0 14.8
Destination C/E. Europe/BS/CIS Africa Middle East Asia
Origin 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000
21.1 24.2 30.7 23.5 24.6 15.5 20.6 20.8 18.3 18.1 15.2 19.4 19.3 19.6 19.7 89.7 147.9 118.1 122.2 134.5
World
North America 3.6 1.8 1.9 1.3 1.2 2.6 3.9 3.4 3.1 3.2 2.7 3.3 2.7 2.9 3.2 31.6 46.2 32.1 32.8 36.0
Latin America 5.3 1.5 2.1 2.0 1.9 1.0 1.9 2.2 1.8 1.8 1.2 1.8 2.4 2.1 1.9 4.0 9.1 8.5 8.1 8.6
Western Europe 5.8 13.3 13.4 10.0 10.0 7.6 8.9 8.6 7.4 7.6 5.9 6.5 6.2 6.4 6.3 9.0 14.7 12.6 14.3 14.7
C/E. Europe/BS/CIS 1.8 4.5 9.6 7.4 8.7 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 1.5 3.0 2.8 3.4 3.9
Africa 0.6 0.7 1.2 0.9 0.8 1.9 2.3 2.6 2.4 1.8 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.8 0.6 2.5 3.7 3.7 3.8 3.4
Middle East 0.6 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.2 0.2 1.2 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.3 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.8
Asia 3.6 2.1 2.1 1.6 1.8 1.9 2.9 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.7 4.3 4.4 4.3 4.8 40.9 70.6 57.9 59.0 67.2
Source: WTO.
Table 3.1 - Evolution of selected SP/US$ Exchange Rates, 1990-2000
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Official Exchange Rate (ER) 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 46.5
Neighboring countries ER 42 43 43 43 43 43 44 45.2 46.5 46.5 46.5
ER in Beirut 46.45 45.84 50.48 49.67 51.2 50 51 51 51 51 51
ER for agricultural exports 11.2 11.2 11.2 11.2 11.2 11.2 11.2 11.2 11.2 11.2 46.8
ER for agricultural imports 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 11.25 46.9
ER for fertilizer imports* 11.25 23 33 43 43 43 43 45 46.5 46.5 46.6
ER for pesticide imports* 11.25 11.25 40 40 43 43 43 45.5 46.5 46.5 46.7
Trade weighted ER 19.2 25.1 28.1 29.9 33.3 34.4 39.2 45.1 49.4 48.9 48.1
Source: various.
*weighted average of the different Exchange Rates applied for public and private imports.
Table 3.2 - Total Syrian exports and imports (million SP) and their growth rates
Value 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000* 2000
Total Export (E) 35,318 39,818 44,562 44,887 43,953 32,443 38,880 52,637 216,188
Total Import (I) 46,469 61,374 52,856 60,385 45,211 43,725 43,010 45,371 187,535
Trade balance (E-I) -11,151 -21,556 -8,294 -15,498 -1,258 -11,282 -4,130 7,266 28,653
Total Trade Volume (E+I) 81,787 101,192 97,418 105,272 89,164 76,168 81,890 98,008 403,723
Standardized trade balance (E+I/E-I *100) -13.6 -21.3 -8.5 -14.7 -1.4 -14.8 -5.0 7.4 7.1
Growth rate 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 average 93-00
Total Export 12.7 11.9 0.7 -2.1 -26.2 19.8 35.4 5.9
Total Import 32.1 -13.9 14.2 -25.1 -3.3 -1.6 5.5 -0.3
Total Trade Volume 23.7 -3.7 8.1 -15.3 -14.6 7.5 19.7 2.6
Source: CBS, Statistical Abstract, several years.
*The exchange rate used for calculating values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5 for imports and from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46 for
exports. Numbers in this column were calculated using the old exchange rates for the purpose of comparison.
Table 3.3 - Syrian exports by sector (million SP)
Sector 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000* 2000
Agriculture, Hunting, and Forestry 6,586 7,302 6,837 7,419 9,587 8,293 7,002 6,466 26,555
Mining & Quarrying 21,037 20,238 24,787 28,566 24,429 15,530 24,532 35,960 147,693
Manufacturing 7,695 12,279 12,937 8,901 9,937 8,620 7,346 10,211 41,940
Food products and beverages 1,000 2,058 1,588 1,826 1,644 1,624 1,403 920 3,779
Textiles 2,214 4,357 4,573 2,225 2,440 1,966 2,288 3,204 13,161
Coke, refined petroleum products 2,540 2,177 3,090 2,151 3,524 2,468 1,587 3,748 15,393
Other 1,941 3,687 3,686 2,699 2,329 2,562 2,068 2,339 9,607
Total 35,318 39,818 44,562 44,887 43,953 32,443 38,880 52,637 216,188
Table 3.4 - Composition of Syrian exports by sector (%)
Sector 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Agriculture, Hunting, and Forestry 18.6 18.3 15.3 16.5 21.8 25.6 18.0 12.3
Mining & Quarrying products 59.6 50.8 55.6 63.6 55.6 47.9 63.1 68.3
Manufactured products 21.8 30.8 29.0 19.8 22.6 26.6 18.9 19.4
Food products and beverages 13.0 16.8 12.3 20.5 16.5 18.8 19.1 9.0
Textiles 28.8 35.5 35.3 25.0 24.6 22.8 31.1 31.4
Coke, refined petroleum products 33.0 17.7 23.9 24.2 35.5 28.6 21.6 36.7
Other 25.2 30.0 28.5 30.3 23.4 29.7 28.2 22.9
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Table 3.5 - Syrian imports by sector (million SP)
Sector 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000* 2000
Agriculture, Hunting, and Forestry 2,987.0 4,572.0 2,944.0 3,077.0 3,018.0 3,050.9 3,782.5 4,056.8 16,768.3
Mining & Quarrying products 259.0 336.0 297.0 137.0 574.0 572.0 705.0 1,080.2 4,465
Manufactured products 42,701.0 55,368.0 48,569.0 55,385.0 40,358.0 38,997.0 37,417.0 39,997.7 165,324
Food products and beverages 5,575.0 8,902.0 5,894.0 6,142.0 6,144.0 5,728.0 6,043.0 5,238.1 21,651
Tobacco products 184.0 581.0 297.0 309.0 194.0 120.0 100.0 107.7 445
Textiles 2,450.0 3,137.0 2,918.0 3,512.0 2,922.0 2,933.0 2,671.0 3,246.3 13,418
Chemicals and chemical products 6,560.0 6,395.0 6,362.0 8,770.0 7,622.0 7,068.0 7,005.0 8,590.9 35,509
Basic metals 5,156.0 7,215.0 7,619.0 8,619.0 5,468.0 5,922.0 5,977.0 5,661.3 23,400
Machinery 9,530.0 13,904.0 9,732.0 11,181.0 6,351.0 6,048.0 5,232.0 6,700.9 27,697
Motor vehicles and trailers 6,020.0 8,052.0 6,297.0 819.0 3,752.0 4,001.0 3,730.0 2,625.0 10,850
Others Manufactured Products 7,226.0 7,182.0 9,450.0 16,033.0 7,905.0 7,177.0 6,659.0 7,827.6 32,354
Other Products (including fishing) 522.0 1,098.0 1,046.0 1,786.0 1,261.0 1,105.1 1,105.5 236.5 977.7
Total 46,469.0 61,374.0 52,856.0 60,385.0 45,211.0 43,725.0 43,010.0 45,371.4 187,535
*The exchange rate used for calculating values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5 for imports and from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46
for exports. Numbers in this column were calculated using the old exchange rates for the purpose of comparison.
Table 3.6 - Composition of Syrian imports by sector (%)
Sector 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Agriculture, Hunting, and Forestry 6.4 7.4 5.6 5.1 6.7 7.0 8.8 8.9
Mining & Quarrying products 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.2 1.3 1.3 1.6 2.4
Manufactured products 91.9 90.2 91.9 91.7 89.3 89.2 87.0 88.2
Food products and beverages 13.1 16.1 12.1 11.1 15.2 14.7 16.2 13.1
Tobacco products 0.4 1.0 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.3
Textiles 5.7 5.7 6.0 6.3 7.2 7.5 7.1 8.1
Chemicals and chemical products 15.4 11.5 13.1 15.8 18.9 18.1 18.7 21.5
Basic metals 12.1 13.0 15.7 15.6 13.5 15.2 16.0 14.2
Machinary 22.3 25.1 20.0 20.2 15.7 15.5 14.0 16.8
Motor vehicles and trailers 14.1 14.5 13.0 1.5 9.3 10.3 10.0 6.6
Others 16.9 13.0 19.5 28.9 19.6 18.4 17.8 19.6
Other Products (including fishing) 1.1 1.8 2.0 3.0 2.8 2.5 2.6 0.5
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Table 3.7 - Syrian exports by region, 1993-2000
Group 1993 1994 1995 1998 1999 2000*
millions SP
EU 21,467 22,216 25,394 16,332 23,670 140,452
Other European Countries 2,413 3,940 4,012 1,293 1,167 9,479
Arab Countries 8,353 10,423 10,437 9,039 8,150 34,977
Asian Countries 1,113 1,436 2,821 3,840 3,871 23,268
American Countries 1,081 569 746 303 653 2,806
Rest of the World 892 1,235 1,121 1,637 1,369 5,208
World 35,318 39,818 44,531 32,445 38,880 216,190

%
EU 60.8 55.8 57.0 50.3 60.9 65.0
Other European Countries 6.8 9.9 9.0 4.0 3.0 4.4
Arab Countries 23.7 26.2 23.4 27.9 21.0 16.2
Asian Countries 3.2 3.6 6.3 11.8 10.0 10.8
American Countries 3.1 1.4 1.7 0.9 1.7 1.3
Rest of the World 2.5 3.1 2.5 5.0 3.5 2.4
World 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

% Average 1993-1995 % Average 1998-2000
EU 57.9 58.7
Other European Countries 8.6 3.8
Arab Countries 24.4 21.7
Asian Countries 4.4 10.9
American Countries 2.1 1.3
Rest of the World 2.7 3.7
World 100.0 100.0

*The exchange rate used for calculating values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to
SP/US$ 46.5 for imports and from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46 for exports.
Table 3.8 - Syrian imports by region, 1993-2000
Group 1993 1994 1995 1998 1999 2000*
millions SP
18,331 21,735 18,240 14,288 13,109 55,719

EU
7,202 7,280 9,208 5,864 6,151 25,759
Other European Countries
2,890 3,842 4,129 3,441 3,572 20,187
Arab Countries
8,430 12,520 8,294 6,824 6,876 31,884
Asian Countries
4,467 5,392 5,022 3,762 3,596 17,190
American Countries
5,148 10,605 7,965 9,547 9,666 36,796
Rest of the World
46,469 61,374 52,858 43,725 42,970 187,535
World
%
39.4 35.4 34.5 32.7 30.5 29.7

EU
15.5 11.9 17.4 13.4 14.3 13.7
6.2 6.3 7.8 7.9 8.3 10.8
Arab Countries
18.1 20.4 15.7 15.6 16.0 17.0
Asian Countries
9.6 8.8 9.5 8.6 8.4 9.2
American Countries
11.1 17.3 15.1 21.8 22.5 19.6
Rest of the World
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
World
% Average 1993-1995 % average 1998-2000
36.5 31.0
EU
14.9 13.8
6.8 9.0
Arab Countries
18.1 16.2
Asian Countries
9.3 8.7
American Countries
14.5 21.3
Rest of the World
100.0 100.0
World
*The exchange rate used for calculating values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to
SP/US$ 46.5 for imports and from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46 for exports.
Table 3.9 - Destination of Syrian exports, 1993-1995
Rank Country millions SP Share (%) Cumulative Share (%)
1 Italy 10,669 26.7 26.7
2 France 5,613 14.1 40.8
3 Lebanon 3,854 9.7 50.5
4 Spain 2,949 7.4 57.9
5 Saudi Arabia 2,039 5.1 63.0
6 Russian Federation 1,843 4.6 67.6
7 UK 1,706 4.3 71.9
8 Turkey 1,442 3.6 75.5
9 Jordan 981 2.5 78.0
10 Germany 856 2.1 80.1
11 Kuwait 627 1.6 81.7
12 Greece 582 1.5 83.1
13 USA 518 1.3 84.4
14 Cyprus 513 1.3 85.7
15 Libya 512 1.3 87.0
16 UAE 408 1.0 88.0
17 Netherlands 393 1.0 89.0
18 Romania 368 0.9 89.9

Source: CBS, Annual Trade Summary, various issues.
Table 3.10 - Destination of Syrian exports, 1998-2000
1 Italy 28,541 29.8 29.8
2 France 17,920 18.7 48.5
3 Turkey 9,713 10.1 58.6
4 Saudi Arabia 6,139 6.4 65.0
5 Lebanon 4,330 4.5 69.6
6 Spain 4,187 4.4 73.9
7 UK 3,551 3.7 77.6
8 Germany 2,398 2.5 80.1
9 Cyprus 1,807 1.9 82.0
10 Portugal 1,617 1.7 83.7
11 UAE 1,104 1.2 84.9
12 Kuwait 1,059 1.1 86.0
13 Egypt 1,034 1.1 87.0
14 USA 981 1.0 88.1
15 Algeria 908 0.9 89.0
16 Netherlands 889 0.9 89.9

Table 3.11 - Origin of Syrian imports, 1993-1995
1 Germany 5,155 9.6 9.6
2 Italy 4,378 8.2 17.8
3 Japan 4,104 7.7 25.4
4 USA 3,368 6.3 31.7
5 Turkey 2,800 5.2 36.9
6 France 2,728 5.1 42.0
7 Romania 2,159 4.0 46.1
8 China 1,777 3.3 49.4
9 Belgium 1,634 3.0 52.4
10 UK 1,595 3.0 55.4
12 Netherlands 1,239 2.3 60.6
13 Bulgaria 1,066 2.0 62.6
14 Ukraine 1,025 1.9 64.5
15 Czech Republic 943 1.8 66.2
16 Brazil 757 1.4 67.7
17 Saudi Arabia 749 1.4 69.1
18 Spain 725 1.4 70.4
19 Egypt 724 1.4 71.8
20 Lebanon 662 1.2 73.0
21 Sweden 599 1.1 74.1
22 Jordan 580 1.1 75.2
23 Argentine 552 1.0 76.2
24 Austria 502 0.9 77.2
25 India 397 0.7 77.9
26 Switzerland 366 0.7 78.6
27 Sri Lanka 363 0.7 79.3
28 Greece 363 0.7 80.0

Table 3.12 - Origin of Syrian imports, 1998-2000
1 Germany 6,039 6.6 6.6
2 Ukraine 5,497 6.0 12.6
3 Italy 5,437 5.9 18.6
4 USA 5,347 5.8 24.4
5 Turkey 4,372 4.8 29.2
6 China 4,154 4.5 33.7
7 France 3,617 4.0 37.7
8 Japan 3,427 3.7 41.4
9 Saudi Arabia 3,198 3.5 44.9
10 UK 2,640 2.9 47.8
12 Belgium 2,445 2.7 53.4
13 Netherlands 1,949 2.1 55.5
14 Argentine 1,845 2.0 57.5
15 Spain 1,736 1.9 59.4
16 Romania 1,707 1.9 61.3
17 India 1,513 1.7 63.0
18 Egypt 1,478 1.6 64.6
19 UAE 989 1.1 65.7
20 Sri Lanka 907 1.0 66.7
21 Iran 790 0.9 67.5
22 Greece 740 0.8 68.3
23 Switzerland 700 0.8 69.1
24 Brazil 681 0.7 69.8
25 Austria 647 0.7 70.5

Table 4.1 - Syrian total and agricultural trade (million US$)
Commodities 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000* AAV
Import
Total trade 2,400 2,768 3,490 4,140 5,468 4,709 5,380 4,028 3,895 3,832 4,033 5.3%
Agricultural trade 765 725 696 782 980 780 862 795 781 856 943 2.1%
Agricultural/Total 31.9 26.2 20.0 18.9 17.9 16.6 16.0 19.7 20.1 22.3 23.4
Export
Total trade 4,212 3,430 3,093 3,146 3,547 3,970 3,999 3,916 2,890 3,464 4,700 1.1%
Agricultural trade 740 637 625 682 797 752 853 1,021 883 773 700 -0.6%
Balance
Total trade 1813 663 -397 -993 -1921 -739 -1381 -112 -1005 -368 667
Agricultural trade -26 -88 -71 -100 -183 -28 -10 226 102 -83 -243
Volume
Total trade 6,612 6,198 6,583 7,286 9,015 8,679 9,378 7,943 6,786 7,296 8,733 2.8%
Agricultural trade 1,505 1,362 1,322 1,464 1,776 1,533 1,715 1,816 1,664 1,630 1,643 0.9%
Standardized Balance
Total trade 27.4 10.7 -6.0 -13.6 -21.3 -8.5 -14.7 -1.4 -14.8 -5.0 7.6
Agricultural trade -1.7 -6.4 -5.4 -6.8 -10.3 -1.8 -0.6 12.4 6.1 -5.1 -14.8
Source: FAOSTAT, CBS (2001) and own elaboration.
*The exchange rate used for calculating values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5 for imports and from SP/US$ 11.20 to
SP/US$ 46 for exports. Values in this column were calculated based on CBS (2001) using the old exchange rates for comparability.
Table 4.2 - Syrian agricultural trade (million SP)
Total Trade Agricultural Trade* Agr./Total
Years
Export Import Balance Export Import Balance Export Import
1993 35,318 46,469 -11151 7,684 9,538 -1854 21.8 20.5
1994 39,818 61,374 -21556 9445 12229 -2784 23.7 19.9
1995 44,562 52,856 -8294 8,568 10585 -2017 19.2 20.0

Average 93-95 39,899 53,566 -13667 8,566 10,784 -2218 21.5 20.1
1998 32,443 43,725 -11282 10521 9788 733 32.4 22.4
1999 38,880 43,010 -4130 8854 10980 -2126 22.8 25.5
2000** 52,637 45,371 7266 7,837 10,613 -2776 14.9 23.4
2000 216,188 187,535 28653 32187 43865 -11678 14.9 23.4

Average 98-00* 41,320 44,035 -2,715 9,071 10,460 -1,390 22.0 23.8
Source: CBS, Statistical Abstract, various issues.
*Agricultural trade defined as the sum of the following categories: a) Food and Live Animals, b) Beverages and Tobacco, c) Crude Materials (except pulp and waste
paper, and metalliferous and metal scrap), and d) Animal and Vegetable Oils, Fats and Waxes.
**The exchange rate used for calculating values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5 for imports and from SP/US$ 11.20 to
SP/US$ 46 for exports. Values in this column were calculated using the old exchange rates for comparability.
Table 4.3 - Imports (million US$)
AAV
Syria 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000*
(%)
Total Trade 2,400 2,768 3,490 4,140 5,468 4,709 5,380 4,028 3,895 3,832 4,033 5.3
Total Agricultural Products 765 725 696 782 980 780 862 795 781 856 943 2.1
Bananas 0 0 0 0 151 28 20 21 20 24 35
Barley 19 28 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 59 0 -57.3
Cake of Soya Beans 20 25 33 26 42 20 27 22 50 39 15 -3.0
Coffee, Green 2 14 12 17 26 34 31 26 34 28 20 25.6
Dry Skimmed Cow Milk 4 9 11 15 17 17 23 35 31 43 59 30.4
Maize 60 44 17 45 54 46 46 82 74 75 170 11.0
Margarine + Shortening 28 28 27 29 37 49 49 32 46 41 97 13.4
Milled Paddy Rice 36 43 43 45 42 58 62 84 48 50 90 9.5
Oil of Cotton Seed 0 0 1 0 0 0 12 20 22 24 15
Oil of Soya Beans 4 3 5 7 11 18 29 26 21 24 34 23.5
Oil of Sunflower Seed 0 7 12 17 17 27 20 18 17 23 17
Sugar Refined 106 94 75 84 116 90 142 131 144 152 139 2.7
Tea 30 35 30 35 36 28 41 34 35 45 58 6.7
Anise, Badian, Fennel 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Apples 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Beans, Dry 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -7.2
Broad Beans, Dry 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -9.2
Cantaloupes and & Melons 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chick Peas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cotton Lint 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Cottonseed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Crude Organic Materials 8 8 12 8 10 10 10 10 9 14 5 -3.9
Fruit Prepared 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -100.0
Grapes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lentils 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mushrooms 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Oil of Olive 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -100.0
Oranges 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pears 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pistachios 2 7 11 18 32 30 6 1 17 12 9 14.4
Potatoes 3 7 7 1 2 9 1 5 12 6 2 -3.4
Tobacco Leaves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Tomato Paste 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tomatoes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Veg. in Temp Preservatives 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vegetables Dehydrated 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vegetables Fresh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Wheat 153 85 11 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 -29.6
Sheep 38 70 116 116 87 53 61 34 18 21 15 -8.5
Source: FAO.
*The exchange rate used for calculating values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5
for imports and from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46 for exports. Values in this column were calculated using the old exchange
rates for comparability.
Table 4.4 - Exports (million US$)
Syria 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000* AAV (%)
Total Trade 4,212 3,430 3,093 3,146 3,547 3,970 3,999 3,916 2,890 3,464 4,700 1.1
Total Agricultural Products 740 637 625 682 797 752 853 1,021 883 773 700 -0.6
Bananas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Barley 1 0 0 14 33 56 89 45 0 0 0 -52.5
Cake of Soya Beans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4 4 1
Coffee, Green 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dry Skimmed Cow Milk 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Maize 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -20.9
Margarine + Shortening 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Milled Paddy Rice 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Oil of Soya Beans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sugar Refined 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Anise, Badian, Fennel 6 9 12 20 37 24 19 20 16 12 3 -7.3
Apples 1 2 2 3 3 6 4 5 8 12 5 20.6
Beans, Dry 7 2 1 3 24 6 1 2 18 9 0 -38.9
Broad Beans, Dry 1 1 1 3 3 5 21 6 4 9 4 15.7
Cantaloupes and Melons 5 17 23 8 10 8 6 10 6 11 10 6.5
Chick Peas 0 0 0 14 17 11 1 0 16 12 6
Cotton Lint 153 171 170 174 194 213 170 247 273 155 195 2.5
Cottonseed 0 0 1 15 13 2 8 6 13 13 3
Fruit Prepared 22 48 12 6 8 9 18 12 16 8 2 -21.1
Grapes 2 2 8 7 14 23 13 22 18 33 14 23.5
Lentils 24 12 10 3 22 13 54 69 32 25 10 -8.3
Mushrooms 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 17 54 54 0 -17.1
Oil of Olive 0 0 0 0 1 13 16 6 1 7 4
Oranges 2 10 0 0 0 5 5 2 3 15 13 19.7
Pears 1 1 1 3 3 8 5 9 4 22 9 28.8
Pistachios 10 18 8 35 24 17 41 41 12 10 6 -4.8
Potatoes 52 31 70 20 19 18 13 5 6 26 10 -15.2
Tobacco Leaves 12 17 2 4 4 8 1 8 4 4 2 -17.4
Tomato Paste 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7 2 3 29.5
Tomatoes 9 14 10 25 52 42 46 61 78 95 77 24.1
Vegetables Dehydrated 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 9 2 2.6
Vegetables Fresh 4 5 7 27 16 11 10 18 14 14 3 -0.8
Wheat 4 0 6 2 4 20 58 191 95 24 0 -44.7
Sheep 211 101 107 83 63 41 88 46 49 54 98 -7.4
Source: FAO.
Table 4.5 - Trade balance (million US$)
Syria 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Total Trade 1813 663 -397 -993 -1921 -739 -1381 -112 -1005 -368 667
Total Agricultural Products -26 -88 -71 -100 -183 -28 -10 226 102 -83 -243
Bananas 0 0 0 0 -151 -28 -20 -21 -20 -24 -35
Barley -18 -28 -6 14 33 56 89 45 0 -59 0
Cake of Soya Beans -20 -25 -33 -26 -42 -20 -27 -15 -47 -36 -14
Coffee, Green -2 -14 -12 -17 -26 -34 -31 -26 -34 -28 -20
Dry Skimmed Cow Milk -4 -9 -11 -15 -17 -17 -23 -35 -31 -43 -59
Maize -60 -44 -17 -45 -54 -46 -46 -82 -74 -75 -170
Margarine + Shortening -28 -28 -27 -29 -37 -49 -49 -32 -46 -41 -97
Milled Paddy Rice -36 -43 -43 -45 -42 -58 -62 -84 -48 -50 -90
Oil of Cotton Seed 0 0 -1 0 0 0 -12 -20 -13 -17 -9
Oil of Soya Beans -4 -3 -5 -7 -11 -18 -29 -26 -21 -24 -34
Oil of Sunflower Seed 0 -7 -12 -17 -17 -27 -20 -18 -17 -23 -17
Sugar Refined -106 -94 -75 -84 -116 -90 -142 -131 -144 -152 -139
Tea -30 -35 -30 -35 -36 -28 -41 -34 -35 -45 -58
Anise, Badian, Fennel 6 9 12 20 36 24 19 20 16 12 3
Apples 1 1 2 3 3 6 4 5 8 12 5
Beans, Dry 7 1 0 3 24 6 0 1 18 9 0
Broad Beans, Dry 1 1 1 3 3 5 21 6 4 9 4
Cantaloupes and Melons 5 17 23 8 10 8 6 10 6 11 10
Chick Peas 0 0 0 14 17 11 1 0 16 12 6
Cotton Lint 153 171 170 174 194 213 169 247 273 155 195
Cottonseed 0 0 1 15 13 2 8 6 13 13 3
Crude Organic Materials 6 3 -7 -3 7 7 7 7 3 4 -1
Fruit Prepared 22 48 12 6 8 9 18 12 16 8 2
Grapes 2 2 8 7 14 23 13 22 18 33 14
Lentils 24 12 10 3 22 13 54 69 32 25 10
Mushrooms 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 16 54 54 0
Oil of Olive 0 0 0 0 1 13 16 6 1 7 4
Oranges 2 10 0 0 0 5 5 2 3 15 13
Pears 1 1 1 3 3 8 5 9 4 22 9
Pistachios 8 11 -2 17 -8 -13 35 40 -4 -3 -2
Potatoes 49 25 64 19 17 9 13 0 -6 21 8
Tobacco Leaves 12 17 2 4 4 8 1 8 4 4 0
Tomato Paste 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7 2 3
Tomatoes 9 14 10 25 52 42 46 61 78 95 77
Vegetables Dehydrated 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 9 2
Vegetables Fresh 4 5 7 27 16 11 10 18 14 14 2
Wheat -148 -85 -4 -10 4 20 58 191 95 24 -5
Sheep 173 31 -9 -33 -24 -12 27 12 31 34 83
Source: FAO.
Table 4.6 - Trade volume (million US$)
AAV
Syria 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000*
(%)
Total Trade 6,612 6,198 6,583 7,286 9,015 8,679 9,378 7,943 6,786 7,296 8,733 2.8
Total Agricultural Products 1,505 1,362 1,322 1,464 1,776 1,533 1,715 1,816 1,664 1,630 1,643 0.9
Bananas 0 0 0 0 151 28 20 21 20 24 35
Barley 20 28 6 14 33 56 89 45 0 59 0 -56.8
Cake of Soya Beans 20 25 33 26 42 20 27 30 54 43 16 -2.5
Coffee, Green 2 14 12 17 26 34 31 26 34 28 20 25.6
Dry Skimmed Cow Milk 4 9 11 15 17 17 23 35 31 43 59 30.4
Maize 60 44 17 45 54 46 46 82 74 75 170 11.0
Margarine + Shortening 28 28 27 29 37 49 49 32 46 41 97 13.4
Milled Paddy Rice 36 43 43 45 42 58 62 84 48 50 90 9.5
Oil of Soya Beans 4 3 5 7 11 18 29 26 21 24 34 23.5
Sugar Refined 106 94 75 84 116 90 142 131 144 152 139 2.7
Tea 30 35 30 35 36 28 41 34 35 45 58 6.7
Anise, Badian, Fennel 6 9 12 20 37 25 19 20 17 13 3 -7.3
Apples 1 4 2 3 3 6 4 5 8 12 5 20.6
Beans, Dry 7 2 1 4 24 6 1 2 19 9 0
Broad Beans, Dry 1 1 1 3 3 5 21 6 4 9 4 15.7
Cantaloupes and Melons 5 17 23 8 10 8 6 10 6 11 10 6.5
Chick Peas 0 0 0 14 17 11 1 0 16 12 6
Cotton Lint 153 171 170 174 194 213 171 247 273 155 195 2.5
Cottonseed 0 0 1 15 13 2 8 6 13 13 3
Fruit Prepared 22 48 12 6 9 10 18 12 16 8 2 -21.1
Grapes 2 2 8 7 14 23 13 22 18 33 14 23.5
Lentils 24 12 10 3 22 13 54 69 32 25 10 -8.3
Mushrooms 0 0 0 0 1 5 3 17 54 54 0 -12.9
Oil of Olive 0 0 0 0 1 14 16 7 1 7 4
Oranges 2 10 0 0 0 5 5 2 3 15 13 19.7
Pears 1 1 1 3 3 8 5 9 4 22 9 28.8
Pistachios 13 25 19 52 56 48 47 43 29 22 15 1.7
Potatoes 55 38 77 20 20 28 14 10 18 32 12 -14.1
Tobacco Leaves 12 17 2 4 5 8 1 8 4 4 3 -11.6
Tomato Paste 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7 2 3 29.5
Tomatoes 9 14 10 25 52 42 46 61 78 95 77 24.1
Vegetables Dehydrated 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 9 2 2.6
Vegetables Fresh 4 5 7 27 16 11 10 18 14 14 4 1.6
Wheat 157 85 17 13 4 20 58 191 95 24 5
Sheep 248 171 224 198 150 94 149 80 67 75 113 -7.5
Source: FAO.
Table 4.7 - Standardized balance
Syria 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Total Trade 27.4 10.7 -6.0 -13.6 -21.3 -8.5 -14.7 -1.4 -14.8 -5.0 7.6
Total Agricultural Products -1.7 -6.4 -5.4 -6.8 -10.3 -1.8 -0.6 12.4 6.1 -5.1 -14.8
Bananas 100.0 -100.0 -99.7 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Barley -87.6 -100.0 -100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 -100.0 -68.1
Cake of Soya Beans -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -49.2 -86.9 -83.5 -89.4
Coffee, Green -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -99.8 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Dry Skimmed Cow Milk -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -99.8 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Maize -99.9 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -99.9 -99.5 -99.7 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Margarine + Shortening -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Milled Paddy Rice -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -99.9 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Oil of Cotton Seed -100.0 59.6 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -99.0 -100.0 -44.4 -55.1 -39.4
Oil of Soya Beans -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -98.3 -99.9 -99.9 -100.0
Oil of Sunflower Seed -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Sugar Refined -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Tea -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 -100.0
Anise, Badian, Fennel 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.9 99.8 95.8 98.8 97.9 95.3 93.9 100.0
Apples 100.0 22.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 91.7 92.6 100.0 100.0 100.0
Beans, Dry 97.6 53.6 17.9 91.3 99.0 97.0 45.8 59.7 96.2 97.2 11.6
Broad Beans, Dry 98.9 100.0 100.0 99.0 100.0 99.0 99.8 99.4 99.0 99.9 99.9
Cantaloupes and Melons 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.4 99.2 99.5 100.0 100.0 100.0
Chick Peas 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Cotton Lint 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Cottonseed 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Crude Organic Materials 25.4 13.2 -36.8 -26.1 26.0 26.0 26.0 26.0 16.4 13.4 -9.5
Fruit Prepared 99.0 99.9 92.7 93.6 92.1 91.8 99.2 98.9 99.7 100.0 100.0
Grapes 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Lentils 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Mushrooms 100.0 100.0 100.0 48.5 -63.4 89.7 81.7 97.1 99.7 99.7 22.4
Oil of Olive -100.0 -100.0 -100.0 39.3 87.8 98.2 98.7 93.8 100.0 100.0 100.0
Oranges 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 88.1 99.9 99.9 99.8 100.0 100.0 100.0
Pears 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Pistachios 64.7 43.6 -12.6 32.5 -14.1 -26.6 74.5 94.7 -15.1 -12.1 -15.0
Potatoes 89.3 64.6 82.9 93.1 83.0 33.5 91.9 0.6 -35.3 65.4 65.5
Tobacco Leaves 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 85.9 96.2 75.9 100.0 100.0 100.0 1.9
Tomato Paste 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Tomatoes 100.0 100.0 99.8 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Veg. in Temp Preservatives 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 13.2 83.1 94.3 96.8 77.5
Vegetables Dehydrated 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Vegetables Fresh 99.5 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 57.8
Wheat -94.3 -99.9 -26.8 -74.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 -99.5
Sheep 69.8 18.0 -4.0 -16.7 -16.2 -13.0 18.3 14.6 46.6 44.9 72.8
Source: FAO.
Standardized.Balance= [(E-I)/(E+I)]*100
Table 4.8 - Share of the main agricultural imports in selected periods
Commodities
Imports (%)
Av 93-95 Av 98-00
Sugar (Refined & Raw) 11.9 14.1
Maize 5.0 9.2
Milled Paddy Rice 5.1 5.6
Cakes and residues of oil extraction 3.1 5.4
Bananas 6.2 4.9
Canned Fish 2.4 4.6
Barley 0.0 4.4
Tea 3.4 4.2
Dry Skim Cow Milk 1.7 3.7
Coffee, Green and dry 2.7 2.7

Oil of various seeds
2.6 2.4
Total 44.1 61.1
Others 55.9 38.9
Agriculture Total 100 100

Source: Custom Department, Foreign Trade Statistics, various issues.
Table 4.9 - Share of the main agricultural exports in selected periods
Exports (%)
Commodities
Av 93-95 Av 98-00
Raw Cotton 29.5 28.1
Sheep 9.5 11.6
Tomatoes 6.1 11.2
Vegetables Fresh Ness 10.0 4.4
Selected Fruits (apple, cherry, apricot) 2.5 3.7
Citrus 0.8 3.0
Wheat 1.3 2.7
Grapes 2.3 2.5
Lentils 2.0 2.2
Potatoes 2.9 1.7
Chick Peas 2.1 1.2
Total 68.9 72.2
Others 31.1 27.8
Agricultural Total 100 100

Table 4.10 - Syrian exports in raw cotton
Quantity Value Unit value
Years Main destination Countries (%)
(Tons) (Million SP) (SP/kg)
1993 191,077 1,982 10.4 Italy 24.9 - Formosa 10.3 - Indonesia 6 - Thailand 6
1994 150,595 2,125 14.1 Italy 22.3 - Taiwan 10.5 - Turkey 10.1 - Spain 9.1
1995 103,660 2,391 23.1 Italy 22.8 - Morocco 9.9- Norway 9.6 - Algeria 9.2 - Indonesia 6.7 -Tunisia 6.5 - Thailand 5.7
Average 93-95 148,444 2,166 14.6
1998 194,850 3,065 15.7 Turkey 25- Italy 17.2- Formosa 9
1999 133,612 1,745 13.1 Italy 12.4- Pakistan 12.2- Indonesia 9.3
2000* 201,352 2,219 11.0 Turkey 29 - Italy 13.8 - Indonesia 6.1 -Thailand 5.6- Algeria 5.6 - Japan 5.3
2000 201,352 9,114 45.3 Turkey 29 - Italy 13.8 - Indonesia 6.1 -Thailand 5.6- Algeria 5.6 - Japan 5.3
Average 98-00 176,605 2,343 13.3

*The exchange rate used for calculating export values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46. Values in this row were calculated using the old
exchange rates for the purpose of comparison.
Table 4.11 - Syrian exports in sheep
(Tons) (Million SP) (SP/kg)
1993 42,966 927 21.6 Saudi Arabia 55.8 - Kuwait 39.8 - Qatar 4.1
1995 21,185 457 21.6 Saudi Arabia52.9 - Kuwait 34.9 - Qatar 11.2
Average 93-95 32,282 696 21.6
1999 25,988 611 23.5 Saudi Arabia 71.1 - Qatar 14.7 - Kuwait 14.1
2000* 42,308 1,116 26.4 Saudi Arabia 75.7 - Qatar 14.9 - Kuwait 26.9
2000 42,308 4,583 108.3 Saudi Arabia 75.7 - Qatar 14.9 - Kuwait 26.9
Average 98-00 31,233 758 24.3

*The exchange rate used for calculating export values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46. Values in this row were calculated using the
old exchange rates for the purpose of comparison.
Table 4.12 - Syrian exports in tomatoes
(Tons) (Million SP) SP/kg
1993 64,255 277 4.3 Saudi Arabia 55.8 - Lebanon 36.9
1994 93,176 582 6.2 Lebanon 59.3 - Saudi Arabia 36.4 - Kuwait 2.5
1995 72,906 474 6.5 Qatar 50.9 - Saudi Arabia 44.3 - Kuwait 2.9 - UAE 1.2
Average 93-95 76,779 445 5.8
1998 133,241 876 6.6 Saudi Arabia 75 - Russian Fed 14.6 - Romania 2.8
1999 143,396 1,064 7.4 Saudi Arabia 67.8- Russian Fed. 14.2- Kuwait 5.8
2000* 189,648 875 4.6 Saudi Arabia 69.4 - Russian Fed. 10.2 - UAE 7.3- Kuwait 4.9
2000 189,648 3,593 18.9 Saudi Arabia 69.4 - Russian Fed. 10.2 - UAE 7.3- Kuwait 4.9
Average 98-00 155,428 939 6.0

*The exchange rate used for calculating export values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46. Values in this row were calculated using
the old exchange rates for the purpose of comparison.
Table 4.13 - Syrian exports in fresh vegetables NES (Not Elsewere Specified)
1993 100,453 902 9.0 Lebanon 93.1 - Kuwait 2.1
1994 98,925 853 8.6 Lebanon 83.6 - Saudi Arabia 6.8- Kuwait 4.6
1995 45,950 455 9.9 Lebanon 68.3 - Saudi Arabia 10.9 - Kuwait 10.1 - UAE 5.7
Average 93-95 81,776 737 9.0
1998 56,931 915 16.1 Lebanon 56.8 - Kuwait 21.4 - Saudi Arabia 10.2 - UAE 5.7
1999 44,998 322 7.2 Lebanon 33.4 - Saudi Arabia 26.1 - Kuwait 17.4 - UAE 13.1
2000* 56,569 233 4.1 Saudi Arabia 38.6 - Lebanon 18.5 - Kuwait 17.2 - UAE 16.1
2000 56,569 959 17.0 Saudi Arabia 38.6 - Lebanon 18.5 - Kuwait 17.2 - UAE 16.1
Average 98-00 52,833 490 9.3

Table 4.14 - Syrian exports in apples, cherries, apricots
1993 15,301 154 10.1 Saudi Arabia 46.1 - Lebanon 45.6 - Kuwait 8.3
1994 47,943 161 3.4 Saudi Arabia 51.1 - Lebanon 14.8 - Kuwait 13 - Egypt 11.6
1995 17,632 230 13.0 Saudi Arabia 62.6 - Kuwait 16.5 - UAE 10.6
Average 93-95 26,959 182 6.7
1998 33,745 307 9.1 Saudi Arabia 72.8 - UAE 9 - Turkey 6.2
1999 44,350 395 8.9 Saudi Arabia 38.3 - Syrian Free Zones 24.9 - Egypt 19.6 - Kuwait 10.6
2000* 35,432 271 7.6 Saudi Arabia 50.4 - Egypt 27 - UAE 7.8
2000 35,432 1,111 31.4 Saudi Arabia 50.4 - Egypt 27 - UAE 7.8
Average 98-00 37,842 324 8.6

Table 4.15 - Syrian exports in citrus
1993 1,343 10 7.2 Russian Fed 52.1 - Kuwait 18.5 - UAE 11.8 - Saudi Arabia 11
1994 3,431 28 8.1 Saudi Arabia 35.5 -UAE 32.6 - Kuwait 21.3 - Lebanon 5.3
1995 10,213 133 13.0 Saudi Arabia 33.2 - UAE 22.7 - Kuwait18 - Russian Fed 11.8 - Jordan 6.3
Average 93-95 4,996 57 11.4
1998 14,483 121 8.4 Saudi Arabia 53 - Kuwait 14.6 - UAE 9.3 - Russian Fed. 6.8
1999 37,744 306 8.1 Saudi Arabia 67.2 - Kuwait 11.1 - UAE 9.5
2000* 39,021 253 6.5 Saudi Arabia 69.5 - Kuwait 9.3 - UAE 9.1 - Qatar 3.1
2000 39,021 1,041 26.7 Saudi Arabia 69.5 - Kuwait 9.3 - UAE 9.1 - Qatar 3.1
Average 98-00 30,416 227 7.5

*The exchange rate used for calculating export values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46. Values in this row were calculated using
Table 4.16 - Syrian exports in wheat
1993 6,639 19 2.9 Lebanon 73.7 - Libya 21
1994 10,960 40 3.6 Algeria 70 - Lebanon 30
1995 59,082 222 3.8 Ukraine 29.7 - Libya 18.5 - Tunisia 5
Average 93-95 25,560 94 3.7
1998 428,346 1,062 2.5 Tunisia 44.8 - Algeria 17.5 - South Korea 17.1 - North Korea 9.7
1999 11,937 271 22.7 South Korea 58
2000 0 0
Average 98-00 146,761 444 3.0

Table 4.17 - Syrian exports in grapes
1993 11,735 84 7.1 Lebanon 49.2 - Saudi Arabia 22.9 - UAE 12.5 - Kuwait 8.6
1994 17,042 164 9.6 Saudi Arabia 36.1 - UAE 22 - Lebanon 19.8 - Kuwait
1995 21,580 256 11.9 Saudi Arabia 43.1 - UAE 22.4 - Kuwait 13 - Bahrain 5.7
Average 93-95 16,786 168 10.0
1998 19,931 201 10.1 Saudi Arabia 47.1 - UAE 20.9 - Kuwait 12.4 - Oman& Maskat 10.3
1999 38,916 369 9.5 Saudi Arabia 57.2 - UAE 20.3 - Kuwait
2000* 21,205 164 7.7 Saudi Arabia 43.1 - UAE 22.4 - Kuwait 13 - Jordan 6.9
2000 21,205 673 31.7 Saudi Arabia 43.1 - UAE 22.4 - Kuwait 13 - Jordan 6.9
Average 98-00 26,684 245 9.2

rtment, Foreign Trade Statistics, various issues.
Table 4.18 - Syrian exports in lentils
1993 7,604 34 4.4 Ethiopia 39 - Egypt 38.5 - Saudi Arabia 10.3
1994 67,458 252 3.7 India 26.7 - USA 22 - Egypt 19.6 - Martinique 9.9
1995 28,043 150 5.3 India 22 - Jordan 14.1 - Lebanon 12.8 - Egypt 11.9 - Switzerland 10.2
Average 93-95 34,369 145 4.2
1998 55,601 365 6.6 Turkey 82.6 - Egypt 5.7 - Saudi Arabia 4.2
1999 39,550 276 7.0 Turkey 81.5 - Saudi Arabia 7.5 - Jordan 3.3 - Lebanon 2.2
2000* 16,457 115 7.0 Turkey 53.9 - Saudi Arabia 26.5 - Jordan 9.2 - Lebanon 7.2
2000 16,457 471 28.6 Turkey 53.9 - Saudi Arabia 26.5 - Jordan 9.2 - Lebanon 7.2
Average 98-00 37,203 252 6.8

Table 4.19 - Syrian exports in potatoes
1993 67,365 219 3.3 Lebanon 24.4 - Saudi Arabia 21 - UAE 20.4 - Germany 7.9
1994 49,928 211 4.2 Lebanon 43.1 - UAE 22.2 - Kuwait 14.6 - Saudi Arabia 11.8
1995 44,015 207 4.7 UAE 33.7 - Lebanon 18.1- Kuwait 16.3 - Saudi Arabia 11.3
Average 93-95 53,770 212 4.0
1998 12,200 65 5.3 UAE 38.8 - Kuwait 17 - Oman& Maskat 16.5 - Saudi Arabia 7.3
1999 58,887 297 5.1 Greece 51.7 - Germany 10.3 - Lebanon 8.4 - UAE 8.2
2000* 23,258 114 4.9 Greece 54.4 - UAE 14.2 - Kuwait 7.5 - Saudi Arabia 7.2 - Germany 6.9
2000 23,258 469 20.2 Greece 54.4 - UAE 14.2 - Kuwait 7.5 - Saudi Arabia 7.2 - Germany 6.9
Average 98-00 31,448 159 5.0

*The exchange rate used for calculating export values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000
from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46. Values in this row were calculated using the old exchange
Table 4.20 - Syrian exports in chickpeas
1993 52,509 160 3.0 India 79.3 - Pakistan 11.8 - Lebanon 4.9
1994 42,450 186 4.4 India 60.1 - Jordan 17.9 - Algeria 12.3 - Lebanon 6.7
1995 11,926 121 10.2 Lebanon 45.4 - Saudi Arabia 18.1 - Jordan 13.1 - UAE 7.8
Average 93-95 35,628 156 4.4
1998 21,744 181 8.3 Jordan 43.2- Lebanon 17.7- Turkey 15.8- Saudi Arabia 10.3
1999 15,675 134 8.5 Jordan 66.6 - Saudi Arabia 12.4 - Lebanon 9.9 - Algeria 4.3
2000* 7,533 67 8.9 Jordan 66.1 - Saudi Arabia 21.6 - Lebanon 8.4
2000 7,533 276 36.6 Jordan 66.1 - Saudi Arabia 21.6 - Lebanon 8.4
Average 98-00 14,984 127 8.5

*The exchange rate used for calculating export values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.20 to SP/US$ 46. Values in this row were calculated using the old
Table 4.21 - Syrian exports in sugar
Years Main countries of Origin (%)
1993 353,536 1,082 3.1 Belgium 33.3 - Italy 24.1 - France 16.1 -Brazil 11.1 - Turkey 7.7
1994 426,436 1,544 3.6 Belgium 38.5 - Turkey 37.1 - Cuba 8.8 - Netherlands 4.6
1995 301,815 1,238 4.1 Belgium 46.3 - France 16.3 - Brazil 6.7 - Andorra 5
Average 93-95 360,596 1,288 3.6
1998 455,094 1,623 3.6 France 45.8 - Belgium 31.9 - Turkey 7.2 - Germany 5.4
1999 601,466 1,799 3.0 France 41.9 - Turkey 16.2 - Germany 16.2 - Belgium 8.7
2000* 446,740 994 2.2 France 32.8 - Belgium 26.5 - Spain 8.7 - Mexico 6.8
2000 446,740 4,108 9.2 France 32.8 - Belgium 26.5 - Spain 8.7 - Mexico 6.8
Average 98-00 501,100 1,472 2.9

*The exchange rate used for calculating import values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5. Values in this row were calculated using
Table 4.22 - Syrian exports in maize
1993 347,594 505 1.5 Argentina 40 - USA 34.1 - France 14.1 - Italy 6.5
1994 399,963 610 1.5 USA 33.9 - Argentina 33 - France 18.4 - Greece 11
1995 316,645 513 1.6 USA 86.8 - Romania 7.6 - Hungary 3.1
Average 93-95 354,734 543 1.5
1998 505,324 832 1.6 USA 35.2 - Argentina 33.9 - Romania 3.6
1999 632,827 841 1.3 USA 65 - Argentina 14.3 - Bulgaria 8.1
2000* 951,026 1,217 1.3 USA 77.9 - Argentina 14.1
2000 951,026 5,029 5.3 USA 77.9 - Argentina 14.1
Average 98-00 696,392 963 1.4

*The exchange rate used for calculating import values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5. Values in this row were calculated using the
Table 4.23 - Syrian exports in rice
1993 143,826 507 3.5 Thailand 42.3 - Egypt 40.3 - Australia 7.9
1994 115,861 475 4.1 Egypt 76.1 - Vietnam 10.4 - Italy 8
1995 142,099 656 4.6 Egypt 34.6 - Thailand 25.4 - USA 20.5 - India 8.9
Average 93-95 133,929 546 4.1
1998 136,153 539 4.0 Egypt 53.2 - Thailand 27.8 - Sri Lanka 9.2
1999 134,280 564 4.2 Egypt 34.9 - Thailand 23.1 - Australia 17.8 - Vietnam 8.6
2000* 161,557 645 4.0 Egypt 53.2 - Thailand 16.3 - Australia 16 - Italy 5.8
2000 161,557 2,665 16.5 Egypt 53.2 - Thailand 16.3 - Australia 16 - Italy 5.8
Average 98-00 143,997 583 4.0

Table 4.24 - Syrian exports in pulps, cakes and extraction residues of olive and other vegetable oils
1993 112,610 297 2.6 Argentina 54.2 - Brazil 27.8 - USA 17
1994 180,065 475 2.6 Argentina 68.6 - Brazil 24.8 - USA 4.1
1995 89,518 223 2.5 Argentina 76.3 - USA 20.1 - Bulgaria 3.1
Average 93-95 127,398 332 2.6
1998 178,379 567 3.2 Argentina 57.5 - USA 34.6
1999 224,175 458 2.0 Argentina 91.3 - Portugal 2.9
2000* 238,456 669 2.8 USA 71.5 - Argentina 27.7
2000 238,456 2,765 11.6 USA 71.5 - Argentina 27.7
Average 98-00 213,670 565 2.6

Table 4.25 - Syrian exports in bananas
Years Main countries of origin (%)
1993 - -
1994 87,213 1,694 19.4 Costa Rica 50.6 - Ecuador 38.4 - Colombia 8.4
1995 52,753 312 5.9 Ecuador 80.7 - Panama 6.9 - Costa Rica 6 - Colombia 4.7
Average 93-95 69,983 1,003 14.3
1998 60,928 228 3.7 Ecuador 40.9 - Costa Rica 25.3 - Mexico 17.1 - Colombia 10.3
1999 62,746 271 4.3 Ecuador 58.9 - Colombia 24.6 - Costa Rica 15.8
2000* 68,734 247 3.6 Ecuador 78.2 - Colombia 16.1 - Panama 2.4
2000 68,734 1,022 14.9 Ecuador 78.2 - Colombia 16.1 - Panama 2.4
Average 98-00 66,738 514 7.7

Table 4.26 - Syrian exports in canned fish
1993 1 0.05 38.5 Germany 20 - Netherlands 20
1994 1,383 115 83.2 Morocco 66.7 - Turkey 12.1 - Germany 2.3
1995 6,876 670 97.4 Thailand 54.6 - Morocco 36.4
Average 93-95 2,753 262 95.0
1998 5,787 520 89.9 Thailand 48.6 - Morocco 47.6
1999 5,723 560 97.9 Morocco 53.3 - Thailand 45.9
2000* 7,439 373 50.1 Morocco 52.5 - Thailand 46.6
2000 7,439 1,540 207.0 Morocco 52.5 - Thailand 46.6
Average 98-00 6,316 484 76.7

Table 4.27 - Syrian exports in barley
1993 0 0
1994 0 0
1995 0 0
Average 93-95 0 0
1998 - -
1999 584,684 673 1.2 France 39.5 - Ukraine 15.2 - Austria 11.7 - Turkey 8.8
2000* 588,364 700 1.2 France 27.6 - Germany 19.9 - Ukraine 19.5 - Turkey 12.8
2000 588,364 2,891 4.9 France 27.6 - Germany 19.9 - Ukraine 19.5 - Turkey 12.8
Average 98-00 586,524 686 1.2

*The exchange rate used for calculating import values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5. Values in this row were calculated using the old
Table 4.28 - Syrian exports in tea
1993 20,755 397 19.1 Sri Lanka 91.9 - Indonesia 6.8
1994 23,518 407 17.3 Sri Lanka 91 - Andorra 4 - India 2.2 - UK 2
1995 16,598 309 18.6 Sri Lanka 92.1 - U.K. 2.1
Average 93-95 20,290 371 18.3
1998 19,109 388 20.3 Sri Lanka 84 - Vietnam 8.5 - U.K. 4.1
1999 20,347 508 25.0 Sri Lanka 92.9 - U.K. 4.1
2000* 19,745 413 20.9 Sri Lanka 94 - Egypt 2.6
2000 19,745 1,707 86.5 Sri Lanka 94 - Egypt 2.6
Average 98-00 19,734 436 22.1

Table 4.29 - Syrian exports in milk powder
1993 7,019 166 23.7 Netherlands 71.9 - Germany 7.9 - Denmark 5.9
1994 10,967 195 17.8 Netherlands 69.6 - Poland 7.4 - France 5.7 - Switzerland 5.6
1995 6,858 194 28.3 France 67.3 - Netherlands 10.8 - Poland 5.8 - Denmark 5.4
Average 93-95 6,939 180 26.0
1998 9,751 350 35.9 Netherlands 53.1 - France 14.6 - Poland 12.9 - Belgium 7.2
1999 11,391 383 33.6 Poland 31.6 - Netherlands 27.9 - Belgium 17.1 - France 10.7
2000* 11,670 424 36.4 Netherlands 45.2 - Poland 18.1 - Belgium 16.8 - France 7.5
2000 11,670 1,754 150.3 Netherlands 45.2 - Poland 18.1 - Belgium 16.8 - France 7.5
Average 98-00 10,937 386 35.3

Table 4.30 - Syrian exports in coffee green and dry
1993 13,220 193 14.6 Brazil 95.5 - Guatemala 1.3
1994 10,837 294 27.1 Brazil 89.6 - Costa Rica 1.9 - Mexico 1.8 - Bolivia
1995 11,607 383 33.0 Brazil 90.2 - Costa Rica 2.3 - Mexico 2.2
Average 93-95 11,888 290 24.4
1998 15,425 379 24.6 Brazil 85 - India 7.3 - Colombia 2.3
1999 15,717 316 20.1 Brazil 89.5 - Colombia 3.8 - India 2.5
2000* 11,938 143 12.0 Brazil 81 - India 6.7 - Colombia 3.4
2000 11,938 590 49.4 Brazil 81 - India 6.7 - Colombia 3.4
Average 98-00 14,360 279 19.5

Table 4.31 -Syrian exports in vegetable oils (soya, bean, corn, and sunflower seed)
1993 31,078 265 8.5 Turkey 65.6 - Cyprus 13.6 - Lebanon 9.4
1994 35,853 316 8.8 Turkey 62 - Cyprus 13.6 - Lebanon 7.3
1995 30,239 248 8.2 Turkey 66.9 - Cyprus 15.3 - Saudi Arabia 2.8
Average 93-95 32,390 276 8.5
1998 25,773 241 9.4 Turkey 73.8 - Cyprus 11.6 - U.A.E 5.3
1999 31,596 277 8.8 Turkey 75.4 - Cyprus 8.3 - U.A.E 3.9
2000* 27,382 225 8.2 Turkey 75.5 - Cyprus 8.6 - U.A.E 3
2000 27,382 930 34.0 Turkey 75.5 - Cyprus 8.6 - U.A.E 3
Average 98-00 28,250 248 8.8

*The exchange rate used for calculating import values in Syrian Pounds was increased in 2000 from SP/US$ 11.25 to SP/US$ 46.5. Values in this row were calculated using the old
Table 4.32 - Syrian terms of trade, 1990-99
SYRIA 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Export Unit Value Index (1) 139 86 90 82 92 90 105 113 122 126
Import Unit Value Index (2) 114 91 89 81 114 141 140 130 156 121
Terms of Trade (1)/(2) 1.2 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.8 1.0
Source: FAO.
Table 4.33 - Syrian trade and GDP at current prices (million SP)
Sector 1993 1994 1995 AVER 93-95 1998 1999 2000* 2000 AVER 98-00 G.R.%
Total GDP 413,755 506,101 570,975 496,944 790,444 819,092 896,634 896,634 835,390 10.9%
Agricultural GDP 120,024 140,904 161,024 140,651 232,283 199,415 229,452 229,452 220,383 9.4%
Agriculture/Total. % 29.0 27.8 28.2 28.4 29.4 24.3 25.6 25.6 26.4
Total Trade (ex+im) 81,787 101,192 97,418 93,466 76,168 81,890 98,008 403,723 85,355 -1.8%
Agr. Trade (ex+im) 17,222 21,674 19,153 19,350 20,309 19,834 18,450 76,052 19,531 0.2%
Agr. Trade/Total Trade 21.1 21.4 19.7 20.7 26.7 24.2 18.8 18.8 22.9
Agr. Trade/Agr. GDP 14.3 15.4 11.9 13.8 8.7 9.9 8.0 33.1 8.9
Source: CBS, Statistical Abstract, 2001.
Table 5.1 - Syrian agricultural trade with Lebanon: Imports
Average value (Million SP) %
Commodity
89-90 94-95 98-99 89-90 94-95 98-99
0.1 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0
Meat
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Dairy products and eggs
0.0 0.6 0.0 0.0 1.1 0.0
Other animal products
0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.8
Flowers and pot plants
0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.8
Vegetables
0.0 10.3 1.9 0.0 19.2 14.7
Fruits, nuts and melons
0.5 8.9 0.0 1.4 16.6 0.0
Coffee, tea and spices
8.9 0 0.0 24.3 0.0 0.0
Cereals
0.2 1.9 0.0 0.5 3.5 0.0
Oil seeds
0.0 19 0.5 0.0 35.4 3.9
Oils and fats
0 0 1.6 0.0 0.0 12.4
Processed meat and fish
0 1.1 1.1 0.0 2.1 8.5
Sugar products
0 0 0.2 0.0 0.0 1.6
Cocoa products
0 0 3.2 0.0 0.0 24.8
Processed cereals
0 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.6 1.6
Processed fruits and vegetables
0 0.3 1 0.0 0.6 7.8
Other processed food
0 3.1 1.2 0.0 5.8 9.3
Beverages
17.7 0.3 1.9 48.2 0.6 14.7
Food industries residues
0 0.3 0 0.0 0.6 0.0
Tobacco products
9.2 7.5 0 25.1 14.0 0.0
Raw hides and skins
12.9 100.0 100.0 100.0
Total 36.7 53.6
287.2 691.9 762.3 12.8 7.7 1.7
AFTA total and share of Lebanon on AFTA
World total and share of Lebanon on World 6825.3 10052.0 8388.5 0.5 0.5 0.2
Table 5.2 - Syrian agricultural trade with Lebanon: Exports
Commodity
89-90 94-95 98-99 89-90 94-95 98-99
Live animals 21 45.2 1.6 2.1 2.1 0.2
Meat 2.4 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0
Fish 0 0.3 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Dairy products, and eggs 60.8 41 13.9 6.1 1.9 1.8
other animal products 0 1.3 6.9 0.0 0.1 0.9
Floriculture 0.1 79.5 79.2 0.0 3.7 10.1
Vegetable 636.8 1216.6 459.8 64.3 55.9 58.5
Fruits, nuts, and melons 179.2 540.2 123.3 18.1 24.8 15.7
Coffee, tea, spices 3.5 68 17.1 0.4 3.1 2.2
Cereals 3.8 30.5 0 0.4 1.4 0.0
Milling products 0 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
Oil seeds 1.2 37.6 1.3 0.1 1.7 0.2
Oils, and fats 0 39 5.9 0.0 1.8 0.8
Processed meat, and fish 0.1 0.6 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
Sugar products 5.6 1.3 2.5 0.6 0.1 0.3
Cocoa products 6.1 0.9 2.1 0.6 0.0 0.3
Processed cereals 14.1 2.6 10.2 1.4 0.1 1.3
Processed fruits, and vegetables. 32.4 60.5 32.8 3.3 2.8 4.2
Other processed food 0 0.3 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.2
Beverages 2.5 1.1 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.0
Food industries residues 7.8 0 15.9 0.8 0.0 2.0
Tobacco products 0 1.1 0 0.0 0.1 0.0
Wool 0 0 5.1 0.0 0.0 0.6
Raw Cotton 12.2 10.1 5.8 1.2 0.5 0.7
Total 989.6 2177.1 786.2 100.0 100.0 100.0

25.6 41.0 15.9
AFTA total and share of Lebanon on AFTA 3861.0 5309.1 4949.5
World total and share of Lebanon on World 6587.1 7724.7 9395.1 15.0 28.2 8.4
Table 5.3 - Syrian agricultural trade with Jordan: Imports
commodity
89-90 94-95 98-99 89-90 94-95 98-99
Live animals 0.1 4.5 1.7 0.3 29.0 4.7
Meat 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Dairy products, and eggs 0.1 0.6 0 0.3 3.9 0.0
Floriculture 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Vegetable 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Fruits, nuts, and melons 0 1.1 0 0.0 7.1 0.0
Cereals 0 1.2 0 0.0 7.7 0.0
Milling products 33.7 0 0 97.1 0.0 0.0
Oil seeds 0.5 0.8 0 1.4 5.2 0.0
Oils, and fats 0.1 5.6 32.4 0.3 36.1 90.5
Sugar products 0 0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.6
Cocoa products 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Processed cereals 0 1.2 0.3 0.0 7.7 0.8
Processed fruits, and vegetables. 0.2 0 0 0.6 0.0 0.0
Other processed food 0 0.1 1 0.0 0.6 2.8
Beverages 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Food industries residues 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Wool 0 0.3 0 0.0 1.9 0.0
Total 34.7 15.5 35.8 100.0 100.0 100.0

12.1 2.2 4.7
AFTA total and share of Jordan on AFTA 287.2 691.9 762.3
World total and share of Jordan on World 6825.3 10052.0 8388.50 0.5 0.2 0.4
Table 5.4 - Syrian agricultural trade with Jordan: Exports
commodity
89-90 94-95 98-99 89-90 94-95 98-99
Live animals 0.1 2.0 3.0 0.0 0.4 1.2
Meat 0 0 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.5
Dairy products, and eggs 3.1 12.3 5.9 1.5 2.4 2.3
Floriculture 1.8 0.4 4.4 0.9 0.1 1.7
Vegetable 76.4 58.9 175.1 38.2 11.7 69.0
Coffee, tea, and spices 1.6 2.9 23.2 0.8 0.6 9.1
Cereals 63.9 378.6 0 31.9 75.2 0.0
Milling products 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Oil seeds 6.1 0.5 9.9 3.0 0.1 3.9
Oils, and fats 0 0 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.6
Processed meat, and fish 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Sugar products 0 4.9 2.2 0.0 1.0 0.9
Cocoa products 0 0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
Processed cereals 1 0.3 1.8 0.5 0.1 0.7
Processed fruits, and vegetables 4.2 5.8 6.9 2.1 1.2 2.7
Beverages 0 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.1
Food industries residues 0 0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.1
Tobacco products 0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
Raw hides and skins 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Wool 0 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
Raw cotton 33.3 24.8 8.5 16.6 4.9 3.4
Total 200.1 503.4 253.6 100.0 100.0 100.0
AFTA total and share of Jordan on AFTA 3,861.0 5,309.1 4,949.5 5.2 9.5 5.1
World total and share of Jordan on World 6587.1 7724.7 9395.1 3.0 6.5 2.7
Table 5.5 - Syrian agricultural trade with AFTA countries: Imports
commodity
89-90 94-95 98-99 89-90 94-95 98-99
Live animals 0.1 6 1.8 0.0 0.9 0.2
Meat 0.2 2.5 0 0.1 0.4 0.0
Fish 0.3 1.5 1.1 0.1 0.2 0.1
other animal products 0 0.8 4.1 0.0 0.1 0.5
Floriculture 0 0.1 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.1
Vegetable 0.1 0.1 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.1
Coffee, tea, and spices 0.7 8.9 6.3 0.2 1.3 0.8
Cereals 177 295.5 241.8 61.6 42.7 31.7
Milling products 33.7 4.1 0.1 11.7 0.6 0.0
Oil seeds 0.7 6.9 5.1 0.2 1.0 0.7
Gums, and other 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0
Other plants 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.1
Oils, and fats 13.2 100.2 151.3 4.6 14.5 19.8
Processed meat, and fish 0 163.2 275.2 0.0 23.6 36.1
Sugar products 4.9 7.5 1.9 1.7 1.1 0.2
Cocoa products 0 0 2.4 0.0 0.0 0.3
Processed fruits, and vegetables 0.4 0.8 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1
Other processed food 0 11 22.1 0.0 1.6 2.9
Beverages 0 3.1 1.5 0.0 0.4 0.2
Food industries residues 17.9 0.4 10.4 6.2 0.1 1.4
Tobacco products 0 4.4 4.8 0.0 0.6 0.6
Raw hides and skins 13.4 24.3 11.9 4.7 3.5 1.6
Wool 0 7.5 1.3 0.0 1.1 0.2
lint 0.1 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.1 0.1
AFTA total 287.2 691.9 762.3 100.0 100.0 100.0
World total and share of AFTA on World 6825.3 10052.0 8388.50 4.2 6.9 9.1
Table 5.6 - Syrian agricultural trade with AFTA countries: Exports
commodity
89-90 94-95 98-99 89-90 94-95 98-99
Live animals 2086.8 574.2 578.1 54.0 10.8 11.7
Meat 2.6 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0
Fish 0.2 0.3 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Floriculture 3.4 85.4 104.7 0.1 1.6 2.1
Vegetable 948.5 1959.6 1921.9 24.6 36.9 38.8
Other animal products 0.2 2.7 9.4 0.0 0.1 0.2
Coffee, tea, and spices 20.2 148.5 153 0.5 2.8 3.1
Cereals 90.6 562.2 57.8 2.3 10.6 1.2
Milling products 0.1 0.7 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0
Oil seeds 34 69.8 64.3 0.9 1.3 1.3
Gums, and others 0 0.2 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Other plants 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
Oils, and fats 0 46.8 119.4 0.0 0.9 2.4
Processed meat, and fish 0.1 0.8 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0
Sugar products 10.1 17.8 17 0.3 0.3 0.3
Cocoa products 12.7 9.1 7 0.3 0.2 0.1
Processed fruits, and vegetables. 90.5 174.8 251.8 2.3 3.3 5.1
Beverages 3.5 1.8 8.4 0.1 0.0 0.2
Food industries residues 8.1 0 31 0.2 0.0 0.6
Tobacco products 14.6 50.8 23.3 0.4 1.0 0.5
Raw hides and skins 0.1 3.8 0 0.0 0.1 0.0
Wool 0.2 10.2 6.5 0.0 0.2 0.1
Lint 0 0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
Raw cotton 132.2 228.5 123.6 3.4 4.3 2.5
AFTA total 3,861.0 5,309.1 4,949.5 100.0 100.0 100.0
World total and share of AFTA on World 6587.1 7724.7 9395.1 58.6 68.7 52.7
Table 6.1 - Syrian agricultural products covered by the 1977 Protocol with EU
Products included in Article 17 Reduction Rate %

5/04 Animal Guts & Bladders(complete or split) excluding fish 80
7/01 Edible plants and vegetables (fresh or chilled)
Onion (from 1st Feb to 30th Apr) 50
Garlic (from 1st Feb to 31st May)
Dried Legumes (lobed, unshield or crushed) 80

7/05
8/09 Fresh Fruits

50
Watermelon (1st Apr to 15th June)
8/12 Dried Fruits (other than those mentioned in items 8/1 to 8/5)
60
Apricot
80
9/09 Anise, Coriander, Cumin and Caraway seeds
Grain and Fruit seeds (for sowing)

12/03
50
80
12/07 Plants and Parts used in Medicine, Perfume, Pesticide industry
Fresh or dried Carobs (complete, crushed) & Seeds of fruits and other 80
12/08 product for human consumption not mentioned before
Dried edible plants and vegetables (complete, sliced, or crushed)
7/04
15 (tariff fixed)
Onion
Source: Cooperation Protocol between Syrian Arab Republic and European Community.
Table 6.2 -Total trade with the EU of selected Mediterranean countries, average 1997-1999
Export (millions ECU) Import (millions ECU)
Country EU EU
World World
value % value %
3,453 2,027 58.7 3,552 1,354 38.1
Syria
23,143 11,872 51.3 42,905 22,377 52.2
Turkey
4,906 4,016 81.9 6,923 5,285 76.3
Tunisia
3,458 2,637 76.3 11,649 6,758 58.0
Egypt
1,099 373 33.9 3,263 1,959 60.0
Cyprus
632 154 24.3 6,578 3,095 47.1
Lebanon
1,618 174 10.8 3,614 1,200 33.2
Jordan
Med7 38,309 21,253 55.5 78,484 42,028 53.5

Source: Garcia Alvarez Coque, 2001.
Table 6.3 - Agricultural trade with the EU of selected Mediterranean countries, average 1997-1999
Export (millions ECU) Import (millions ECU)
Country EU EU
World World
Value % Value %
Syria 1,037 160 15.4 747 190 25.4
Turkey 5,206 1,990 38.2 3,609 1,067 29.6
Tunisia 530 366 69.1 802 319 39.8
Egypt 442 202 45.6 3,031 680 22.4
Cyprus 740 89 12.0 860 246 28.6
Lebanon 144 25 17.7 984 436 44.3
Jordan 139 12 9.0 730 147 20.1
Med7 8,238 2,844 34.5 10,763 3,085 28.7

Table 6.4 - EU agricultural trade with individual Mediterranean countries, average 1997-1999 (million Euro)
Export Import
Country
Value % Value %
Syria 195 0.4 125 0.2
Tunisia 296 0.6 372 0.6
Morocco 419 0.8 997 1.5
Algeria 984 2.0 30 0.0
Cyprus 203 0.4 101 0.2
Egypt 715 1.4 228 0.4
Israel 505 1.0 764 1.2
Lebanon 425 0.9 24 0.0
Libya 486 1.0 6 0.0
Malta 179 0.4 10 0.0
Turkey 769 1.5 1,933 3.0
Med. Countries * 5,336 10.7 4,603 7.1
Extra EU agro-trade a 49,820 28.7 64,830 34.4
Intra EU agro-trade b 123,968 71.3 123,574 65.6
Total EU agro-trade (a+b) 173,788 100.0 188,404 100.0

Source: own elaboration on Garcia Alvarez Coque, 2001.
* The share values in this item represent the aggregated weight of all Mediterranean Countries in Extra EU agro-trade
Table 6.5 - Mediterranean countries' agricultural exports to the EU (million Euro)
Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 variation %
Syria 164 129 150 129 96 -10.2
Tunisia 368 257 335 329 451 4.1
Morocco 872 998 946 959 1086 4.5
Algeria 30 42 28 32 30 0.5
Cyprus 163 162 88 104 110 -7.5
Egypt 259 207 193 240 252 -0.6
Israel 615 744 743 787 762 4.4
Lebanon 20 23 24 24 24 4.5
Libya 17 12 13 3 3 -27.9
Malta 8 11 9 9 11 7.4
Turkey 1586 1677 1894 1887 2018 4.9
Med. Countries 4116 4278 4435 4522 4852 3.3

Table 6.6 - Mediterranean countries' agricultural imports from the EU (million Euro)
Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 variation %
Syria 189 156 183 213 188 -0.04
Tunisia 342 196 315 313 261 -5.2
Morocco 521 365 348 437 471 -2.0
Algeria 916 800 946 1049 958 0.9
Cyprus 166 177 204 202 204 4.2
Egypt 607 581 662 782 701 2.9
Israel 444 446 535 510 472 1.2
Lebanon 347 337 429 434 411 3.4
Libya 489 454 505 564 390 -4.4
Malta 154 156 181 176 181 3.3
Turkey 796 843 893 752 662 -3.6
Med. Countries 5138 4633 5330 5580 5099 -0.2

Table 6.7 - Agricultural trade balance between Mediterranean countries and the EU (million Euro)
Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Syria -25 -27 -33 -84 -93
Tunisia 27 61 20 16 189
Morocco 351 632 599 522 615
Algeria -886 -758 -918 -1,017 -928
Cyprus -2 -16 -116 -98 -93
Egypt -349 -373 -468 -541 -449
Israel 172 298 209 277 290
Lebanon -328 -314 -406 -410 -386
Libya -472 -442 -493 -561 -386
Malta -146 -144 -172 -166 -169
Turkey 790 834 1,001 1,136 1,356
Med. Countries -1,022 -355 -895 -1,058 -248

Table 6.8 - Standardized agricultural trade balances between Mediterranean countries and the EU
Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Syria -6.7 -8.5 -9.0 -19.8 -24.6
Tunisia 3.9 15.5 3.2 2.6 36.3
Morocco 33.6 86.6 86.0 59.7 65.3
Algeria -48.4 -47.4 -48.5 -48.5 -48.4
Cyprus -0.7 -4.4 -28.5 -24.3 -22.9
Egypt -28.7 -32.1 -35.4 -34.6 -32.1
Israel 19.3 33.4 19.5 27.1 30.8
Lebanon -47.2 -46.5 -47.2 -47.2 -47.0
Libya -48.2 -48.6 -48.7 -49.7 -49.6
Malta -47.4 -46.4 -47.5 -47.3 -46.9
Turkey 49.7 49.4 56.0 75.5 82.3
Med. Countries -9.9 3.8 -8.4 -9.5 -2.4

Table 6.9 - Composition of MC-11 and Syrian agricultural trade with the EU, average 1998-1999
Export % Import %
Product group
MC-11 SYR MC-11 SYR
Cereals 2.2 0.1 14.3 11.3
Fresh legume and vegetables 13.7 5.0 2.5 1.7
Dried legume and vegetables 1.1 0.8 0.2 0.0
Citrus 11.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Other fresh fruits 9.5 0.0 0.5 0.0
Dried fruits 20.8 0.1 0.3 0.0
Vegetables fibers (including cotton) 5.8 73.2 2.2 0.0
Oil seeds 1.4 0.4 0.3 0.0
Coffee, tea and species 2.3 2.1 0.3 0.0
Flowers 5.2 0.0 0.6 0.1
Row tobacco 3.9 0.1 1.3 0.5
Live animals for food 0.0 0.0 4.6 0.8
Other livestock products 0.4 0.6 0.1 0.0
Forestry 1.1 0.2 1.0 0.1
Fisheries and hunting 4.5 0.3 0.3 0.0
Other products 0.6 1.0 0.8 0.7
Processed cereals 42.0 0.1 17.2 4.1
Sugar and sweets 1.5 0.2 9.5 55.3
Fresh and frozen meat 2.1 11.8 11.4 0.1
Prepared and Preserved meat 1.6 0.2 3.2 0.1
Processed fish 6.5 0.0 1.7 0.1
Processed vegetables 11.0 1.1 2.2 0.2
Processed fruits 10.3 0.2 1.2 0.1
Dairy products 6.9 0.1 7.4 9.9
Cheese 0.2 0.0 8.2 0.0
Oils and fats 6.5 0.5 5.6 2.6
Oil seed cakes 3.4 0.7 8.0 4.5
Wine 1.0 0.0 3.0 0.1
Other beverages 1.7 0.0 4.5 1.6
Other processed food products 2.2 1.0 5.6 6.2
Primary sector 43.9 84.1 21.8 15.4
Food industry 56.1 15.9 78.2 84.6
Total Agro-food Trade 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Source: NAPC (2002).
Table 6.10 - Product similarity between Syria and other Mediterranean countries
MCs 1990 1997 1998 1999
Tunisia 5.9 3.1 4.7 6.4
Morocco 8.1 5.8 7.1 20.5
Egypt 34.0 35.2 36.4 52.0
Lebanon 25.8 11.5 15.6 22.5
Libya 12.6 2.1 2.2 3.8
Israel 12.5 11.2 11.7 23.0
Malta 8.7 2.5 3.9 14.6
Algeria 4.6 2.9 5.0 4.7
Cyprus 5.2 3.4 4.0 15.8
Turkey 14.5 10.6 10.4 13.9

Source: NAPC (2002).
Table 6.11 - Syrian agricultural trade with the EU (million Euro)
Item 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Total agricultural export 164 129 150 129 96
% of total export 35.8 24.2 19.1 18.0 17.4
Growth rate -21.2 16.3 -14.2 -25.5
Primary sector 109 93 136 112 77
% of total agro-food export 66.5 72.2 90.8 86.8 80.4
Food industry 55 36 14 17 19
% of total agr-food export 33.5 27.8 9.2 13.2 19.6
Total agricultural import 189 156 183 213 188
% of total import 34.3 22.3 28.6 55.1 27.7
Growth rate -17.6 17.6 16.5 -11.6
Primary sector 7 5 13 14 47
% of total agro-food import 3.5 3.3 7.3 6.7 25.1
Food industry 182 150 170 199 141
% of total agro-food import 96.5 96.7 92.7 93.3 74.9

Source: own elaboration on NAPC (2002).
Table 6.12 - Trade balance and standardized trade balance for main products, 1997-99
(annual average values in thousand Euro)
Product group Export Import TB STB (%)
Cereals 897 14,558 -13,661 -88.4

Fresh legume and vegetables 2,876 3,161 -285 -4.7
Dried legume and vegetables 1,128 81 1,047 86.6
Citrus 6 0 6 100.0
Other fresh fruits 25 4 21 75.0
Dried fruits 168 69 99 41.9
Vegetables fibers (including cotton) 98,775 3 98,772 100.0
Oil seeds 447 22 425 90.5
Coffee, tea, and species 2,179 64 2,115 94.3
Flowers 30 259 -229 -79.1
Row tobacco 147 1,024 -876 -74.8
Live animals for food 3 1,454 -1,451 -99.6
Other livestock products 995 32 964 93.8
Forestry 284 268 17 3.0
Fisheries and hunting 321 20 302 88.6
Other products 819 1,286 -467 -22.2
Processed cereals 58 7,196 -7,138 -98.4
Sugar and sweets 139 118,346 -118,207 -99.8
Fresh and frozen meat 12,532 241 12,292 96.2
Prepared and Preserved meat 163 87 76 30.5
Processed fish 45 150 -105 -53.9
Processed vegetables 1,062 383 679 47.0
Processed fruits 209 306 -97 -18.9
Dairy products 122 20,904 -20,782 -98.8
Cheese 0 79 -79 -99.4
Oils and fats 408 5,189 -4,781 -85.4
Oil seed cakes 803 8,540 -7,737 -82.8
Wine 2 153 -151 -98.1
Other beverages 20 2,776 -2,756 -98.6
Other processed food products 1,058 12,872 -11,815 -84.8
Primary sector 109,099 22,316 86,783 66.0
Food industry 16,618 176,989 -160,371 -82.8
Total Agro-food Trade 125,717 199,305 -73,588 -22.6
Source: own elaboration on NAPC (2002).
Table 6.13 - Main Syrian agricultural exported products to the EU
1995-97 1997-99
Products % Products %
Cotton non carded non combed 62.5 Cotton non carded non combed 73.0
Guts, bladders and stomachs 8.6 Guts, bladders and stomachs 9.4
Raw skins of sheep or lambs 8.5 Potatoes, fresh or chilled 2.8
Wheat or meslin flour 4.2 Vegetable products N.E.S. 2.3
olive oil and its fractions 3.2 Wool non carded non combed 2.2
Wool non carded non combed 2.7 Cotton waste 1.9
Cotton waste 2.1 Seeds of anise, badian, etc 1.4
Dried shelled legumes 1.6 Dried shelled legumes 1.1
Vegetable products N.E.S. 1.5 First 8 total 94.1
Seeds of anise, badian, etc 1
First 10 total 95.9

Table 6.14 - Main Syrian agricultural imported products from the EU
1995-97 1997-99
Products % Products %
Sugar 54.9 Sugar 53.9
Milk and cream 6.5 Barley 5.8
Butter and dairy products 6.2 Butter and dairy products 5.4
Preparations for animal feedings 5.3 Milk and cream 5.3
Wheat or meslin flour 3.3 Flours, meals and pellets, of meat 3.3
Flours, meals and pellets, of meat 3.1 Seeds, fruits and spores, for sowing 3.1
Seeds, fruits and spores, for sowing 2.2 Malt extract; food preparations 3.0
Malt extract; food preparations 2.1 Preparations for animal feedings 1.9
Animal or vegetable fats and oils 1.6 Rice 1.8
Food preparations N.E.S. 1.6 Potatoes, fresh or chilled 1.8
Rice 1.6 Food preparations N.E.S. 1.7
Undenatured ethyl alcohol 1.1 Wheat or meslin flour 1.6
Potatoes, fresh or chilled 1 Animal or vegetable fats and oils 1.5
First 13 total 90.5 Undenatured ethyl alcohol 1.1
First 14 total 91.2

Syrian Agricultural Trade (SAT)
documents Syrian participation in international
agricultural trade and the evolution of related
national economic policies.
It intends to support research and decision
making on agricultural trade in order to sustain
the challenging process of Syria’s integration
into the world markets.
SAT includes background information on
global trade trends and on WTO negotiations
and principles; an extensive analysis of Syrian
agricultural trade flows by product and
partners, and an overview of Syrian agricultural
trade measures, exchange rate policies and
trade constraints.
The report draws a wide-ranging picture
of regional and bilateral trade agreements
through which Syria is gradually enhancing its
international trade relationships, with special
reference to the agreements already signed with
Lebanon, Jordan and other Arab countries
(Arab Free Trade Agreement), and the
negotiation of the association agreement with the
EU.

World Trades at 2002 en

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Syrian Agricultural Trade

National Agriculture Policy Center

With the Support of the FAO Project

Damascus, January 2003

In recognition of the increasing relevance of international trade for national

In support of this endeavor, the National Agricultural Policy Center (NAPC) is

AA: Association Agreement

1.1. Principles of the Trading System under WTO Rules

Trade without discrimination, or Most Favored-Nation (MFN) clause, which means

Predictability and transparency: this is a general principle, which is very important

1.2. The Doha Ministerial Conference

I. it is fully recognized that the multilateral trading system contributed

investment, competition and transparency in state trading enterprises of developing

1.3. Globalization and Trade

1.4. World Trade Development

WTO MEMBERSHIP (July 2002)

1.5. Leading Exporting and Importing Countries in 1999 and 2000

2.1. Agriculture in the WTO

indicator summarizing the aggregate level of national support to agriculture in the

2.2. World Agricultural Trade in 2000

2.3. Leading Exporting and Importing Countries of Agricultural

2.4. The Agricultural Trade by Region of Origin and Destination in 2000

3.1. The Setting of Syrian Trade Policies

3.1.1. Exchange Rate and Access to Currency Use

3.2. Trade Policies

3.3. An Overview of Total Syrian Trade5

exports and +6% for the imports.

4.1. Agricultural Trade Measures: An Overview

Non-tariff import constraints for agricultural commodities are imposed in Syria. In an

4.2. Major Trends in Syrian Agricultural Trade

4.3. Syrian Agricultural Exports

Lentil. The high quality of Syrian lentils is recognized on international markets,

Potato is characterized by a two-way trade, as Syria imports potato seeds (super

Chick-pea is another traditional Syrian exported product, mainly cultivated on rain-

4.4. Syrian Agricultural Imports

Barley is an important source of livestock feeding in Syria, where it is cultivated in

4.5. Syrian Agricultural Terms of Trade10

Syria has signed a number of trade and cooperation agreements, in order to

5.1. The Bilateral Agreements with Lebanon

5.1.1. Trends in Syrian Agricultural Trade with Lebanon

5.2. The Bilateral Agreements with Jordan

5.2.1. Trend of Syrian Agricultural Trade with Jordan

5.3. Arab Free Trade Agreement (AFTA)

5.3.1. The Executive Program of AFTA

5.3.2. Trend of Syrian Agricultural Trade with AFTA Region

5.4. Current Initiatives Towards More Trade Integration with Arab

the expected increased openness of its economy.

6.2. The EU-Mediterranean Agricultural Trade11

More specifically, Syrian agricultural exports depend mainly on vegetable fibers

6.3. Syria-EU Agricultural Trade (1995-1999)

6.4. The Syria-EU Association Agreement

The European proposal included the liberalization of several Syrian products,

Annex Tables by Chapter

Share of total world exports

Share of total world imports

Rank Exporters Value % Annual % change

1 USA 781.1 12.6 12.4

2 Germany 551.5 8.9 1.8

3 Japan 479.2 7.7 14.3

4 France 298.1 4.8 -0.8

5 United Kingdom 284.1 4.6 5.6

6 Canada 276.6 4.5 16.0

7 China 249.3 4.0 27.7