Non-tariff barriers to trade (NTB's) are trade barriers that restrict imports but are not in the

usual form of a tariff. Some common examples of NTB's are anti-dumping measures and
countervailing duties, which, although they are called "non-tariff" barriers, have the effect of
tariffs once they are enacted.

Their use has risen sharply after the WTO rules led to a very significant reduction in tariff use.
Some non-tariff trade barriers are expressly permitted in very limited circumstances, when they
are deemed necessary to protect health, safety, or sanitation, or to protect depletable natural
resources. In other forms, they are criticized as a means to evade free trade rules such as those of
the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Union (EU), or North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) that restrict the use of tariffs.

Six Types of Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade

1. Specific Limitations on Trade:
1. Quotas
2. Import Licensing requirements
3. Proportion restrictions of foreign to domestic goods (local content requirements)
4. Minimum import price limits
5. Embargoes
2. Customs and Administrative Entry Procedures:
1. Valuation systems
2. Antidumping practices
3. Tariff classifications
4. Documentation requirements
5. Fees
3. Standards:
1. Standard disparities
2. Intergovernmental acceptances of testing methods and standards
3. Packaging, labeling, and marking
4. Government Participation in Trade:
1. Government procurement policies
2. Export subsidies
3. Countervailing duties
4. Domestic assistance programs
5. Charges on imports:
1. Prior import deposit subsidies
2. Administrative fees
3. Special supplementary duties
4. Import credit discriminations
5. Variable levies
6. Border taxes
6. Others:
1. Voluntary export restraints
2. Orderly marketing agreements
Examples of Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade
1. Specific Limitations on Trade:
1. Quotas
2. Import Licensing requirements
3. Proportion restrictions of foreign to domestic goods (local content requirements)
4. Minimum import price limits
5. Embargoes
2. Customs and Administrative Entry Procedures:
1. Valuation systems
2. Antidumping practices
3. Tariff classifications
4. Documentation requirements
5. Fees
3. Standards:
1. Standard disparities
2. Intergovernmental acceptances of testing methods and standards
3. Packaging, labeling, and marking
4. Government Participation in Trade:
1. Government procurement policies
2. Export subsidies
3. Countervailing duties
4. Domestic assistance programs
5. Charges on imports:
1. Prior import deposit subsidies
2. Administrative fees
3. Special supplementary duties
4. Import credit discriminations
5. Variable levies
6. Border taxes
6. Others:
1. Voluntary export restraints
2. Orderly marketing agreements

Examples of Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade

Non-tariff barriers to trade can be:

• Import bans
• General or product-specific quotas
• Rules of Origin
• Quality conditions imposed by the importing country on the exporting countries
• Sanitary and phyto-sanitary conditions
• Packaging conditions
• Labeling conditions
• Product standards
• Complex regulatory environment
• Determination of eligibility of an exporting country by the importing country
• Determination of eligibility of an exporting establishment(firm, company) by the
importing country.
• Additional trade documents like Certificate of Origin, Certificate of Authenticity etc.
• Occupational safety and health regulation
• Employment law
• Import licenses
• State subsidies, procurement, trading, state ownership
• Export subsidies
• Fixation of a minimum import price
• Product classification
• Quota shares
• Foreign exchange market controls and multiplicity
• Inadequate infrastructure
• "Buy national" policy
• Over-valued currency
• Intellectual property laws (patents, copyrights)
• Restrictive licenses
• Seasonal import regimes
• Corrupt and/or lengthy customs procedures
• Bribery and corruption