Are SPS-TBT regulations in the European Union discriminating agricultural trade from Africa? The case of live plants and cut flowers

This paper aims at providing a qualitative assessment on the restrictiveness of European Sanitary and PhytoSanitary (SPS) measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) on agricultural exports from developing countries. Using specific estimations of ad-valorem equivalents for the EU, we compare the sectors where observed trade flows are significantly lower than predicted flows, with the sectors where a SPS/TBT measure is actually notified in the TRAINS database. We find only three sectors where a significant negative coefficient match with a notified regulation: the sector of meat and meat products (chapter 02 in the HS classification); the sector of live plants and cut flowers (chapter 06); and the sector of transformed cereals and flours (chapter 19). Focusing on the market for live plants and cut flowers, we first provide a description of the EU’s import requirements with respect to plant health (SPS) and other specific regulations including quality standards (TBT). We then describe recent trends regarding the generalization of private sector standards and certification schemes with respect to quality, environmental and labour criteria. In order to get qualitative understanding of the respective trade-restrictiveness of EU SPS/TBT measures and private sector standards, we have conducted a survey among exporters of flowers in African and other developing countries. The questionnaire consisted of four sections. The first aimed at collecting data on exporters’ characteristics (country, activity, exported products by HS-6 code, details on export destinations). Section 2 was devoted to the nature and stringency of EU Plant health requirements concerning their exports (frequency of random inspections) and their perceived efficiency and trade-restrictiveness. The third section focused on their perception of EU marketing requirements and private standards. Finally, section 4 focused on a comparison of non tariff barriers in the EU and other developed countries.