Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

![european flag](./../../../images/eclogo.jpg)EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 20.6.2016

SWD(2016) 204 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Analysis of new potentially trade restrictive measures in the period 1 July 2014-31 December 2015

Accompanying the document

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

on Trade and Investment Barriers and Protectionist Trends  
  
1 July 2014 - 31 December 2015

{COM(2016) 406 final}

Table of Contents

I.
   INTRODUCTION
   

II.
   Global macroeconomic outlook and key trends findings
   

A.
   Global macroeconomic outlook and key trends findings
   

B.
   Moderately optimistic outlook for 2016
   

III.
   Analysis of new potentially trade restrictive measures in the period 1 July 2014-31 December 2015
   

A.
   Methodology
   

B.
   General Protectionist Tendencies
   

1.
   General
   

2.
   Border measures
   

3.
   Behind-the-Border measures
   

4.
   Stimulus packages and other incentives
   

5.
   Trade facilitating measures
   

C.
   Protectionist tendencies in specific sectors
   

1.
   Measures affecting the ICT sector including new digital trade measures
   

2.
   Steel sector
   

3.
   Raw materials and Energy

IV.
   Overview of all new potentially trade-restrictive measures identified in 31 EU Trade Partners in the period 1 July 2014-31 December 2015
   
   

  

I.
   INTRODUCTION

The main purpose of this Staff Working Document (SWD) is to provide an overview of protectionist tendencies observed in the time period 1.7.2014-31.12.2015 (the Reference Period), based on information gathered by 31 Delegations
[1](#footnote1)
 of the European Union (EU) and the European Commission's services. This is a (simplified) continuation of previous Reports on the Monitoring of Potentially Trade-Restrictive Measures of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade ("Protectionism Reports")
[2](#footnote2)
, complementing a similar biannual report by the WTO Secretariat on the measures adopted by G20 countries with the aim to monitor the implementation of global anti-protectionism commitments.
[3](#footnote3)

An overview of trends in the application of trade-restrictive measures cannot be disconnected from the trends occurring in the global economy. Therefore, in line with previous Protectionism Reports, this SWD first takes a look at the latter.

II.
   Global macroeconomic outlook and key trends findings

A.Global macroeconomic outlook and key trends findings

The latest IMF data show that global GDP growth slowed down slightly in 2015 to 3.1% (from 3.4% in 2014) and that the world economy has entered a transition phase: while advanced economies gradually regain their role as engines of global demand, the emerging economies, which for the past years have been the main source of dynamism, are now facing a considerably more challenging environment that is holding back a more robust expansion of global output.

In fact, the IMF shows that growth in advanced countries gained momentum in 2015 as domestic demand recovered from the sharp fiscal adjustments and the employment situation gradually stabilised. Output expansion accelerated to 1.9% in 2015 (up from 1.8% in 2014). This trend was shared by all the leading advanced economies, the United States being especially buoyant with GDP up 2.5%. Output expansion in the EU accelerated noticeably to almost 2% (up from 1.5% in 2014). In Japan the recovery continued to be more hesitant with GDP growing by only 0.6%. However, this was still an improvement from the 0.1% output contraction observed in 2014.

 

This favourable outlook in the industrialised world contrasts with that of the emerging and developing world where economic activity has entered a much more subdued phase. In the case of some large emerging economies like Russia and Brazil the deterioration of the macroeconomic climate was dramatic with GDP entering into contractionary territory in 2015 (-3.7% and -3.8% respectively). China’s economy continued to grow robustly but slowed down considerably to 6.9% (from 7.3% in 2014). A softening of economic dynamism was equally felt in the low-income developing countries. Against this background, India was the notable outlier as output expansion showed no signs of cooling down in 2015 (GDP growth remained unaltered at 7.3%).

The latest data also point to relatively weak global trade activity in 2015. World trade volumes fell in the first half of the year (-0.7% in Q1 and Q2 respectively, on a quarterly basis) before returning to growth (+1.9%) in the third quarter
[4](#footnote4)
. Overall this hesitant and restrained performance suggests that the improving economic outlook in the advanced world did not prove robust enough to sustain a more steady and vigorous expansion of global trade.

When focusing on the largest world economies the contrasting trade performance in the EU and the United States on the one hand, and in China on the other hand stands out, particularly with regard to import growth (see Table 1). While the gradual improvement in domestic demand led to more robust import growth in the EU and the United States, the cooling economy dented import demand in China. It is important to note that the figures in Table 1 are computed on the basis of trade values in euros and that over the period of analysis the euro depreciated considerably against the US dollar, which is usually the reference currency for China’s trade statistics (see Table 2). This means that in US dollars China’s import growth was much lower or even negative, which illustrates well the weakening contribution of the country to global demand over this period.

Table 1: Quarterly evolution of import and export values (in €), excluding oil and precious metals, y-o-y

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | Q1 14 | Q2 14 | Q3 14 | Q4 14 | Q1 15 | Q2 15 | Q3 15 |
| EXPORTS | | | | | | | |
| EU | -1% | -1% | 2% | 4% | 8% | 11% | 6% |
| US | -2% | -1% | 4% | 12% | 20% | 20% | 13% |
| China | -6% | 0% | 10% | 18% | 29% | 23% | - |
| IMPORTS | | | | | | | |
| EU | 3% | 3% | 6% | 8% | 15% | 13% | 11% |
| US | -1% | 2% | 7% | 17% | 30% | 28% | 22% |
| China | -4% | -5% | -2% | 8% | 7% | 14% | - |

Source: TradeMap

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Table 2: Quarterly variation USD/EUR, y-o-y | | | | | | |  |
|  | Q1 14 | Q2 14 | Q3 14 | Q4 14 | Q1 15 | Q2 15 | Q3 15 |
| USD\_EUR | 4% | 5% | 0% | -8% | -18% | -19% | -16% |

Source: ECB

B.Moderately optimistic outlook for 2016

The latest IMF forecasts point to a moderate pick up of world output growth to 3.4% in 2016, despite the lingering uncertainty regarding the outlook for emerging and developing economies. While GDP in advanced economies is set to continue to expand at moderate pace (2.1%), economic growth in China is expected to continue to slow down and in some large commodity exporters like Brazil and Russia the economy will remain in contraction. The IMF has raised slightly the growth forecasts in the low developing countries but this will depend to a great extent on the evolution of commodity prices and of international financial conditions.

 Table 3: Output projections

|  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  | | Projections | |
|  | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| World | 3.3% | 3.4% | 3.1% | 3.4% |
| Advanced Economies | 1.1% | 1.8% | 1.9% | 2.1% |
| US | 1.5% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| EU | 0.2% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 1.9% |
| Japan | 1.6% | -0.1% | 0.6% | 1.0% |
| Emerging Markets and Developing Economies | 5.0% | 4.6% | 4.0% | 4.3% |
| China | 7.7% | 7.3% | 6.9% | 6.3% |
| Russia | 1.3% | 0.6% | -3.7% | -1.0% |
| Brazil | 2.7% | 0.1% | -3.8% | -3.5% |
| India | 6.9% | 7.3% | 7.3% | 7.5% |
| Low-income Developing Countries | 6.1% | 6.0% | 4.6% | 5.6% |

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook Update January 2016, Update October 2015 for EU

Overall the situation remains quite unclear, especially across the emerging and developing world. This uncertain outlook extends to trade. In its October forecasts the IMF projected growth in world trade volumes (goods and services) to accelerate in 2016 to 4.1% (up from 3.2% in 2015). The WTO pointed to a similar outlook in its September projections: it reported expectations of a pick-up in the pace of growth of the volume of world merchandise trade to 3.9% in 2016 (from 2.8% in 2015)
[5](#footnote5)
. However, the WTO underlined that the risks are firmly on the downside and that the expansion of world trade is due to remain well below the 5% average of the last 20 years (1995-2015).

This apparent sluggishness of global trade growth has in fact emerged as a striking feature of the current global recovery; something that ought to be considered in the reflections about the outlook for trade policy going forward.

There is an ongoing discussion about what is holding back global trade growth. There are certainly some cyclical factors that contribute to this. The deep recession in the advanced economies that followed the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008 was accompanied by a protracted period of weak demand in the largest global markets. This paved the way for an atypical global recovery sustained by the emerging economies, which for all their dynamism remain structurally more vulnerable than the industrialised ones and fell into an uneven growth pattern that is too dependent: on China and on very large capital inflows (in the case of most emerging and developing economies) and on revenues from commodities exports (e.g. Brazil and Russia).

This now proves to be a challenge for the robustness of the global economic outlook and for the acceleration of trade expansion in the coming months. In this respect the uncertainty about the economic outlook in China is clearly a factor to monitor. China can potentially be an important drag on the economic prospects of many parts of the globe if its demand for imports continues to wane for much longer. The EU may be relatively unscathed in the short-run, given the relatively limited importance of the Chinese market as an export destination (around 10%). However, the chilling effect on the emerging and developing economies notably in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, which have become heavily specialised in supplying the Chinese market with raw materials and other inputs, will be strong and can even worsen going forward. These economies are particularly vulnerable because not only will they be hit by a decline in exports to China, but they can also see a further reduction of their export revenues if the slowdown of China’s manufacturing activity continues to depress the prices of energy and other primary commodities. Moreover, the economic outlook in the emerging and developing world may darken even more due to the worsening financial conditions triggered by the tightening of the US monetary policy, which will have implications notably in terms of increased capital outflows and exchange rates volatility.

While these cyclical factors may help explain the more fragile-than-expected contribution of trade to the rebound of economic activity, there is a debate among academics and trade policy analysts about whether they are also accompanied by a structural economic shift that is possibly reducing the responsiveness (or elasticity) of trade to GDP over time. Several contributing factors have been pointed out in that regard, notably: the protracted sluggish recovery of investment in the advanced economies that is associated with more moderate growth of trade in capital and equipment goods; the exhaustion of the “catching up” trade effect of China’s integration in the world economy; and a possible slowdown in the pace of production fragmentation along global value chains due to an erosion of cost incentives in the manufacturing sector and a greater share of services in global trade.

It is not yet clear to what extent the disappointing global trade growth performance is reflecting cyclical factors or more structural changes in the economic environment. But the macroeconomic uncertainty in the emerging and developing world together with the likely increase in volatility in the foreign exchange and financial markets in the coming months clearly calls for the monitoring of protectionist measures to be kept a policy priority.

III.
   Analysis of new potentially trade restrictive measures in the period 1 July 2014-31 December 2015

A.Methodology 

Sections III. and IV. of this SWD take stock of potentially trade restrictive measures, which were newly adopted, substantially modified or in an advanced stage of adoption with foreseen significant consequences in 31 EU trade partners
[6](#footnote6)
, in a Reference Period of 18 months between 1 July 2014 and 31 December 2015 ("Relevant Measures"). For the sake of procedural simplicity and of coherence with similar monitoring exercises in the context of previous protectionism reports, "Relevant Measures" refer to individual legal acts, or packages of similar acts adopted simultaneously, as well as newly imposed or announced restrictive practices by national or regional authorities. Extensions of existing measures were not normally counted. Announced (draft) measures were counted only if they were deemed to already have potentially trade restrictive effects.

A separate document, describing all potentially trade restrictive measures adopted and removed in the period October 2008 until 31 December 2015 as well as all potentially trade facilitating measures adopted during the same time frame, is published on the Commission's website (see: "
[overview of potentially trade-restrictive measures December 2015](http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/154568.htm)
"). Some of the measures identified in that document are not mentioned in this SWD (even if relating to the Reference Period) because they were not considered to be "newly adopted, substantially modified or in an advanced stage of adoption with foreseen significant consequences" or they were extensions of existing restrictive measures that had been counted in previous Protectionism Reports and were therefore not accounted for in the analysis in the analysis relating to the current Reference Period.
[7](#footnote7)

Sections III. and IV. intend to provide an overview of general protectionist tendencies and not a comprehensive list of new trade barriers. These sections also do not prejudge the illegality of the measures under WTO or other rules nor their ultimate effect on trade and/or investment flows. Depending on the complexity, product scope, duration and comprehensive nature of the Relevant Measures, their effect on trade can vary and have more or less far-reaching consequences
[8](#footnote8)
. Also, in line with previous Protectionism Reports and their objective to keep track of all new potentially trade-protectionist measures, all identified
[9](#footnote9)
 Relevant Measures were taken into account, including those that may affect mainly or exclusively third country business rather than EU business. However, all identified Relevant Measures have the capacity to unduly disrupt or restrict trade.

B.General Protectionist Tendencies

1.
   General

The numerical overview of protectionist tendencies for the Reference Period 1.7.2014-31.12.2015 gives the following picture:

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Country | Border Measures | | | Behind-the-Border Measures | | | | Measures to Stimulate Exports | Stimulus & Other Measures | Total per country (1.7.2014 – 31.12.2015) |
|  | At Imports | At Exports | Total | Gov. Proc. | Services and Investm. | Other | Total |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Algeria | 3 |  | 3 |  |  | 3 | 3 |  |  | 6 |
| Argentina\* | 2 |  | 2 |  |  | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Australia\* |  |  |  | 1 | 1 |  | 2 |  |  | 2 |
| Belarus | 2 |  | 2 |  |  |  | 0 |  |  | 2 |
| Brazil\* | 2 |  | 2 |  | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |  | 6 |
| Canada\* |  |  |  |  |  |  | 0 | 1 |  | 1 |
| China\* | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 26 |
| Ecuador | 5 |  | 5 |  | 2 |  | 2 | 1 |  | 8 |
| Egypt | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |  |  | 5 |
| India\* | 12 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |  | 17 |
| Indonesia\* | 12 | 2 | 14 |  | 3 | 3 | 6 |  | 3 | 23 |
| Japan\* |  |  |  |  | 1 |  | 1 | 2 |  | 3 |
| Kazakhstan |  |  |  |  |  |  | 0 |  |  | 0 |
| Malaysia | 1 | 1 | 2 |  |  |  | 0 |  | 2 | 4 |
| Mexico\* | 5 |  | 5 |  | 1 |  | 1 |  |  | 6 |
| Nigeria | 3 |  | 3 |  | 1 |  | 1 |  |  | 4 |
| Pakistan | 2 |  | 2 |  |  |  | 0 |  | 1 | 3 |
| Paraguay |  |  |  |  |  |  | 0 |  |  | 0 |
| Philippines |  | 1 | 1 |  |  |  | 0 |  |  | 1 |
| Russia\* | 11 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 11 |  | 3 | 26 |
| Saudi Arabia\* |  |  |  |  |  | 1 | 1 |  |  | 1 |
| South Africa\* | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |  |  | 10 |
| S. Korea\* |  |  |  | 2 | 2 |  | 4 |  |  | 4 |
| Switzerland | 1 |  | 1 |  | 1 |  | 1 | 1 |  | 3 |
| Taiwan | 2 |  | 2 |  |  |  | 0 |  | 1 | 3 |
| Thailand |  |  |  |  | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 |  | 6 |
| Tunisia |  |  |  |  |  | 2 | 2 |  |  | 2 |
| Turkey\* | 5 |  | 5 | 2 |  |  | 2 |  | 2 | 9 |
| Ukraine | 1 | 2 | 3 |  |  |  | 0 |  |  | 3 |
| USA\* | 1 |  | 1 | 5 |  |  | 5 |  |  | 6 |
| Vietnam |  | 1 | 1 |  | 1 |  | 1 |  |  | 2 |
| TOTAL | 80 | 12 | 92 | 23 | 27 | 31 | 81 | 11 | 17 | 201 |

Table 4: New Potentially trade-restrictive measures per country and type, July 2014-December 2015

(\* - G20 countries)

Thus, during the 18-month Reference Period, a total of 201 new Relevant Measures were introduced while only 16 previously imposed Relevant Measures were actively withdrawn
[10](#footnote10)
. Recalculation on the basis of a notional 13-month period for comparison with previous Protectionism Reports gives a 13-month total of around 145 newly adopted Relevant Measures. This represents a reduction of around 15% when compared to the 170 Relevant Measures introduced during the previous Protectionism Report (1 June 2013 – 30 June 2014). Comparing the number of withdrawn Relevant Measures on the same basis shows that this number has remained stable at around 12.

Although this analysis shows a slightly smaller increase in the volume of new Relevant Measures than in previous years, the number of Relevant Measures continues to grow; bringing the total stock identified since 2008 to 1059 while only 180 such measures have been actively removed since then. As was the case during the last few years, the number of Relevant Measures removed thus continues to be much lower than the number of new measures adopted. This also applies to several G20 member countries, despite their pledge to refrain from adopting new protectionist measures and to remove existing ones (see footnote 3).

The same emerging economies as in the last report adopted the bulk of new Relevant Measures: China, Russia, Indonesia and India together account for nearly half of all measures identified. They were followed by South Africa, Argentina, Turkey, Ecuador, Algeria, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, the United States, Egypt, Nigeria and Malaysia.

The tables below show a graphic representation of the main findings of this Reference Period:

![](./../../../resource.html?uri=comnat:SWD_2016_0204_FIN.ENG.xhtml.SWD_2016_0204_FIN_ENG_24002.jpg)

Table 5: Potentially trade-restrictive measures by country since October 2008 (\* - G20 countries)

![](./../../../resource.html?uri=comnat:SWD_2016_0204_FIN.ENG.xhtml.SWD_2016_0204_FIN_ENG_24003.jpg)

Table 6: Potentially trade-restrictive measures by type since October 2008

2.
   Border measures

As reflected in table 6, in terms of types of Relevant Measures applied, countries once more resorted mainly to border measures directly affecting imports and exports, typically through tariff increases, quantitative restrictions, import licensing procedures or by banning trade altogether. Over the 18-month period, the number of new import measures was again much higher (80) than the number of export restrictions (12). When calculated on a 13 month basis for comparison, the number of new import measures is just 1-point below the number identified in the last Protectionism Report, while the number of new export restrictions has been reduced by half. While this is in itself a positive development, it still constitutes an increase in export restrictions that is not counterbalanced by the number of such measures being removed.

 

India and Indonesia applied the highest number of new border measures restricting imports during the Reference Period, followed by Russia. In India, most of these measures consist of increased import duties on various goods, including certain types of commercial vehicles, iron and steel, bituminous coal, natural rubber, sugar, wheat, crude and refined edible oil, ghee, butter and butter oil. Such increase in import duties was also observed relating to several ICT products, despite the fact that they appear to fall within the scope of the Information Technology Agreement 1. Also in Indonesia, several import duty increases could be observed. For example, a Regulation adopted in July 2015, aims at increasing import duties for over 1 000 products (in some cases with duty increases of 300-600%). Further, Indonesia introduced mandatory import licencing procedures for a large range of products in food and beverages, drugs, cosmetics, textiles, electronics, and forestry products and requirements of a country recognition agreement and/or registration and inspection of testing laboratories, imposed by a 10 February 2015 Regulation of the Ministry of Agriculture (Regulation 4/2015), are expected to have a significant impact on imports of plant-based products. Further, some cases of quantitative restrictions have been extended, such as on alcohol products. Russia resorted to several outright import bans, including a broad political ban on imports of agricultural and dairy products and on meat originating from the EU, as well as a number of other specific SPS bans, including on beef trimmings, raw hides and skins, animal products and poultry products not having undergone a certain treatment. Additionally, it put in place bans restricting certain products originating specifically from some EU Member States, such as on certain products originating in Poland (including fruits and vegetables, plant products re-exported from Poland and cheese-like products).

3.
   Behind-the-Border measures

The Reference Period shows a significant increase in the number of new measures applied "behind-the-border" (81). This suggests greater reliance on internal measures affecting foreign competition, which are often more difficult to tackle than border barriers. They include new measures in the field of government procurement (23) and in services and investment (27) (both in line with the last 7 years average when brought down to a 13-month average), as well as 31 "other" behind-the-border measures. China once again resorted to the highest number of "behind-the-border" measures, followed by Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina, the United States, South Africa and South Korea.

Russia issued the largest number of measures restricting government procurement (8), followed by the United States (5) (and far behind these two countries), South Korea (2), Turkey (2) and South Africa (2). Compared to the previous reporting period, the number of such measures has significantly increased in Russia, while it has decreased in the United States, resulting in a stable total amount.

Reflecting these protectionist tendencies, Russia has adopted a series of measures restricting access to public procurement across various sectors, namely in medical devices, textiles and footwear, imported vehicles, light industry imports, machinery and equipment, software and pharmaceuticals. In the United States several legislative (draft) initiatives were introduced that aim at establishing local content requirements in the area of public procurement. Also a law was adopted that increases domestic content for procurement of rolling stock from 60 to 70% by 2020. In South Korea, several tenders de facto limited the participation of foreign companies. This concerns in particular a contract for the construction and lease of 6 liquefied natural gas carriers and another for the purchase of a multipurpose helicopter. In South Africa, far-reaching amendments to the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act significantly affect the ability to successfully tender for government contracts. Further, In July 2015, a draft amendment to the Preferential Procurement Regulations was introduced, increasing domestic preference and the government announced designations for local procurement in a large range of product areas.
[11](#footnote11)

In particular in the field of services and investment, China has adopted the highest number of restrictive measures (8), followed by Indonesia (3).

In China, a series of new initiatives were taken in 2015 interfering with services and investment on the account of national security. These legislations are often problematic as there is no clear definition of "national security", leaving the Chinese administration with considerable discretionary power and no adequate possibility to appeal the restrictions imposed on foreign companies. The legislative initiatives inhibiting foreign investment include, among others, the National Security law, the draft Cyber Security law, the National Security Review, the draft Foreign Investment Law, the Guidelines for applying Secure and Controllable Information Technology to enhance Banking Industry Cyber Security and Informatisation Development (the "Banking Guidelines"), the draft Foreign NGO Management Law and the Counter Terrorism Law. The latest proposal for amending the Foreign Investment Catalogue was issued in March 2015. Claimed to be an almost 50% reduction of restricted or prohibited sectors compared to the 2011 Catalogue, it appears that changes in fact often represent mere reclassifications so that the restricted areas do not significantly change, while a number of new restrictions are also introduced.

For Indonesia, several of the identified measures restricting foreign investment relate to the transport sector (restricting the area of operation for foreign or joint venture companies to certain airports and seaports, for instance). Further restrictions were also proposed with the aim to restrict export operations of Indonesian products to Indonesian vessels only. Restrictions could also be observed in the insurance sector, where a new regulation grants preference to domestic reinsurance companies, as well as in the tobacco sector, where a draft law was proposed limiting foreign investment.

Finally, the 31 behind-the-border measures "other" than those relating to services, investment or public procurement represent an important part (38%) of newly adopted behind-the-border measures, although the number of such measures has decreased (by around 34%) compared to the previous reporting period. They typically include discriminatory tax measures or other discriminatory provisions favouring local business or requiring local content, as well as standards and technical requirements.

Such measures have mostly been observed in China (7), followed by Argentina (5), Thailand (4), Indonesia (3) and Algeria (3). In China, most of these measures require foreign companies to comply with burdensome administrative, registration and labelling requirements. Similarly to the aforementioned measures restricting foreign services and investment, they were often put in place on the account of national security, for example those in the sector of telecommunications and ICT. In Argentina, a large majority of these measures also relate to burdensome certification requirements for various goods and services. In Thailand, these measures often consist of introducing or increasing excise taxes which could in particular restrict imports, for example of EU alcoholic beverages. In Indonesia, these measures consist mainly of mandatory national standards and onerous local content requirements (relating to telecommunications technology (4G)). In Algeria, these measures relate to mandatory safety requirements, limitations on the export of foreign currency and discriminatory provisions relating to consumer credit.

4.
   Stimulus packages and other incentives

Finally, many countries continued to support their economic operators with new subsidies, incentives, financial schemes and other measures. 28 Such measures were identified during the Reference Period, of which 11 aiming to stimulate exports. Although (when brought down to a 13 month average) we can observe a decline in the total number of such new measures compared to the previous monitoring period, this decline does not apply to the number of newly introduced stimulus measures aimed at boosting exports, which remains stable. Such measures can contribute to distorting competitive conditions globally with detrimental effects in both domestic markets and foreign markets.

To mention just a few examples of measures to stimulate exports, we can observe such measures in Brazil, where the "Reintegra" programme was reintroduced, which provides export subsidies to domestic companies that export 50% or more of their production. Japan, adopted a "Revitalization Strategy III" promoting overseas development of Japanese companies, in particular focusing on exports of infrastructure systems. In Thailand a new investment strategy provides that a number of promoted investment projects can benefit from incentives, such as import duty exemptions for raw materials/input products, only when the manufactured goods are exported.

Examples of other stimulus measures (not explicitly aimed at promoting exports), were observed mainly in China, where the shipbuilding sector, for instance, benefits from a generous program in the form of a subsidy which reinforces their fleet and increases their capacity at a low cost. China has also released an ambitious strategy known as "Made in China 2025", providing preferential policies to upgrade Chinese manufacturing industry. Russia in particular supported its car industry by adopting a subsidy scheme with local content requirements and by setting up a program of preferential car loans for purchasing domestically produced cars. Other examples of such measures could also be observed in the United States, where, as part of a package of tax extenders, a blenders tax credit for biodiesel and renewable diesel tax credits were reinstated retroactively back to January 1, 2015 and a second-generation biofuel production credit was extended through January 1, 2017. Also, in February 2015, the EU launched a WTO case against the United States relating to Washington State legislation extending the state’s aerospace tax incentives, estimated at UDS 8.7 billion, through 2040
[12](#footnote12)
.

5.
   Trade facilitating measures

In addition to monitoring protectionist tendencies, an effort was made to identify measures adopted during the Reference Period that potentially improve trade or investment conditions. Although these provisions cannot qualify as eliminating existing obstacles and fulfilling the G20 roll-back pledge, they do contribute to the liberalisation of global trade flows and to the mitigation of existing protectionist trends. In the Reference Period, around 70 trade-facilitating measures were identified, over 40% of them enacted by China, Argentina and Mexico
[13](#footnote13)
 together. On a 13 month basis, their total number (51) is considerably higher than for the last monitoring period (36).

In China, these measures consist among others of efforts to support e-commerce and to facilitate customs clearance, as well to reduce certain import and export tariffs. In Argentina, a large majority include the revocation or reduction of export taxes for goods across various sectors. Argentina also abolished its system of export licences and the system of the "prior sworn import declaration" (DJAI) for imports of goods and replaced it with SIMI ("Sistema integral de monitoreo de importaciones"). The Commission is currently assessing the compliance of the new system with international obligations, but it is a clear improvement on the old system. Mexico, for example, announced concrete implementation of a planned reform in the energy sector with the aim to open oil, gas and electricity to national and foreign private investors and adopted legislation, which seeks to open its rail freight sector. It also reduced certain import tariffs and relaxed its rules of origin on various textile-related products.

An overview of all identified trade facilitating measures issued by the 31 EU trade partners since 2008 is provided in Section VII of the following document: "
[overview of potentially trade-restrictive measures December 2015](http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/154568.htm)
".

C.Protectionist tendencies in specific sectors

1.
   Measures affecting the ICT sector including new digital trade measures

The analysis of trade-protectionist measures newly introduced in the Reference Period also showed that several countries have resorted to protectionist measures that limit market access relating to the ICT sector. Since 2008, more than 35 Relevant Measures of this type have been identified (mainly in China, India, Russia and Indonesia), of which more than 15 enacted or implemented during the current Reference Period. These measures range from duty increases to local content requirements, mandatory certification or intrusive testing requirements.

The digitalisation of the economy has brought new types of trade barriers. Examples include unjustified data localisation requirements and mandatory local security standards. Some of those measures are taken on security grounds as the economy becomes more interconnected and countries are more exposed to concerns such as cyber threats. However, on many occasions those measures go beyond essential security concerns and have a clear protectionist nature. During the reference period, China has introduced the highest number of such measures, many of them on the grounds of “national security” (see also Section III.B.3). Generally, these measures include very broad and vague definitions, which create uncertainty as this implicitly leaves the Chinese Authorities with the option of undermining foreign market access on the basis of unclear and broad considerations. These measures have raised a number of other concerns such as mandatory requirements to use domestic cryptography only and to apply Chinese national standards instead of international standards, disclosure of source code, which would amount to the disclosure of business secrets, data localisation requirements and others. In the case of the “secure and controllable ICT” for the banking sector, the so-called “banking guidelines” have been suspended following representations of the EU, the US and other countries. However, as long as these guidelines are not significantly amended or abolished, they may continue to have trade-restrictive effects and therefore need further close monitoring.

India is another country that has imposed several barriers affecting the ICT sector over recent years. During the reference period, it effectively imposed a 10% custom duty on four groups of ICT products claiming they do not fall under the Information Technology Agreement 1 (ITA1), which is contested by the EU and the EU ICT Industry.

In addition, India plans to impose mandatory in-country information security testing and certification of telecom network elements as of 1 April 2016. Besides the uncertainties on how these tests will be conducted, there are also concerns on additional costs and delays. Finally, no further substantial progress can be reported with regard to the implementation of the Preferential Market Access policy for domestically manufactured electronic goods in public procurement.

The growing trend in the adoption of forced localisation measures is worrying. These measures take various forms such as local content requirements, mandatory local security requirements that deviate from international standards, discriminatory measures and preference for domestically manufactured goods, technology transfer requirements and data localisation requirements. For example, during the reference period, the following countries imposed some type of forced localisation measures:

In 2015, several laws (for example, Federal Law No.242-F of 25 June 2014, which entered into force on 1 September 2015
[14](#footnote14)
; Federal Law No.188 of 29 June 29, 2015) with data localisation requirements and public procurement restrictions were enacted or entered into force in Russia; Indonesia imposed onerous local content requirements on a wide range of technology devices and products through a Ministerial Decree for Local Content Requirements for Telecommunications Technology (4G) of July 2015 (entry into force expected for Jan 2017); Nigeria issued Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT (released in 2014, revised in November 2015 with immediate implementation), which among other issues imposes data localisation and local content requirements
[15](#footnote15)
. Other countries that have issued similar measures include: Vietnam, Ecuador and China.

Regulatory cooperation, mutual recognition and harmonisation of standards have an important role in this regard.

2.
   Steel sector 

The Reference Period was marked by acute worsening of global overcapacity in the steel sector and significant drops in steel prices in the EU and elsewhere in the world, fuelled mainly by the export of China's overcapacities. As a result, countries across the world have resorted to measures protecting their domestic steel industry. Those were mainly border measures, such as significant increases in customs duties.

For example, during the Reference Period India imposed a customs duty on iron, steel and related articles ranging from 5% to 12.5%; Mexico a temporary 15% Most Favoured Nation ("MFN") tariff on 97 tariff lines; and South Africa increased the general MFN duty rate on certain wire (of iron or non-alloy steel) and on certain steel products from free to 10% and on certain large bore steel pipes from 10% to 15%. Also Turkey imposed additional customs duty on imports of forged bars or rods of iron or non-alloy steel and certain other steel and iron products (including bars and rods, wires and nails).

Further, the Indian Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Second Order of 12 March 2012 (as modified by the successive acts) prohibits the manufacture, import, storage, sale and distribution of steel products which do not conform to the specified national steel standard and do not bear the standard mark of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). In December 2014 and in the course of the year 2015, India first added 5 and then another 19 products to the scope of this measure. Also, Mexico included 25 tariff lines (belonging to HS chapters 72 and 73 – iron, steel and articles thereof) to the list of imported products subject to prior licensing procedures. This is part of a series of measures that were announced on 9 July 2015 to protect its steel industry from under-valued (and triangulated) imports of steel (from China mainly).

In addition, many governments have engaged in a range of policies that aim at securing inputs for their domestic steel making industries and there has been a steady increase in the introduction and strengthening of export restrictions applied on steel making raw materials (see also next section III.C.3).

Moreover, in the face of the steel crisis, countries increasingly resorted to trade defence instruments (TDI), including to safeguard measures. In particular, in August 2014 Morocco adopted definitive measures following an anti-dumping investigation on hot rolled steel sheets. In November 2014 the United States adopted definitive measures following an anti-dumping investigation on non-oriented electrical steel. Further, in September 2015 India adopted provisional measures following a safeguard investigation on hot rolled products and Morocco adopted definitive measures following a safeguard investigation on cold rolled steel sheets.

While TDI are in principle a legitimate way of defending against unfair steel imports and therefore not counted as "Relevant Measures" for the purpose of this SWD
[16](#footnote16)
, these measures should be adopted in full respect of the WTO rules to avoid that they become protectionist measures. Of particular concern is the important part of safeguard measures in this increased resort to TDI, as such measures apply against all countries of origin, whether or not they cause any injury to the domestic industry, and without demonstration of the existence of unfair trade practices. Such measures thus require close monitoring.

As no solution to the overcapacity problem is anticipated in the short term, the trend of protecting the domestic steel industry is expected to continue beyond the Reference Period. This is for example confirmed by the import quota for rebars that were introduced early January 2016 in Algeria, the EU’s second biggest export destination for steel.

3.
   Raw materials and Energy

In view of the EU's dependence on imported resources, access to energy and raw materials is critical for the EU's competitiveness. The review of protectionist tendencies however shows that many countries still maintain barriers to the export of their raw materials and discriminatory measures relating to energy goods.

In recent years, a proliferation of measures imposed by third countries restricting the supply of raw materials could be observed. In the 11th Protectionism Report
[17](#footnote17)
, several measures were highlighted that deteriorated the conditions of access to natural resources, in particular through easily imposable border measures, in countries such as Algeria, Indonesia, Egypt, India and South Africa. Most of the previously imposed measures remained in place and some additional export restrictive measures were introduced.

For example, as already reported in the 11th Protectionism Report, South Africa made all scrap metal exports subject to export licences, which are granted only if the products could not be sold on the domestic market despite a discount rate (originally set at 20%) below international spot prices. Between 12 September 2014 and 30 January 2015, South Africa increased these rates to 30% for steel scrap metal and to 25% for aluminium scrap metal.

Ukraine introduced a new law envisaging mandatory registration of contracts for export of ferrous scrap and proposed a draft law (bill 2031a) increasing the export duty for ferrous scrap to 30 Euro/ton for 3 years, which appears incompatible with Ukraine's WTO commitment and with the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area ("DCFTA") that entered into force on 1 January 2016. On 10 July 2015, it also introduced a 10-year wood export ban.

On 11 July 2014, India increased the export duty on bauxite to 20%. On 30 April 2015, it reduced export duties to 10% on certain low grade iron ore fines, while however still maintaining export duties of up to 30% on other forms and qualities of iron ore fines and lumps.

On 14 July 2015, Indonesia introduced a fixed export levy of 50 USD on Crude Palm Oil products and on 11 October 2015, Indonesia and Malaysia
[18](#footnote18)
 agreed on the formation of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC), which aims at controlling the palm oil market and setting global standards in the industry. While the exact scope of the activities of CPOPC remains to be confirmed, a growing sense of resource nationalism may lead to measures with potentially trade restrictive elements. Indonesia and Malaysia policy measures related notably to export tariffs, state trading monopoly and dual pricing or minimum export prices will thus require further close monitoring.

Finally, upon its accession to the WTO, China undertook to eliminate all export duties (taxes) except for a number of products listed in an Annex 6 to its Protocol of Accession. The EU, along with the US and Mexico in a first WTO case (DS395) and with the US and Japan in a second WTO case (DS432), successfully challenged China's policy of imposing export duties (and export quotas) on certain raw materials (in particular various forms of bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide, silicon metal, yellow phosphorus and zinc on the one hand and on rare earths, tungsten, and molybdenum on the other hand). The WTO found that China's export duties were inconsistent with the commitments that China had agreed to in its Protocol of Accession and that the wording of China's Protocol of Accession did not allow China to use the general exceptions in Article XX of the GATT 1994 to justify its WTO-inconsistent export duties. Today China, however, still applies export duties on more than 250 tariff lines while annex 6 is limited to 84 products.

In terms of new market access barriers and trade protectionist tendencies in the energy sector, local content requirements remain particularly problematic, in particular in the renewable energy sector. For, example, relating to Morocco, we have come across several projects where the authorities either explicitly imposed local content requirements or where such requirements were disguised as "voluntary" local content requirements. Such measures are also widespread in the oil and gas sector. For example Nigeria on 24 December 2014 adopted "Regulations on National Content Development for the Power Sector 2014", which reflect the same principles of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Content Development Act 2010 and provide that all entities holding licences to carry out regulated activities - including electricity generation and distribution - are required to give first consideration to qualified Nigerian companies, as well as to goods made in Nigeria and services provided by Nigerian firms. The Regulations also include provisions on mandatory transfer of technology to Nigerian entities and deployment of equipment in Nigeria and they allow the national regulator, NERC, to establish penalties as it deems fit to ensure compliance.

Between March and November 2015, Turkey introduced several modifications to a 2012 decree (2012/3305) on the investment incentives package, including refined petroleum products as a sector to benefit from regional state supports (excluding Istanbul) and including the manufacture of turbines and generators for generation of renewable energy and of wings for generation of wind energy among priority investment areas. If domestic goods and services are procured above a certain threshold of the total investment, the subsidy for generating renewable energy is higher, thus also stimulating local content.

Similarly, discriminatory treatment could be observed in the area of government procurement. For example, in South Korea, the Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas), on 24 October 2014 opened a call for tender for the construction and the lease of six LNG carriers destined to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG), which de facto excluded the participation of foreign companies and favored Korean technology, in apparent contradiction with the 1994 WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and the principles set forth in the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Conversely, some trade facilitating measures could be recorded for Argentina and Mexico: Argentina on 26 February 2015 lowered the applicable export taxes for propane, butane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from 45% to a symbolic 1% if the international price falls below certain values of reference. Also, since 1 January 2015 it relaxed its export tax regime for oil and its derivatives, by calculating the export duty on the basis of a formula that depends on the international price of oil, which - given the drop of international prices - constitutes a reduction of the taxes. On 31 October 2014, Mexico announced the adoption of 9 implementing regulations and 16 decrees that should set out rules and details to implement the energy reform (approved by Congress in December 2013) and open up the Mexican market for both local and foreign investors. Also, on 29 December 2014, it adopted rules to facilitate obtaining permits for importing and/or exporting hydrocarbons and oil-related products.

Still, the trade restrictive measures in the raw materials and energy sectors remain important and opening markets in these fields should remain a priority.

IV.
   Overview of all new potentially trade-restrictive measures identified in 31 EU Trade Partners in the period 1 July 2014-31 December 2015

The below table provides a comprehensive overview of all Relevant Measures identified in the period 1 July 2014-31 December 2015 for the 31 selected EU Trade Partners
[19](#footnote19)
. It is reminded that a more elaborate description of all such Relevant Measures identified since 2008, as well as of all trade facilitating measures and identified Relevant Measures that have been rolled back since 2008, is published on the Commission's website at "
[overview of potentially trade-restrictive measures December 2015](http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/154568.htm)
".

Table 7: New potentially trade-restrictive measures (1 July 2014 – 31 December 2015)

In italic: Draft measures

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Country | Date of adoption/enacting  (where available) | Measure |
| Algeria | 02-07/2015 | Algeria has imposed new measures on car dealership and mandatory safety standards for imported vehicles through executive decree n° 15-54 of 7 February 2015, ministerial decisions of 23 March 2015, of 12 May 2015 and of 23 July 2015. |
|  | 2015 | The note 16/DGC/2009 of the Bank of Algeria, dated 16 February 2009, introduced a requirement to supply certification documents with each delivery of goods to Algeria. This measure was annulled through a note on 24 March 2011. However, in the course of 2015, customs administration in collaboration with the antifraud services of the ministry of Trade started applying systematic controls for imported products; this significantly delays the import procedures and acts as a deterrent against foreign imports. |
|  | 2015 | A number of individual measures related to border controls of imported documents and to antifraud checks have targeted, starting from the beginning of 2015, several imported products. These measures cannot be traced down to any general provision but signal a consistent trend, nonetheless. |
|  | 2015 | During 2015, banking procedures set out in Regulation 07-01 of 3 February 2007 of the Bank of Algeria regarding standing orders allowing importers to export foreign currency have been complemented by several internal instructions. Importers are now obliged to present a series of documents attesting their financial strength, while limitations are introduced on the amounts of money that can be exported. |
|  | 15.07.2015 | Law 15-15 of 15 July 2015 enables the Government to introduce quantitative restrictions in the form of import licences, in order to safeguard certain public interest objectives (e.g. the protection of financial stability). On the basis of this Law, Executive Decree 15-306 of 6 December 2015 brings in a system of non-automatic import licensing resulting in quantitative restrictions for certain products (vehicles, cement, concrete). |
|  | 31.12.2015 | The Loi de Finances 2015 reintroduced the consumer's credit, but its entry into force had been postponed until the adoption of implementing measures. These measures were adopted by an inter-ministerial decree of 31 December 2015. Consumer's credit will only be available for the purchase of products manufactured or assembled in Algeria, which is a flagrant violation of the prohibition of discrimination enshrined in the Association Agreement. |
| Argentina | 21.07.2014, 19.03, 19.03, 06.07 and 20.11.2015 | General Resolutions 3650/2014, 3752, 3753, 3784 and 3812/2015 establish reference prices for 5 new tariff lines. |
|  | 31.10.2014 | Resolution 323/2014 requires applicants to submit the results of tests conducted in laboratories included in the new "National Register of Laboratories for the testing of Auto Parts and Complete Vehicles" in order to obtain a conformity certificate. |
|  | 21.04, 16.06, 30.06, 28.07 and 06.08.2015 | Provisions ANMAT Nº 2873, 4491, 5042, 6053 and 6171/2015 adjust (increase) the fees for the authorisation of packaged food, medicines and other products, based on import values. |
|  | 02.04.2015 | In the context of the fall of international oil prices, Argentina created a temporary stimulus programme for crude oil production, to be in place over 2015 and extendable for one year, through Resolution 14/2015 of April 2, 2015. It approved an economic compensation of up to USD 3/BBL - to be paid in AR$ - for companies that raise or maintain production (compared to a base period) and the same compensation for enterprises that increase or maintain oil exports. |
|  | 30.09.2015 | Resolution 404/2015 (Regime of recognition of bodies and laboratories involved in the mandatory certification procedures for goods and services), requires the revalidation of all recognitions in place that expire in 180 days and of recognition agreements between certification bodies in the country and abroad (which expired automatically by end November 2015). |
|  | 1.10.2015 | Joint Resolution 1710/2015 and 406/2015 approved by the Secretary of Trade and the Ministry of Health on 1 October 2015 dictates that the Health Insurances in Argentina must give preference to less expensive domestically produced high-cost medicines over foreign medicines for special treatments that patients can receive a reimbursement for. The implementing rules are to be published by the competent authority. |
|  | 3.11.2015 | Decree 2229/2015 of 3 November 2015 reintroduced for 5 years a refund for exports from ports in the disadvantaged geographical region of Patagonia that had expired in 1999. |
|  | 22.10.2015 and  04.12.2015 | The regulatory framework concerning the certification of safety requirements for electrical products, updated by Resolution 508 of 22 October 2015 (and amending regulations), includes rules on compliance with Argentine normalisation rules; certification per mark for certain products; customs requirements, etc. The text of the measure also appears to require that certification be conducted by Argentinian laboratories.  Resolution 680/2015 of 4 December 2015 establishes mandatory certification of safety requirements to commercialize school articles (including stationery and office supplies). |
|  | 22 and 23.12.2015 | General Resolution 3823/2015-AFIP of 22.12.2015 sets up a new system of "Comprehensive System of Imports Monitoring" (SIMI), which was completed by the establishment of Automatic and Non-Automatic Licenses (NALs) through Resolution 5/2015-MP of 23.12.2015. NALs are foreseen for some 1400 tariff lines. |
| Australia | Formal review commenced 5 November 2015 [expected to be in place by 1 July 2016] | In its pre-election policy platform, the Victorian state government elected on 29 November 2014 committed "to increase the weighting accorded to local content for major [state government procurement] projects". A formal review of the Victorian Industry Participation Policy (VIPP) was launched on 5 November 2015, proposing the introduction of a minimum 10% formal weighting system for local content. Review recommendations will require Cabinet approval. |
|  | Enacted 1.12. 2015 | New restrictive measures to Australia's foreign investment framework focussing mainly on residential real estate and agricultural investments, but also including the introduction of fees on all foreign investment screening applications. |
| Belarus | 4.08.2015 | Regulation 658 of 4 August 2015 "On increasing the quality control of imported building materials and products" introduced strengthened quality control on imported construction materials and products. The regulation imposes inter alia a requirement to obtain a certificate for each single delivery of goods imported into Belarus (except for CIS countries, being a party of the FTA as of 18 October 2011). |
|  | 6.08.2015 | Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 666 of 6 August 2015 "On the Introduction of Changes and Additions to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated 17th of February, 2012 № 156" introduced changes in the administrative procedure concerning hygienic examination in imports and a mandatory sanitary-hygienic examination for every batch of certain imported products (including, among others, food, children goods, perfumes, cosmetics, personal hygienic products, household chemicals, household goods, food industry equipment, furniture, construction materials – according to Decision of the Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitarian of the Republic of Belarus, No 47 of 10 September 2015). |
| Brazil | 10.07.2014 – 27.02. 2015 | Reintroduction (by Provisional Measure 651/2014 of 10/7/2014 and Decree 8.301 of 12/9/2014, regulated by Brazilian government Decree 8.304 of 12/9/2014 and then sanctioned and replaced by Law No. 13.043 of 13 November 2014) of the (2011) "Reintegra" programme. This programme provides export subsidies in the form of tax advantages provided to domestic companies that export 50% or more of their production. According to the programme, companies that produce and export goods manufactured in Brazil are allowed to request a credit that may vary from 0.1% to 3% calculated on the revenue from the export of such goods. In addition Reintegra now covers most of Brazilian exports (with a few exceptions in the agricultural sector). Decree 8.304 was replaced on 27/02/2015 by Decree 8.415, which delayed the application of the maximum tax-refundable percentage, but also provided for an opportunity to have it increased depending on the "macroeconomic situation". |
|  | 07.2014 – 11.11.2015 | Through a series of measures, Brazil included in the list of 100 exceptions to the Mercosur Common External Tariffs a significant number of products, resulting in substantial increases of duty rates (increase to 20% for, among others, gypsum plasters, certain vegetable fats and oils, certain minerals oils, sodium bicarbonate, certain acids and machining centres; to 16% for instruments, apparatuses and models designed for demonstrational purposes; 12% for sodium polyacrylate; 10% for acrylic acid and to 4% for joint cement). |
|  | 19.06.2015 | Law 13.137/2015 of 19 June 2015 has increased PIS/COFINS contributions for imported goods from 9.25% to 11.75% on average. There is a higher increase for certain specific categories of products (pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, tyres etc.). |
|  | 09.06.2015 | Draft law PL 6897/2006 on inspections of imported agricultural products was approved by the Chamber of Deputies and sent to the Senate. This new draft law mandates inspection and analysis for pesticide residues, toxins and pathogens for all unprocessed or semi-processed agricultural and livestock products imported into Brazil. It would be introduced summarily and across the board without any risk analysis or scientific justification. |
|  | 24.06.2015 | The Brazilian government launched the “National Export Plan”. This Plan includes provisions to increase financing and guarantees for exports, as well as an improvement of mechanisms and tax regimes for export support. |
|  | 30.12.2015 | While Law 13.241 of 30 December 2015 eliminates discriminatory ad rem system for internal taxation of wines and spirits, it maintains a 5% nominal tax rate discrimination in favour of cachaça against other spirits and suspends the benefits of the Digital Inclusion programme for 2016. |
| Canada | 2015 | The Canadian federal 2015 budget includes a number of proposed measures to stimulate Canadian exports among others within the automotive, maritime, forestry and agricultural sectors. |
| China | 1.09.2014 | Concerning the postal and express delivery industry, the State Postal Bureau issued further compulsory requirements for tighter security measures, namely ‘Specifications for Allocating Safety Production Facilities in Postal Industry’. |
|  | 24.02.2014 | Only Chinese-owned companies have access to China's generous subsidy to scrap old ships established by the "Administration of Central Government Subsidies for the Scrapping of Outdated Ships and Single-hulled Oil Tankers and the Rebuilding of New Ships" Cai Jian [2014] No. 24.  The subsidy is linked to a ship-building subsidy with a gross tonnage at least equivalent to that of the scrapped ship. This double subsidy reinforces the competitiveness of China's shipping industry by upgrading their fleet and increasing their capacity at a low cost; it also compensates for the overcapacity that plagues China's shipbuilding sector. Initially launched in 2014 for two years, the subsidy has been extended until end 2017. |
|  | 10.09.2014 | The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) jointly issued a document entitled "Guidelines for Applying Secure and Controllable Information Technology to Enhance Banking Industry Cybersecurity and Informatisation Development", containing several potentially trade-restrictive provisions (including forcing companies to use Chinese intellectual property and to disclose business secrets like key software source codes, imposing localisation requirements for Research and Development operations, restricting the cross-border flow of data, etc.). While China officially suspended the guidelines in April 2015 and indicated that a revised version of the guidelines was under preparation by the end of 2015, there are indications that the banks are actually implementing the 'guidelines' in practice. |
|  | 15.10.2014 | China re-imposed import duties for 5 coal products at a range between 3% and 6%. |
|  | 12.2014 and Second Half of 2015 | Medical Devices: while there is not a clear and transparent “Buy China” policy, there is a general tendency for government authorities to urge hospitals to purchase medical devices from “national” manufacturers, not including products manufactured in China by Foreign Invested Enterprises (FIE). The first batch catalogue was published in December 2014. A second batch catalogue is announced for the second half of 2015. While there is no Central Chinese Government regulation that strictly restricts the market access of imported medical devices or products manufactured in China by FIEs, the industry is concerned that a general atmosphere is created, favouring the purchasing of “national” medical devices. As a result of this policy, some regional government agencies directly restrict purchasing of “non-national” medical devices. |
|  | 15.12.2014 | China notified to the WTO (reference G/TBT/N/CHN/1064) a new draft regulation on the labelling of Cosmetic products, by which the current practice of overstickering would be banned, among other things. Initially, the text was meant to be applicable on July 1, 2015. However, in view of comments by foreign stakeholders, CFDA decided to postpone the entry into force of the regulation on labelling until the new Cosmetics basic Regulation (CSAR) is adopted by the State Council. During the June 2015 WTO TBT Committee, China informed the Committee that the use of stickers would be allowed, as long as all the information on the original packaging is translated into Chinese. |
|  | 31.12.2014 | The Ministry of Commerce issued a catalogue of commodities subject to export license administration in 2015. |
|  | 31.12.2014 | The Chinese State Council adopted the Implementation Rules of the Government Procurement Law (order no.658) which focuses on curbing corruption and strengthening the rule of law. However, the overlying Government Procurement Law (GPL) still requires government agencies preference for local Chinese products. |
|  | 01.2015 | The new draft foreign investment law (draft 'FIL') was published. There is no specific time table for the final release of the new Law with national security review taken up in the draft Foreign Investment Law. The draft FIL includes further potential discrimination, tightening of national security review screening, prior approval requirement for investment above a certain threshold and excessive reporting requirements. |
|  | 1.01.2015 | China's 2015 Tariff Implementation Plan came into effect  According to this Plan, the most-favoured nation rates of duty are set as follows: a provisional tariff rate must be imposed on some imported commodities, a specific duty or compound duty shall continue to be imposed on photographic materials, and 45 other commodities and HN RLD LED (HS 37024321) shall be subject to ad valorem taxation at the rate of 10%, tariff quota management shall continue to be implemented over commodities under 47 tariff items of 8 categories, customs inspection and management shall continue to be carried out on information and technological products under 10 tariff items. Import tariffs for natural rubber were also raised. |
|  | 1.02.2015      [1.01.2016] | An import consumption tax is levied on batteries (with the exception of lead-acid batteries) and coating materials at the applicable tax rate of 4%.  As of 1 January 2016, Import consumption tax shall also be levied on lead-acid batteries at the applicable tax rate of 4%. |
|  | 24.04.2015 | The new Food Safety Law adopted is a key milestone in food safety management. It also establishes a severe system of administrative, civil and penal penalties with the objective to be dissuasive. Whilst rules may appear adequate on paper, in practice they are often not fully enforced. Special attention will have to be paid to the implementation rules, which are being drafted. Additionally, the infant formula legal requirements have been tightened. |
|  | 03.2015 | The State Council announced that, retroactive to January 1st, the central government has assumed full responsibility (100%) for paying export tax rebates to companies. |
|  | 03.2015 | Foreign Investment Catalogue:  Since its first promulgation in 1995, the Foreign Investment Catalogue was reviewed 6 times. The last proposal for revision was issued in March 2015. The restricted areas largely remain similar to the previous versions with a number of new restrictions which are introduced. |
|  | 1.05.2015 | To "compensate" for the removal of the rare earth export tariffs, China applies a resource tax, applicable as a fixed rate applied on a price basis. |
|  | 8.05.2015 | The blueprint of an ambitious strategy known as "Made in China 2025" was released via a notice of the State Council. The strategy seeks to comprehensively upgrade Chinese industry with clear principles, goals, tools, and sector focus. It intends to include preferential policies, rely on domestic technology and raise domestic content of core components and materials. |
|  | 9.06.2015 | MOF, General Administration of Customs, and State Administration of Taxation published policies on import taxation in the Pilot Free Trade Zones in Guangdong, Tianjin, and Fujian. Import and consumption taxes are required for products produced, processed, and sold to the Chinese mainland in the Custom Special Monitoring Area of the Free Trade Zones. |
|  | 12.06.2015 | The NDRC issued a draft "Regulation on the Administration of Investment Projects Subject to Government Verification and Approval and Investment Projects Subject to Government Record-filing" which prescribes which investments have to be subject to verification and approval in the future. |
|  | 07.2015 | China released a draft cybersecurity law that seeks to beef up Beijing’s ability to guard against cyber-threats and protect data on Chinese users, while also tightening controls over the Internet. |
|  | 1.07.2015 | The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress passed a new National Security Law enabling the government to take "all necessary" steps to protect China's security and sovereignty. |
|  | 1.07.2015 | The State Council released "Guiding Opinions on Actively Promoting the “Internet+” Action". It aims to closely integrate the internet with the real economy by promoting the combination of Internet, Cloud, "Big Data", and "Internet of Things" with modern manufacturing. The government will provide financial support and tax preferences to key projects related to the Internet Plus plan and encourage local governments to follow suit. |
|  | 9.10.2015 | China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) issued the Draft Regulation on the Supervision of Insurance Institutions. While the law aims to reinforce network and information security in the insurance sector, it could potentially create serious market access barriers for foreign companies. |
|  | 30.11.2015 | The proposed draft of the Foreign NGO Management Law (Second Draft) (the “Foreign NGO Draft Law”) requires foreign NGOs to find an official government 'sponsor' which must approve their activities for 2016 by 30 November 2015. |
|  | 1.12.2015 | CFDA issued on November 6, 2015 a draft reform plan for chemical drug registration categories. CFDA's plans for drug registration defines a "new drug" as a chemical entity that is "new to the world" (as opposed to "new to China"), creating the risk that drugs approved or marketed first outside of China may receive slower regulatory consideration. The plan entered into force on 1 December 2015. |
|  | 19.10.2015 | The State Council released the “Opinions on the adoption of a negative list approach for regulating market access”, which mapped out plans to draft and implement a series of “negative lists” for market access. The State Council will draft negative lists of industries and sectors from which investments are prohibited or restricted. Moreover, there will be two kinds of lists: the “Negative list of general market access” and the “Negative list of market access for foreign investments”. |
|  | 27.12.2015 | The National People Congress Standing Committee passed the counter-terrorism law, which could have a significant negative impact on business, notably on information technology companies. |
| Ecuador | 28.12.2014 | Resolution 049/2014: prorogues the quantitative restriction for imports of cars, thus causing a reduction by 52% of imported cars. |
|  | 20.12.2014 | The Organic Law for Incentives to Production and prevention of Fiscal Fraud modified the base for the Special Tax Consumption which includes the ex-custom value, increasing it by 25%-30%. This results in discrimination, particularly for imported goods such as alcohol beverages, cars or ceramics. |
|  | 14.07.2014 | Presidential Decree 400: a mechanism used to fix the price of medicines based on a median, provoking a fall of prices of imported medicines. |
|  | 15.01.2015 | Presidential Decree 522: once a patented drug has expired, it should be registered and commercialized obligatorily as generics, thus the generic name should appear over the name of the producer. |
|  | 11.03.2015 | Balance of Payment safeguard: universal and general safeguard applied to 32% of imported products or 2.962 tariff lines in ranges between 5%-45%. The measure is currently being reviewed by the WTO. |
|  | 05.2015 | Resolution 051-2015F enforces a compulsory retention of 95% of premiums for insurance companies. This could curtail the re-insurance market in Ecuador. |
|  | 06.2015 | Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation Bill (Código Orgánico de la Economía Social del Conocimiento y la Innovación - “COESC”). Approval of the Code is planned for the 1st semester 2016. |
|  | 06.2015 | The government applied the devolution of a percentage between 2% and 5% of taxes to exporters of non-traditional products to avoid that these goods lose competitiveness in the international markets. The objective is to give liquidity to that sector and to avoid waiting for the payment of importers. This measure has been extended through out 2016. |
| Egypt | 10.2014 | The Egyptian Customs authorities issued price list directives for several car manufacturers. As a result, they began to refuse the transaction value indicated in the commercial invoices for cars of these manufacturers and instead apply the German retail prices as a baseline for their tariff calculation for these cars. This increases the export costs for the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). |
|  | 11.10.2014, 1.09.2015 and 3.10. 2015 | On 11 October 2014, Egypt's Minister of Trade approved Decree No. 776 allowing rice exports under the condition that the traders sell the government one tonne of medium-grain rice at 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($279.72) for every tonne of rice they export. Exporters would also have to pay a tariff of $280 per tonnes exported.  On 1 September 2015, exports of rice previously permitted and subject to licensing by the ministerial decree No. 776, were banned.  On 3 October 2015, Egypt's Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Qabil issued a decision allowing the export of milled rice but imposing export fees of LE 2,000 per ton of rice. |
|  | 17.01.2015 | Law 5/2015 was adopted regarding national preferences for Egyptian products in government contracts. It expanded the scope of application of national preferences to all supply and project agreements and extended it to public companies and companies in which the state has a ruling share. It requires a minimum of 40% local content, unless such products are not available or the price of competing imported product is at least 15% lower. the executive regulations of the new Egyptian procurement law 5/2015 were promulgated by Ministerial Decree No. 656/2015 on 13 September 2015. Following adoption of these executive regulations, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a decree on 18 October 2015 forming a committee in charge of preference for locally manufactured products. |
|  | 12.07.2015 | Egypt's president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a significant change in the law regulating the security services and money transit business in Egypt. The law in its revised format aggressively impacts the business of international security companies as it sets strict requirements for obtaining a license from the Minister of Interior in order to carry out their business; the most important one is that only Egyptian nationals and fully Egyptian-owned and managed companies may obtain the license and engage in the security services and money transit business. |
|  | 09.2015 | the trade ministry has formulated tax and other incentives to support local car manufacturers. |
| India | 11.07.2014 | On 11 July 2014, the export duty on both Bauxite (natural) calcined and not calcined was raised to 20%. |
|  | 07.2014 | Customs Notification No 11/2014 removed four groups of ICT products (e.g. LTE equipment and different switches) claimed not to be falling under the Information Technology Agreement from duty exemption, resulting in a re-introduction of a 10% basic customs duty. |
|  | 21.08.2014 and 30.04.2015 | Import duty on sugar increased from 15% to 25%. |
|  | 4.12.2014 | India passed an Order including 5 products to the Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Second Order 2012 (requiring mandatory compliance with national standards and certification by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Furthermore, in two more Orders proposed in 2015, 16 products and 3 products would be added (Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order 2015 and Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Second Order 2015). |
|  | 12.2014 | Draft National Offset Policy (NOP), which suggests that foreign companies selling goods worth over Rs 300 crore (ca EUR 4.3 million) to government or  [Public Sector Undertakings](http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/PSUs)  (essentially Indian term for SOEs), would have to source part of their supplies from domestic manufacturers. The foreseen minimum value of the offsets obligation would be 30% of the estimated cost of the import, meaning the company will have to procure this percentage from local players. |
|  | 1.04.2015 | The New Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) was unveiled, aiming to increase exports of goods and services as well as generate employment and increase value addition in the country, in keeping with the “Make in India” vision of Prime Minister Modi. |
|  | 1.04.2015 | In line with the License amendment dated 31.05.2011, the security certification of telecom equipment within India was extended for security related concerns for expansion of Telecom Services in various zones of the country (ILD/NLD Licence amendments dated 31.05.2011). By notification of 31 July 2015, the requirement of security certification of telecom equipment has been extended further by twelve months from 1st April 2015 to 1st April 2016. |
|  | 30.04.2015 | Through Customs notification 28/2015, India increased the basic customs duty on natural rubber to 25%. The specific duty remains unchanged. |
|  | 05.2015 | Import duty on commercial vehicles was increased from 10% to 40% through Finance Act 2015. |
|  | 7.08.2015 | Through Customs notification 51/2015 of 19.10.2015, India increased the Basic Customs Duty on wheat from 10% (as imposed on 7 August 2015) to 25%. |
|  | 12.08.2015 | Through Customs notification 45/2015, customs duty was imposed on iron and steel and articles of iron or steel ranging from 5% to 12.5%, depending on the product. |
|  | 2014-2015 | Continuous delays in replying to applications (made before 2014) for exports licences concerning 15 plant, plant products, animals and animal products. |
|  | 14.09.2015 | Through Notification 21, India restricted import of apples through a single port located in Mumbai. |
|  | 17.09.2015 | On 17 September 2015, India took the decision to raise by 5% import duties on crude edible oil (from 7.5% to 12.5%) and on refined edible oil from 15% to 20%. While this is within the binding rates, this is dictated by protectionist intents in a bid to safeguard the domestic industry. |
|  | 2015 | Through the Finance Act 2015, Schedule Basic Duty on Bituminous Coal was increased to 10%. However, the effective rate is at 2.5%. |
|  | 10.2015  (adopted 02.2016) | IRDAI’s (Registration and Operations of Branch offices of Foreign Reinsurers other than Lloyd’s) submitted Draft Regulation 28(9) (adopted in February 2016), which introduces new market access barriers for foreign reinsurance companies by granting the domestic state-sponsored reinsurer a right of preference – foreign companies are allowed only in case of first refusal by domestic companies. |
|  | 5.10.2015 | Through Customs Notification 49/2015, an import duty of 40% was imposed on ghee, butter and butter-oil up until 31 March 2016. |
| Indonesia | 26.08.2014 | Law 20/2014 on standardisation and conformity assessment provides the legal basis to issue mandatory national standards (SNIs). |
|  | 17.10.2014 with implementation period of 2-5 years | Law 33/2014 on Halal Product Guarantee makes halal certification mandatory for almost all products traded within Indonesia (with progressive implementation). Although no implementing regulations have been issued so far, the Law touches a wide scope of products. Furthermore, the Law will possibly also affect industries that are not explicitly enlisted by the Law. The Law shall be implemented between 2016 and 2019. |
|  | 14.01.2015 | Ministry of Manpower Regulations 12/2015, 13/2015, and 14/2015 restrict the use of foreign labour in certain industries. |
|  | 17.02.2015 | Ministry of Agriculture Reg. 4/2015 restricts the imports of plant based products. The Regulation is expected to have a significant impact for imports of plant-based products, given the requirements of a country recognition agreement and/or registration and inspection by Indonesia of testing laboratories in the export originating countries. Effective implementing date is as of 17 February 2016. |
|  | 4.03.2015 | The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources issued Regulation No. 8 of 2015 to amend Ministerial Regulation No 1 of 2014 on Increasing the Value-Added to Minerals through Domestic Processing and Purification. According to the regulation, the Amendment aims to improve the efficiency of mandatory domestic minerals processing/purification, as required under Law No 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining. |
|  | 31.03.2015 | Bank of Indonesia Reg. 17/PBI/3//2015 obliges individuals and corporations to use Rupiah in cash and non-cash transactions inside Indonesia and requires all price quotations to be in Rupiah. Effective implementing date is as of 1 July 2015. |
|  | 9.06.2015 | Ministry of Finance Reg. 107/2015 includes the products excluded from the luxury tax into the list of products subject to a 10% import income tax. |
|  | 25.06.2015 | Ministry of Trade Reg. No.45/M-DAG/PER/6/2015 on the import of tyres. The Regulation introduced rules to be applied to the imports of all tyre categories on top of the existing SNI (mandatory Indonesian National Standard) import procedure, such as the LS/VO (Laporan Survey/Verification Order). The LS/VO requires a surveyor institution entrusted by SNI to check all the tyres prior to be uploaded into the container in the country of origin and issue the LS document. The consequences of this request will affect imports’ timing and costs. The Regulation also restricted the entry of imports into designated sea ports and contained provisions on quota import limitation by which every importer should propose its import quota to the Ministry of Industry (New Director-General Industri Kimia, Tekstil dan Aneka) twice a year. The Regulation has, however, been revoked by the Regulation No. 78/M-DAG/PER/6/2015, dated September 28, 2015. |
|  | 07.2015  (entry into force expected 01.2017) | Ministerial Decree for Local Content Requirements for Telecommunications Technology (4G) imposed onerous local content requirements on a wide range of technology devices and products. |
|  | 3.07.2015  (effective 1.01. 2016) | Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 48/M-DAG/PER/7/2015 on General Provision of Import stipulates that importers must acquire import licenses to import restricted goods before the goods enter the customs area. Failure to comply is punishable by the suspension of the Importer Identification Numbers (Angka Pengenal Importir/API). The Regulation, however, does not elaborate details on the implementation and sanctions. |
|  | 9.07.2015  (effective 23.07.2015) | Ministry of Finance Regulation No. 132/PMK.010/2015, on the Third Amendment to Stipulation on Classification of Imported Goods and Imposition of Import Duty Tariffs, aims to increase import duty tariffs of more than 60 product categories. The Regulation covers customs duty increases on more than 1,000 products, mostly finished and consumer products, in some cases with duty increases of 300-600%. |
|  | 14.07.2015 | Ministry of Finance Regulation No. 136/PMK.010/2015, amending Reg. 75/2012 on CPO (Crude Palm Oil) and CPO derivatives export taxes introduces a fixed levy of 50 USD on CPO products and a USD $30 per metric ton levy on exports of processed palm oil products if the CPO price falls below 750 per metric tonne. |
|  | 14.09.2015 | Head of BPOM Reg. 12/2015 on the Oversight of Food and Drug Imports into Indonesian Territory, features a “Priority SKI”, extending the validity of SKI, the Import Certificate, to 6 months. SKI is transactional and must be obtained for every import activity. It applies to food, beverages, drugs and cosmetics. To obtain SKI, a Certificate of Analysis is needed. For cosmetic products, it includes the obligation to do the heavy metal testing, amounting to IDR 5 billion for each test each time companies apply for SKI, for every SKU (stock-keeping unit). European cosmetic companies have thousands of SKUs in their product inventory of types and variants. |
|  | 28.09.2015  (effective 1.01.2016) | Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 70/M-DAG/PER/9/2015 on Importer Identification Numbers (API) categories, i.e. API-P or Producer API for a company that imports goods to be internally used as capital goods, raw material, additional material and/or supporting material in the production process, and API-U or General API for a company that imports certain goods for trade purposes. Each type of importer can possess only one type of API, and which can only be owned by the company’s headquarter. |
|  | 28.09.2015  (effective 1.10.2015) | Ministry of Trade Regulation 73/2015 on the Requirement to Affix Label, requiring companies that produce or import goods to be traded in the Indonesian market to put Bahasa Indonesia label on their products. Nevertheless, the regulation relaxes requirements to affix label in Bahasa Indonesia, e.g. removing SPKLBI (Certificate to Use Label in Bahasa Indonesia) obligation as a pre-clearance import document. It revokes the previous Reg. No. 67/2013 and its revision No. 10/2014, on the same subject. |
|  | 1.10.2015  (effective 20.10.2015) | Ministry of Transport Reg. PM 146/2015; second amendment to the Regulations No. 78/2015 and No. 74/2015 on Freight Forwarding Services, enacting BKPM as the sole licensing authority. It states sanction procedures for foreign and joint venture companies, as opposed to local Governor in PM 74/2015 which exempted local freight forwarders from high minimum capital requirement – subject to recommendation from local association (ALFI). Regulation PM 74/2015 (of 16.04.2015) on Freight Forwarding Services significantly raised the minimum capital requirements for foreign or joint venture companies (not applied to domestic companies) and restricted the area where foreign freight forwarders can operate to a limited number of airports and seaports. |
|  | 15.10.2015 | Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 87/M-DAG/PER/10/2015 (effective from 01.01.2016 until 31.12.2018) on Import Provisions of Certain Products stipulates that only companies with a API-U (General Importer Identity’s Number) license can import certain products, i.e. food and beverages, traditional medicine and health supplement, cosmetic and household health supply, garments and textile products, footwear, electronic and toys. Only traders or API-U holders are allowed to import these finished products to be traded, while producers (API-P holder) are prohibited to import finished goods to be traded. It takes months to re-arrange related Import License and Permit.    Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 86/M-DAG/PER/10/2015 (adopted 15 October 2015, effective as of 20.10.2015) provides similar requirements relating to Batik Textiles and Batik Textiles Products. |
|  | 23.10.2015 | Ministry of Manpower Reg. 35/2015 on Employing Foreign Workers – revising Reg. 16/2015 – states that temporary Employment Plan (RPTKA) and Work Permit (IMTA) for foreign workers are required for audits, movie production, machinery installation, electrical, after-sales service, or products under business exploration stage. Domestic Capital Investment Company (PMDN) cannot employ a foreign worker as a Commissioner. The obligation for foreign workers to speak Bahasa Indonesia remains unregulated. |
|  | 4.11.2015  (effective 1.01.2016) | Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 97/M-DAG/PER/11/2015 on Import Provision of Forestry Products stipulates that importation of forestry products may only be conducted by holders of API-U or API-P, who have received an Import Approval from the Ministry of Trade. In order to acquire the Import Approval, each company must first acquire a Recommendation Letter from both Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Forestry. However, no further clarification is provided on the readiness of online systems to acquire the Recommendation Letter, and companies are facing difficulties as the system is not ready to process applications. Coordination between the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Forestry is lacking. |
|  | 10.11.2015 | The Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) issued on November 3, 2015, the Reg. No. 14 /POJK.05/2015 on Self Retention and Support to Domestic Reinsurance Industry, granting preference to domestic reinsurance companies. |
|  | 2014-2015 | Quantitative restrictions that were temporarily imposed until March 2014 on alcohol have been maintained throughout 2015. Discriminatory taxation rates are also applied (July 2015 legislation). |
|  | 2015 | Draft Law on prohibition of production, sales, purchasing and distribution of alcohol has been re-submitted before the Parliament for adoption. |
|  | In the process of internal discussions in the Parliament. Expected adoption in 2016. | The Parliament has been working on a Draft Law on Tobacco and has produced a matrix of proposed drafts law, which counts the restrictions of tobacco used in the production process (80% domestic and 20% imported). It plans for a much higher price and excise duty for imported tobacco and tobacco products (at least three times higher than the price and excise duty for products using domestic tobacco), and a limitation of foreign investment in the country's tobacco industry to only 45% of ownership. |
| Japan | Listing decision taken on 26.2014. Initial public offerings on 4.11.2015 | JAPAN POST REFORM/LISTING OF JAPAN POST HOLDINGS: initiation of public offerings for the holding company and its 2 subsidiaries (JP Insurance and JP Bank). Japan Post Holdings continues to enjoy favourable regulatory treatment even after its privatisation and listing. The EMS (International Express Mail Service) provided by the Japan Post will also continue to enjoy advantages over other operators on customs clearance procedures, security rules, quarantine and postal vehicle parking regulations. |
|  | 21.05.2015 | PARTNERSHIP FOR QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE: As a response to AIIB, JBIC will fund public-private partnership infrastructure projects in Asia. |
|  | 30.06.2015 | JAPAN REVITALIZATION STRATEGY III: promotes overseas development of Japanese companies and exports of infrastructure systems. |
| Malaysia | 23.09.2014      26.01.2015        26.01.2015      1.07.2015          9.10.2015 | Items subject to import licensing requirements:  Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Amendment (No. 3) Order 2014, expanding the list of goods for certain tariff lines subject to licensing  Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Amendment Order 2015, which includes a new item (waste, paring and scrap of plastics) subject to licensing  Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Amendment (No. 2) Order 2015, which includes a new item (non-rechargeable primary batteries) subject to licensing  Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Amendment (No. 4) Order 2015, changing the description of some items of electronic equipment, notably telecoms related equipment, subject to licensing  Customs (Prohibition of Imports) (Amendment) (No. 7) Order 2015, which bans the import of certain goods containing mercury and requires licences to import certain liquid filled electrical heating goods |
|  | 26.01.2015      26.01.2015      9.10.2015 | Items subject to export licensing requirements:  Customs Amendment Order 2015 (Prohibition of Exports) which changed the requirements to export certain rubber products in terms of licensing  Customs No 2. Amendment Order 2015 (Prohibition of Exports) which changed the certifying Ministry for certain products  Customs (Prohibition of Exports) (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 2015, which added various products containing mercury to the list of prohibited exports |
|  | 2014- 2015            26.12.2014 | Price Control and Anti-Profiteering (Determination of Maximum Price) Measures:  Price Control and Anti-Profiteering (Determination of Maximum Price) Measures which establish maximum prices at the producer, whole and retail level for a number of products, including specifically imported products. Orders 2014 (No. 4 and No. 5) published on 18 July 2014 and 17 October. Orders 2015 (No. 3 and No. 5) published on 13 February, 21 May and 6 July 2015.  The Price Control and Anti Profiteering (Mechanism To Determine Unreasonably High Profit) (Net Profit Margin) Regulations 2014 (Regulations 2014) specify periods for the determination of unreasonably high profits from 2015 - 2016. During these periods there must be no increment in the net profit margin of any goods or services. |
|  | 11.07.2014        22.12.2014      13.02.2015 | Control of supplies related measures:  Control of Supplies Act (No. 3) Order 2014. It includes a number of items for the period from 14 July 2014 to 9 June 2015, including specifically raw imported fruits.  Control of Supplies Act (No. 6) Order 2014. It includes a number of articles for the period from 23 December 2014 to 27 December 2014, including certain imported meat products.  Control of Supplies Act Order 2015. It includes a number of articles under the Control of Supplies Act for the period from 14 February 2015 to 25 February 2015, including imported round cabbage. |
| Mexico | 27.08.2014 | Measures to protect the footwear industry from unfair competition stemming from China:  (1) postponing the 25-30% MFN tariff cuts scheduled for January 2015 on footwear until February 2019;  (2) re-establishment of a number of non-tariff barriers previously eliminated. |
|  |  |  |
|  | 4.12.2014 | New import measures in the textile and clothing sector to support local industry. |
|  | 10.12.2014 | Increased import duties on all 5 tariff lines related to rice. |
|  | 3.07.2015 | Temporary restriction, as of 3 July 2015, of exports of live equidae from the EU, due to a high number of certification problems encountered with exports from several Member States. |
|  | 9.07.2015 | Measures to protect the steel industry from under-valued (and triangulated) imports of steel from China, including mainly:  (1) temporary 15% MFN tariff on 97 tariff lines;  (2) addition to the list of imported products subject to prior licensing procedures of 25 tariff lines belonging to HS chapters 72 and 73. |
|  | 12.2015 | Mid-December 2015 it was decided that as of 1 January 2016, Mexican tax authorities will enforce sanctions vis-à-vis airline carriers failing to transmit Passenger Name Record (PNR) data to Mexico, despite a prior commitment not to do so pending the conclusion of a PNR agreement with the EU. |
| Nigeria | 4.12.2014 and 18.08.2015 | Circulars TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010 and TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/012 from the Central Bank of Nigeria authorising only Nigerian printing companies to print cheques books to be used in Nigeria. |
|  | 24.12.2014 | Regulations on National Content Development for the Power Sector 2014 issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission – Requiring entities active in the power sector to give first consideration to qualified Nigerian companies for the supply of goods, works and services and in the award of contracts. |
|  | 31.03.2015 | Circular No 013/2015 from the Comptroller-General of Customs - launching the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET), replacing all previously applied levies on imported products with the so-called Import Adjustment Tax (IAT), and including an updated import prohibition list. |
|  | 1.07.2015 | Circular TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/012 from the Central Bank of Nigeria - listing 41 items the import of which has become ineligible for foreign exchange from the Nigerian interbank market and the Bureau de Change market. |
| Pakistan | 30.03.2015 | SRO 254(I) 2015 introduces a 25% regulatory duty on imports of wheat and its products. |
|  | 30.04.2015 | SRO 393(I) 2015 introduces a 7% duty on imports of furnace oil. |
|  | 2015 | Pakistan is in the process of establishing an EXIM Bank. It is anticipated that it will start functioning in the second semester of 2016. It will announce specific packages for promoting exports and imports with subsidised trade financing. |
| Philippines | 2014 proposed | Two bills have been proposed (House Bills 4728 and 5058) in Congress and in the Senate, prohibiting any unprocessed minerals or mineral ores for export, foreseeing severe sanctions and imposing new licenses for transportation. Explicit language includes a 'complete ban on the export of unprocessed mineral ores to encourage the growth and develop the capability of mineral processing industry in the country' and 'requiring all extracted minerals be processed within the country before export'. |
| Russia | 7.08.2014 | Import ban on agricultural and dairy products and on meat originating from the EU (Decree No.560 of 6 August 2014 and Resolution No.778 of 7 August 2014). |
|  | 06.2014- 06.2015        27.06.2014      30.07.2014      10.09.2014      1.10.2014, 21.04.2015      21.10.2014        30.11.2014                30.12.2014              20.02.2015                  5.04.2015      4.06.2015 | Since June 2014, Russia adopted a number of restrictive SPS measures in addition to the broad political ban on agricultural products of 7 August 2014: |
|  |  | 1. Embargo on beef trimmings (FS-EN 7/11169 of 26 June 2014, amended by FS-EN 7/11255 of 27 June 2014). |
|  |  | 2. Ban on fruits and vegetables imports from Poland (FS-AC-3/13867 of 30 July 2014). |
|  |  | 3. Ban on import of third country plant products if they are re-exported from Poland (10 September 2014, not officially notified, reported by Russian services/press). |
|  |  | 4. Ban on imports of raw hides and skins between 1 October 2014 and 1 April 2015, renewed from 25 May 2015 to 25 November 2015 (Resolution N 378 of 21 April 2015). |
|  |  | 5. Ban on imports of a number of animal products as of 21 October 2014, (offal and animal fat, not covered by the 7 August 2014 ban). This was extended on 25 November 2014 to by-products and fat used for food purposes (Resolution No. FC-EN-8/20219 of 20 October 2014). |
|  |  | 6. Prohibition of transit through Russia of banned animal products unless entering from a limited list of specified border posts (entry via Belarus excluded) (Resolution No. 778 of 7 August 2014; Decree 560 of 6 August 2014 amended by Decree No. 320 of 24 June 2015; Decrees of Rosselkhoznadzor No. FS-NV- 7/22888 of 21 November 2014, No. FS-AS-3/22924 of 21 Nov. 2014, No. FSAS- 7/24997 of 17 December 2014 setting checkpoints which should be used for import of goods. |
|  |  | 7. Temporary restrictions on poultry meat and all kinds of poultry products that have not undergone heat treatment (at least 70 ° C), on feed and feed additives for poultry (except feed additives chemical and microbiological synthesis) and on used equipment for the maintenance, slaughtering and butchering of birds, originating from the whole territory of Italy. |
|  |  | 8. Ban of Polish cheese-like products made by Ostrawia producers. In the modification of the political embargo that took place in June 2015, products under CN code 1901 90 990 0 were added to the banned list, i.e. food stuffs and finished products manufactured on the basis of the cheese production technologies and containing 1.5 % or more of milk fat and foods (milk containing products on the basis of vegetable fats). Therefore, also cheese-like products are covered by the “7 August 2014 ban”. |
|  |  | 9. Ban on the re-export of plant products with regard to Bulgaria. |
|  |  | 10. Ban on imports of canned fish from Latvia and Estonia. |
|  | 14.07.2014-2.12.2015    14.07. 2014        11.08.2014        1.09.2014      31.01.2015        5.02.2015      29.06.2015/11. 2015                    2.12.2015 | Russia adopted a series of sectorial measures restricting access to public procurement for the following sectors/products:  1.Imported vehicles – Gov. Decree N 656 of 14.07.2014 'On establishing a ban on access of some type of engineering products from foreign countries to public procurement'.  2.Certain types of textile/footwear – Gov. Decree N791 of 11.08.2014 'On establishing a ban on access of light industry goods from foreign countries to public procurement' (entry into force on 1 September 2014)  3.Light industry imports – Gov. Decree N 791 of 01.09.2014 'On establishing a ban on access of light industry goods from foreign countries to public procurement' – Relates to textiles and footwear.  4.Machinery and equipment – Gov. Decree N 84 of 31. 01.2015 'Amendments to the Gov. Decree N656 of 14 07.2014 - Relates to transport vehicles (entry into force on 11 February 2015).  5.Medical devices – Gov. Decree N102 of 05.02.2015 'On limiting access of some kinds of medical devices from foreign countries to public procurement'.  6.Software - Russia has adopted law No 188 FZ on 29 June 2015 on software and the procurement activities of government bodies (entry into force on 1 January 2016), establishing criteria to distinguish local companies from foreign companies. Moreover, in November 2015, PM Medvedev has signed a decree obliging to buy only software listed in the special registry of domestic software for public procurement purposes. Purchases of foreign software are permitted only when there is no similar domestic software. The decree took effect on 1 January 2016.  7.Pharmaceuticals: on 2 December 2015, PM Medvedev signed a decree restricting public procurement purchases of imported pharmaceuticals included in the list of crucially important pharmaceuticals. |
|  | 09.2014 (legal basis adopted only on 20.12.2014) | The Russian government has put in place since September 2014 a subsidy scheme for the car sector presented as a scrap premium programme (extended for 2015). This measure relies on Decree 1433 of 20 December 2014 setting Rules for providing subsidies from the Federal budget to Russian producers of wheeled vehicles for the compensation of a part of the costs related to production. This is in the framework of the sub-programme "Automobile industry" of the governmental programme "Development of industry and increase of its competitiveness" (amended by Decree N° 244 of 18 March 2015). Eligibility for this subsidy scheme is conditioned on the respect of local content requirements. |
|  | 14.10.2014 | Russia adopted a law limiting the share of foreign ownership in Russian mass media outlets to 20% and aiming to remove control over editorial policy from commercial ownership (law N305-FZ). The law came into force as of 1 January 2016. Current media owners will have until 1 February 2017 to bring their holdings into compliance. |
|  | 30.07.2014 | Regulation 728 of 30 July 2014 amends Regulation N1432 of 27 December 2012 which provides subsidies to the producers and consumers of farm equipment and agricultural machinery, to which the Russian manufacturer of grain harvesters (Combine Plant Rostselmash) has preferential access. In particular, it increases the subsidies for manufacturers (from 15% of the selling price to 25% and even 30% if the agricultural producers are established in Crimea). |
|  | 1.02.2015 | Russia imposed an export duty of 15% on wheat plus €7.5 or at least €35 per ton. |
|  | 16.04.2015 | Resolution of the Russian government N° 364 of 16 April 2015 sets up a program of preferential car loans for purchasing domestically produced cars. This new state programme, limited to locally produced cars, entered into force on 1 April 2015 to last at least until the end of 2015. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will compensate the interest rate cost (9.33% or 2/3 of the Central Bank rate) of such car loans. |
|  | 23.06.2015 | Russia may lay down additional rules concerning the procurement by Russian State-owned enterprises in order to formalize the policy of giving preference to Russian goods. On 23 June 2015, the Government proposed to amend the legislation on State-owned enterprises (Law N223-FZ of 18 July 2011) and introduced additional supervision powers for government agencies over the purchases by State-owned companies, giving it more possibilities to direct their procurement practices. This leads to restrictions of foreign companies' access to such procurement, often in accordance with multiannual plans of import substitution implemented at company level pending further legislative action. Based on this proposal ("On the purchases of goods, works, services by certain categories of legal persons"), a law on procurement by SOEs is in preparation (draft law n° 821534-6, first reading in the Duma on 15 September 2015, no further legislative developments). |
|  | 03.09.2015 (entry into force 7.03.2016) | A new Government Resolution of 3 September 2015 extended to cement the list of products requiring certification to be put on the market. Cement certification rules are detailed in a new GOST standard ("gosudarstvennyy standart") adopted on 11 January 2016 and applicable as of 1 February 2016. Compared to locally produced cement, imported cement from third countries (EEU countries excluded) are subject to additional controls/tests (of each shipment imported) to verify compliance with the GOST standard. |
|  | No date of entry into force yet. Federal Consultations with Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) took place in 07.2015 | Russia has prepared a pilot project for allowing parallel imports (i.e. shifting from the regional exhaustion principle of trademarks to the international exhaustion principle) in the sectors including medicines, medical devices and car parts. |
| Saudi Arabia | 08.2015 | The Saudi government has announced its plan to introduce value-added taxes (VAT), in particular on luxury goods, tobacco, energy drinks and similar products, which will have an immediate impact on trade. |
| South Africa | 22.08.2014  06.02.2015  25.09.2015  04.12.2015 | Increase in the general MFN rate of duty:  -on wire of iron or non-alloy steel, plated or clad with other base metals from free to 10% (22/08/2014).  -on certain wire products from 5% to 15% and on certain helical springs from 5% to 30% (06/02/2015)  -on certain steel products from free to 10%. (25/09/15)  -on certain large bore steel pipes from 10% to 15%. (04/12/2015) |
|  | 22.08.2014 | Increase in the general MFN rate of duty:  -on vitrifiable enamels and similar preparations from free to 5% |
|  | 03.10.2014  10.10.2014 | Increase in the general MFN rate of duty:  -on paper and paperboard to 5% and 10%. (03/10/2014)  -on certain paper products of paperboard coated, impregnated or covered with plastic or metal foil from free to 5% (10/10/2014) |
|  | 03.10.2014 and 10.03.2015 | Increase in the general MFN rate of duty:  -on preserved mussels from 5.5 c/kg to 25% on 03/10/2014. And on 10/03/2015 increased duties on mussels to match duties implemented on 2012 on fresh and smoked mussels |
|  | 10.04.2015 | Increase in the general MFN rate of duty:  -on lead acid batteries used for starting piston engines from 5% to 15% |
|  | 12.09.2014 and 30.01.2015 | Amended export Control Guidelines on the exportation of Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Waste and Scrap and review of the discount rates in the PPS for ferrous and non/ferrous waste and scrap. The discount rate (below international spot prices) at which the scrap must first be offered on the domestic market is increased from 20% to 30% for steel scrap metal and 20% to 25% for aluminium scrap metal. |
|  | 24.10.2014, 15.11.2015, and 07.2015 | B-BBEE Amendment Act in effect from 24 October 2014 and its amended Codes of Good Practice from 1 May 2015. The changes are aimed at guaranteeing stricter compliance, placing more emphasis on direct debt-free black ownership, as well as broadening its sphere of influence. This significantly affects not only the ability to successfully tender for Government and public entity tenders, but also to secure private contracts, for example, for firms whose customers require a minimum B-BBEE status from suppliers.    Also as part of the B-BBEE framework, some sectors have their own “transformation charters” or Sector Codes intended to accelerate empowerment within these areas. Sector Charter Councils were given until 15 November 2015 to amend the Sector Codes, otherwise they would revert back to the general generic codes.    The Draft Amendment to the Preferential Procurement Regulation was forwarded for comments by the Treasury on several points. |
|  | 28.11.2014 and 13.08.2015 | Compulsory specifications for energy efficiency and the labelling of electrical and electronic apparatus under the terms of the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act (NRCS) 2008, which will be rolled out in three phases. These compulsory specifications are burdensome and costly. Phases 2 and 3 were extended in August 2015 by a period of six months. |
|  | 01.2015 (has not made it into Parliament; still being re-discussed at service level) | The Amended Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2013 includes many controversial provisions, not least of which is a provision which allows mining companies to be compelled by the government to sell minerals at an “agreed price” for local beneficiation. Parliament approved the MPRDA Bill on 12 March 2014, but on January 2015, President Zuma sent back the Amended Bill to Parliament, among other reasons, on the basis that it contravenes international trade legislation particularly on the matter of quantitative restrictions on exports. |
|  | 09.11.2015 | Introduction of a revised Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill in Parliament on July 2015. On 9 November 2015 the Bill, now called the "Protection of Investment Bill", was approved by the National Assembly. It has been sent to the National Council of Provinces where it will be processed before being sent to the president for his final approval.  The Investment Bill has generated intense controversy, particularly with regards to the standard of protection of foreign investments in South Africa and the uncertainty it creates for long term investments. Among others controversial elements, the Bill lacks a standard "fair and equitable treatment" clause, capable of covering situations of indirect expropriation, and only foreseeing state-to-state arbitration. It also includes a wide-ranging list of provisions ensuring the widest discretion in respect of the State's right to regulate. |
| South Korea | 24.10.2014 | On October 24, 2014, The Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) opened a call for tender for the construction and lease of six LNG carriers destined to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG). This call for tender de facto excluded the participation of foreign companies. In addition, certain technical specifications included in the tender revealed Kogas's clear intention to favor and ensure the emergence of a Korean technology, which was deemed to be in contradiction with the principles set forth in the EU-Korea FTA and the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement of 1994. |
|  | 30.06.2015 | The Public Procurement Service (PPS) published a call for tender open to non-Korean companies on June 23, 2015 in order to carry out a procurement procedure for the purchase of a multipurpose helicopter on behalf of the National Police Agency. However, the PPS cancelled the awarded international tender only a few days later on June 30, 2015. |
|  | 2015 (adopted 4.02.2016) | In 2015, the government of South Korea prepared a reform of Legal services containing several conditions that may delay the creation of joint ventures and dissuade foreign law firms from establishing joint ventures in South Korea, including by requiring that foreign firms may form joint ventures only with South Korean entities in existence for three years. The reform was passed by the National Assembly as amendments to the Foreign Legal Consultant Act on 4 February 2016. |
|  | 2015 | The Customs Service of South Korea had proposed to eliminate on-site customs inspections through a common terminal for express carriers. While the proposed terminal, which will be fully operational by the 3Q of 2016, was initially intended to consolidate customs inspections of shipments by express operators who did not have a permanent facility at Incheon Airport, this was extended, in 2014, to cover all express operators. However, it now appears that the Customs Service does no longer intend to provide this one-stop service to express operators who have already invested in permanent facilities at Incheon Airport. |
| Switzerland | 1.07.2015 | On 1 July 2015, the Swiss government submitted a proposal on the revision of the Posted Workers Act to the Swiss Parliament. The government proposed to increase the upper limit of administrative penalties for infringement of the minimal wage and work conditions (from 5 000 to 30 000 Swiss francs). The Swiss Parliament will discuss the government's proposal during the first half of 2016. |
|  | 12.2015 | In the framework of the debate on the 2016 budget, the Parliament approved export subsidies for processed agricultural products in the amount of 94.6 million Swiss francs. |
|  | 18.12.2015 | On 18 December 2015, both Chambers of Parliament adopted the revised law on custom tariffs, moving uncooked seasoned meat (CN code 1602.5099) from chapter 16 to chapter 2 of the customs tariff. This means an increase of the quota tariff from CHF 638 to CHF 2000 per 100kg. |
| Taiwan | 4.12.2014 | The Ministry of Finance announced the tightening of the commodity tax benefit scheme for hybrid vehicles. Most of the imported hybrid vehicles, in particular those from the EU, no longer qualify for tax benefits, putting EU car makers in a disadvantaged position. |
|  | 20.10.2015 | Starting 20 October 2015, the Agriculture and Food Agency (AoA) prohibited organic olive oil exported from EU MS from being sold as 'organic' in the market based on a very restrictive interpretation of the "Organic Agricultural Products and Organic Agricultural Processed Products Certification Management Regulation" (in force since 26 July 2007 but AoA has stepped up its testing in 2015), making it virtually impossible to enter the market. |
|  | 29.10.2015 | The National Treasury Administration of the Ministry of Finance banned around 200 bottles of European wine from being imported into Taiwan due to higher than allowed methanol content. The threshold for methanol (2000mg per liter ethanol), set by Taiwan's Hygiene Standard of Alcohol Products is not in compliance with the relevant international standard set by the OIV. While the standard itself is not new (the Act on Hygiene Standard of Alcohol Products has been in force since 19 April 2000), NTA has not tested European wine for methanol previously and the inconsistency has not been identified earlier. This inconsistency with the international standards results in a trade barrier (in addition to damaging the brand image of European wines). |
| Thailand | Late 2014 | Proposal for the Foreign Business Act amendment: An attempt to impose further restrictions on foreign participation in business sectors was made. Given strong concern from foreign investors regarding the potential impact on foreign investment (one of the main concerns reported over the reporting period), the proposal was finally withdrawn (and therefore not counted in the current report). |
|  | 1.01.2015 | A new investment strategy covering a seven year period (2015 – 2021) entered into effect as from 1 January 2015. The strategy is developed with the objective to move away from the geographical investment zone-based approval criteria to a new concept based on prioritized industry clusters/sectors, activities and merits e.g. investment in R&D, technological development/transfer, product/packaging design, contribution to local suppliers' development, etc. The strategy also includes certain subsidies closely linked to exports. |
|  | 26.03.2015 | New Sports Act imposing an additional 2% excise tax to be paid to the Ministry of Finance by exporters, importers and producers on alcohol and tobacco in order to support the sports agenda. The tax builds upon existing tax system imposing a higher excise tax rate on imports of spirits and thus increasing the level of discrimination on certain spirits (imported vodka, gin versus local white spirits). |
|  | 22.04.2015 | Thailand (Office of Alcohol Beverages Control Committee) submitted an additional TBT notification on "Alcoholic Beverage Control", regarding rules, procedures and conditions for labelling alcoholic beverages (G/TBT/N/THA/437/Add.1). The measure mandates a more stringent set of criteria for alcoholic beverage labelling and raises concerns regarding administrative complexity in the label approval process and lack of clarity in scope. It entered into force on 22 April 2015 (with a transitional period of 6 months for compliance with the new labelling requirements until 18 October 2015). While the adopted new alcoholic beverage labelling requirement does not yet include a graphic health warning requirement, such a graphic health warning labelling proposal is still being discussed despite a number of concerns previously raised by trading partners. |
|  | N/A [expected date of adoption unknown] | A policy to transform Thailand into a "digital economy" was set up with a number of legal proposals to implement the policy. Some of these legal proposals raise concern regarding the independence of the regulator and the protection of personal data, as they would grant broad authority to the government, including the power to control the regulator and acquire digital information from both public and private entities. This could raise questions on compatibility with Thailand's GATS commitments on the separation of regulatory activities and operators. |
|  | N/A [expected date of adoption Unknown]. | The Draft Milk Code: While the objective of the law is to promote breast feeding, the draft law also imposes stringent restrictions on milk product's marketing that could be considered to go beyond international standards. The draft Milk Code was approved by the Cabinet on 1 December 2015 with some reservations from the Ministry of Commerce on the alignment with international standards and consumer's access to information and sent to the Council of State. The draft will be subject to the National Legislative Assembly's consideration before being passed to a law (unknown date). |
|  | N/A [Expected effective date: 03.2016] | Excise tax reform: Moving excise tax base from ex-factory or CIF prices to "suggested retail prices" (higher tax base) There are concerns about the transparency of application of this measure. Moreover certain statutory rates (ceilings) are proposed to increase, giving further room to potential discrimination. |
| Tunisia | Late 2014 | Tightening of “tax privilege quotas” on the import of cars, with “in-quota” imports benefiting from reduced consumption taxes, while imports of "out of quota" cars (although theoretically legal) are de facto impossible, as cars importers would have to pay the full consumption tax making the cars prohibitively expensive. Since late 2014, the Ministry of trade, which manages the granting of such “tax privilege quotas”, has moreover put pressure on importers of cars to postpone their orders, delay payments, and overall reduce the value of cars imported. |
|  | Early 2015 | Tightening of informal restrictions on imports of certain types of tyres, including a de facto prohibition to import some types of tyres which are produced by the local manufacturer, and for some other types of tyres, the obligation to purchase 30% of the importer's requirements locally in order to get approval to import the remaining 70%. In addition, imported tyres were subjected to consumption taxes, whereas locally produced ones appeared not to be. Following demarches from the EU and Japan, the Tunisian Minister of industry announced that all restrictions would be removed by the end of 2015. The finance law for 2016, adopted by Parliament in December 2015, abolished all consumption taxes on tyres, thus eliminating any potential discrimination between locally produced and imported tyres. As of early 2016, operators however still have to confirm whether, following the announcement the Tunisian Minister of industry, all remaining restrictions to the import of tyres have effectively been removed as planned. |
| Turkey | 2.08.2014    18.02.2015    20.06.2015 | Governmental Decisions (Cabinet Decrees) impose additional customs duties:  \* Cabinet Decree No. 2014/669 imposing additional customs duties on imports of footwear  \* Cabinet Decree No. 2015/7252 imposing additional customs duty on imports of carpets, rugs and similar products  \* Cabinet Decree No. 2015/7722 imposing additional customs duty on imports of travel goods, handbags and similar containers |
|  | 6.02.2015 | Governmental Decisions (Cabinet Decrees) impose additional customs duties:  \* Cabinet Decree No.2015/7241 imposing additional customs duty on imports of 129 different items such as screwdrivers, shovels, mattocks, axes, hand sows, and pliers |
|  | 23.05.2015  7.06.2015 | Governmental Decisions (Cabinet Decrees) impose additional customs duties:  \* Cabinet Decree No. 2015/7699 imposing additional customs duty on imports of some furniture and their parts  \* Cabinet Decree No. 2015/7712 and No.2015/7713 imposing additional customs duty on imports of certain lamps and home appliances |
|  | 18.10.2014  5.07.2015 | Governmental Decisions (Cabinet Decrees) impose additional customs duties:  \* Cabinet Decree No.2014/6884 imposing additional customs duty on imports of forged bars or rods of iron or non-alloy steel and duty increase on certain steel products  \* Cabinet Decree No. 2015/7749 imposing additional customs duty on imports of certain steel and iron products (bars and rods, wires, nails etc.) |
|  | 24.10.2014 | Through a circular that entered into force on 24 October 2014, exporters of enzymes or food containing enzymes were asked to provide the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock a certificate confirming that the organism from which the enzymes are obtained is not genetically modified. The practice blocked the imports until a clarification was provided by the Biosafety Board. Subsequently, the requirement for enzymes was removed as from 5 May 2015 through another circular by the Ministry. However, the requirement still remains for the products that contain live organisms such as yeasts. |
|  | 08.2015 | Local content requirements were imposed in the tender specifications for the 4.5G mobile tender that was concluded in August 2015 |
|  | 12.2015 | The Communiqué on the Implementation of the Industry Cooperation Programme (ICP) in the Field of Healthcare Services was promulgated in the Official Gazette on 20 December 2015. The ICP programme specifies several obligations for the contractor such as local content requirements. |
|  | 5 and 16.03.2015, 14 and 27.08.2015 and 19.11.2015 | Several modifications to a 2012 decree on the investment incentives package:  - extended the field of application of the incentives in the sector of chemicals and chemical substances from 21 provinces to 41 more provinces (excluding Istanbul) and including refined petroleum products as a sector to benefit from regional state supports (again excluding Istanbul).  - extended interest rate support for strategic investments and sectors that could benefit from incentives and reduced certain minimum investment thresholds.- extended the scope of strategic investments (projects with a fixed investment of more than 3 billion TL will also be considered strategic investments).    - included manufacturing of turbines and generators for the generation of renewable energy and wings for the generation of wind energy among the priority investment areas. |
|  | 14.08.2015 | The government adopted the 23rd amendment to the decree 94/6401 on state aid related to exports. Accordingly, programmes which aim at improving the foreign trade balance can also benefit from state aid along with R&D programmes, whereas a clear definition of "programmes improving foreign trade balance" was not provided. |
| Ukraine | adopted on 10.07.2015 and entered into force in 11.2015 | The President of Ukraine signed a wood export ban via the Law on "State rules on activities of economic entities related to the distribution and exports of wood" on 9th July 2015, which entered into force on 10th July. This Act provides: (i) a moratorium (a ban) on the exports of raw round wood (excluding pine wood) for 10 years as of 1st November 2015; (ii) a moratorium (a ban) on the exports of pine raw round wood for 10 years, being applied from 1st January 2017 and (iii) the obligation to obtain certificates of origin by Ukrainian exporters of round wood (except for the ones covered by the aforementioned moratorium) and sawn timber issued by the relevant forest districts in order to be exported outside of Ukraine (Art. I point. 3 - taking effect three months after publication). |
|  | 1.03.2015, (removed on 31.12.2015) | An import surcharge of 5-10% (5% for all goods, except 10% for agricultural products and 0% for a limited number of products such as pharmaceuticals) was adopted as a "balance of payments measure" (GATT article XVIII). It was subsequently discussed in the balance of payment committee of the WTO, where no consensus was reached. It was temporary and came to an end on 31 December 2015. |
|  | 2015 | The legislation of Ukraine, in accordance with the obligations of Ukraine under the protocol of accession in WTO, establishes an export duty rate for ferrous scrap in the amount of 10 Euro/ton. In addition, a law on ferrous scrap envisages mandatory registration of contracts for export of ferrous scrap. A draft law (bill 2031a) proposes to increase the export duty for ferrous scrap to 30 Euro/ton for 3 years, which would be incompatible both with Ukraine WTO's commitment and the DCFTA which has come into force on 1st January. It was put on the agenda for the first time on 16 June 2015 and several times since then, but has not been discussed so far. |
| United States of America | 2.09.2014 | Protectionist application of existing regulations: on 2 December 2013, an EU airline, Norwegian Air International (NAI), applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for a Foreign Air Carrier Permit and an Exemption Authority that would allow it to commence air services between points in the EU and points in the US.  NAI’s application for the permanent Foreign Air Carrier Permit remains pending at DOT, despite DOT's obligation to grant applications with “minimal procedural delay” stated in the EU-US air transport (so-called “open skies”) agreement. On 2 September 2014 the DOT issued an Order dismissing on procedural grounds the application by NAI for Exemption Authority (i.e. temporary permission). |
|  | Measure introduced in 01.2015 [unkown future date of adoption] | Texas - In January 2015, a draft bill ( [HB 1007](http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/84R/billtext/pdf/HB01007I.pdf) ) was introduced, which would establish exceptionally strict domestic content requirements (60% of components by cost must be American and final assembly must occur in America) for any state procurement contract related to construction projects. |
|  | Measure introduced in 02.2015 [unkown future date of adoption] | Maine - In February 2015, the draft Buy American legislation ( [LD 407](http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP0273&item=1&snum=127) ) was introduced. The bill would require state agencies to purchase goods that are U.S. manufactured for all state contracts. The definition of “made in America” has yet to be established and would be created upon its passage. |
|  | Measure introduced on 6.03.2015 [unkown future date of adoption] | The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (80 FR 12092, pp. 12092-12094) to modify its regulations governing hiring preference provisions in DOT funded contracts. |
|  | Measure introduced in 05.2015 [unkown future date of adoption] | In May, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2016, which includes a provision increasing the simplified acquisition threshold from its current level of $150,000 to $500,000. |
|  | 4.12.2015 | On December 4, 2015 President Obama signed into a law a five-year, US $305 billion spending act named "Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act" (FAST Act). The new law gradually increases domestic content rules for procurement of rolling stock for the Federal Transit Administration from the current 60% to 70% by 2020. |
| Vietnam | 1.08.2014 | New draft Decree on Information Technology Services that would limit foreign suppliers of IT services by the following requirements: (i) IT service providers serving State bodies must be Vietnamese organisations; (ii) IT service providers serving State bodies must store the data in servers located in Vietnam; and (iii) certificates and licenses are imposed on the delivery of cross-border IT services. |
|  | 23.03.2015 | The Ministry of Finance issued a Circular numbered 36/2015/TT-BTC dated 23 March 2015 adding some gold products to the list of the products subject to export duties. Under this legislation, gold products with HS codes 71131910, 71131990, 71141900, and 71159010 are subject to export tariff of 2%. The previous duty was 0%. (It is, however, expected that this issue will be solved in the course of the implementation of the FTA with Vietnam for which negotiations were concluded in December 2015.) |

:   [(1)](#footnoteref1)
     Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the USA and Vietnam.
:   [(2)](#footnoteref2)
     These reports have been issued regularly since 2008. The last (11th) "Protectionism Report" was published on 17 November 2014 (see: 
    <http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2014/november/tradoc_152872.pdf>
    ).
:   [(3)](#footnoteref3)
     Since the beginning of the financial and economic crisis, G20 leaders regularly renewed their commitment not to impose new barriers to investment or trade in goods and services, including new export restrictions and measures to stimulate exports, as well as to roll back any new protectionist measure that may have arisen. This pledge has been extended until the end of 2016 at the 2013 G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, and also reconfirmed at the latest G20 Summits in Brisbane and Antalya in 2014 and 2015. The last (14th) WTO trade monitoring report on G20 trade measures dates 30 October 2015 (
    <https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news15_e/g20_wto_report_oct15_e.pdf>
    ).
:   [(4)](#footnoteref4)
    <http://www.cpb.nl/en/number/cpb-world-trade-monitor-november-2015>
     See: .
:   [(5)](#footnoteref5)
    <https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres15_e/pr752_e.htm>
     .
:   [(6)](#footnoteref6)
     See footnote 1.
:   [(7)](#footnoteref7)
     Note that the list of new Relevant Measures does not include trade defence or safeguard measures and only includes sanitary-phytosanitary (SPS) measures that appear obviously protectionist.
:   [(8)](#footnoteref8)
     Some of the Relevant Measures may relate to new economic activities while others may be of diminishing economic importance while still being in force (e.g., where they apply to obsolete products). In addition, the figures are not weighted to reflect the economic impact of the measures introduced or withdrawn or any changes or differences in legislative practice that could affect the figures (such as the replacement of several separate tariff regulations with a single regulation covering multiple tariffs, or vice versa).
:   [(9)](#footnoteref9)
     It should be noted that the Commission may not have a comprehensive overview of all new Relevant Measures, as they are often adopted in a non-transparent way.
:   [(10)](#footnoteref10)
     An additional 5 such measures were identified to have expired.
:   [(11)](#footnoteref11)
     The latter draft measure and announcements are calculated as only 1 Relevant Measure in Table 4 and not listed in Table 7. For a more detailed description, see: "
    [overview of potentially trade-restrictive measures December 2015](http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/154568.htm)
    ".
:   [(12)](#footnoteref12)
     These US measures were not counted in the analysis of protectionist tendencies (nor mentioned in Table 7) because they are (extensions of) measures mentioned and counted in previous Protectionism Reports. More details can be found on the Commission's website at "
    [overview of potentially trade-restrictive measures December 2015](http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/154568.htm)
    ".
:   [(13)](#footnoteref13)
     It should, however, be underlined that - as for the Relevant Measures (see Section III.A.) - the number of such trade facilitating measures does not necessarily reflect their individual importance.
:   [(14)](#footnoteref14)
     The measure was already counted in the last Protectionism Report and therefore not included in Section IV below. For a description, see "
    [overview of potentially trade-restrictive measures December 2015](http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/154568.htm)
    ".
:   [(15)](#footnoteref15)
     Idem footnote 14.
:   [(16)](#footnoteref16)
     Contrary to the WTO trade monitoring reports on G20 trade measures, which do include TDI measures.
:   [(17)](#footnoteref17)
     See footnote 2.
:   [(18)](#footnoteref18)
     The two largest palm oil producing countries, accountable for about 2/3 of palm oil products imports into the EU, amounting to more than 4 billion €.
:   [(19)](#footnoteref19)
     See footnote 1.

[Top](#document1)