The majority of respondents regard Saudi Arabia as imposing the largest number of constraints on cross-border road transport. Respondents from Yemen, in particular, ranked Saudi Arabia as the country imposing the largest number of constraints on exports shipped or in transit through the Saudi territories by road. Similarly, Lebanese exporters reportedly confront the most obstacles when shipping to or transiting Syria by road. Bureaucracy, red tape, blocked roads and excessive technical requirements at the border are listed as the major obstacles. Egyptian firms report that Jordan imposes stringent customs procedures, road closures and excessive technical requirements for shipments transiting by road. Firms from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen all judge that the UAE has restrictive visa issuance procedures and imposes high visa fees for entry of professional drivers, in addition to restrictive health requirements on certain agricultural products.

Traders were also asked to rank PAFTA countries by the severity of the overall obstacles to their export and import activities. Six countries emerge as the most problematical: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Tunisia and Morocco. The 2001 survey found Syria to be regarded as the most problematical country, followed by Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is ranked first in the list of the most problematic PAFTA countries. The majority of respondents from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen cited many reasons, most of which repeat those mentioned earlier, namely inspection and customs procedures for crossborder shipments by road. Many of the complaints relate to the harsh treatment of consignments during inspection by Saudi customs, which often require the shipment to be unloaded for inspection then reloaded, raising the cost for shippers or forwarding agents, as well as frequent changes in required paperwork without prior notification. Yemeni traders are the most affected by Saudi customs and inspection measures, as shipments from Yemen must be reloaded on Saudi transport vehicles when entering Saudi territories. Difficulties in obtaining visit visas for transport drivers as well as businessmen also figure in the complaints.<sup>7</sup> Egypt is ranked the second most problematic PAFTA country. The majority of respondents from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia cited bureaucratic red tape, delays and additional payments associated with inspection and customs clearance procedures as the most important constraints, followed by unclear testing criteria for product standards, technical requirements and conformity assessment, which are perceived to be a means for protection of local industries. Jordan is ranked the third most problematic country. The majority of respondents from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco, UAE and Yemen list complicated documentation for customs procedures, delays due to lack of automated customs clearance at certain points of entry and additional fees and charges on transit transport (diesel charges) by road, as the most problematic measures they face.

Syria is ranked fourth in terms of trade barriers, with firms mentioning red tape and informal payments during inspection and customs clearance, payment of additional fees and charges (diesel charges), charges for transit of convoys of trucks accompanied by guards and policemen, and technical requirements and standards which do not conform to the international norms. Finally, Tunisia and Morocco are ranked fifth and sixth in terms of trade costs, with the majority of respondents reporting stringent inspection and customs clearance

> 7  Note this survey result is in contrast with the ranking on trading across borders in the World Bank’s report Doing Business in the Arab World 2009, which rank the UAE and then Saudi Arabia as the easiest country to do trade with in the Middle East.

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