natural gas, which are duty-free. The simple average applied tariff including preferences varies between 0.495% for Georgia and 4.564% for Moldova.

The Trade Tariff Restrictive Index (TTRI) and the Overall Trade Restrictiveness Index (OTRI) also provide valuable information on trade protection. The first index measures the equivalent uniform tariff of a country’s tariff schedule that would keep domestic import levels constant, and is calculating using applied tariffs including preferences. The second index is the same as the TTRI but also takes into account NTMs.<sup>4</sup> Table 2 presents the value and ranking corresponding to the indicators, which are calculated as simple averages of the values observed in the 2006-2009 period. The TTRI varies between 2.05% for Kazakhstan and 8.81% for Belarus. According to this measure, the region presents intermediate to high levels of protection as countries’ rankings vary between the 39<sup>th</sup> and 93<sup>rd</sup> positions, out of 125 countries. The higher values of OTRIs compared to TTRIs indicate that NTMs are also economically important trade barriers for a number of imported products. In particular, the uniform tariff ranges from 5.1% for Moldova to 18.99% for Russia. If we compare the TTRI and the OTRI rankings, we observe that Moldova and Belarus have better positions in the latter, showing that NTMs are less restrictive. In contrast, the rest of the economies are located in lower positions of the ranking.

Table 2. Trade Tariff Restrictiveness Index and Overall Trade Restrictiveness Index

||TTRI||OTR|I|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Country|Value|Rank|Value|Rank|
|Moldova|2.6|41|5.1|11|
|Kazakhstan|2.05|39|12.42|65|
|Belarus|8.81|93|16.88|73|
|Ukraine|4.2|56|18.8|80|
|Russian Federation|5.51|73|18.99|82|
|Azerbaijan|5.3|71||.|
|Kyrgyz Republic|3.5|50|.|.|
|Note: "." : no data.|||||

Source: World Trade Indicators (2012). Note: Number of countries ranked: 125 (TTRI) and 102 (OTRI).

The last two indicators provide information on the security of a country’s legal commitments to its current trade policy. The share of bound tariff lines measures the share of lines in a country’s tariff schedule subject to WTO negotiation agreements. The bound rate is the highest rate of duty allowed to be levied on a product under the GATT/WTO agreement. Thus, the bound is a legal commitment above which a country promises not to raise the MFN applied tariff. The other indicator is the, which measures the difference between the average bound rates and the average MFN applied rates at the 6-digit Harmonized System tariff line level in a country’s customs schedule. It is equivalent to subtracting the average of all MFN applied rates from the average of all bound rates for each country. Table 3 presents the indicators.

Countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine have bound 100% of their tariff lines at the WTO, and therefore they are located at 1<sup>st</sup> position in the ranking. In contrast, nations such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan do not bound any tariff lines as they are not WTO members. The total overhang ranges from 1.26 percentage points for Ukraine to 6.12 percentage points for Georgia. The countries’ rankings vary between the 36<sup>th</sup> and 52<sup>nd</sup> positions.

> 4 NTMs represent another type of trade policy barrier. NTMs are broadly distinguished in sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) measures, technical barriers to trade (TBTs), quantitative controls, pre-shipment inspections, and price controls. SPS measures and TBTs are the most common forms through which NTMs materialize.

5