Main policy areas
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Remarks
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Tariff quota administration
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- No TRQs for tropical fruits.
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Tariffs
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- Applied tariffs for tropical fruits in developed countries generally
range from 0 to 20 percent.; For developing countries bound tariffs
range from 35 to 100 percent, although applied tariffs are generally
much lower.
- Most countries have actual import tariffs below committed bound rates
for fresh fruit imports;
- Under the Uruguay Round, developed countries reduced agricultural
tariffs by an average of 37 percent for tropical fruits and nuts.
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Tariff escalation
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- Tariff escalation is a serious problem for processed tropical fruits.
The EU and Eastern Europe have the highest tariff escalation for fruit
juice, followed by North America and Southern Africa. Southern Africa
has the highest escalation for fruit preparations, followed by Eastern
Europe, North America and South Asia.
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Amber box
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Export subsidies
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Export credits
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- The notifications of 12 WTO Members make reference to export credit
financing or insurance agencies or programmes, the most notable being
the USDA s Market Access Program.
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State Trading Enterprises
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- Most STEs for tropical fruits are exporting operations; Several STEs
are operating in the United States, Australia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, UAE, South Africa, Philippines, China, Turkey and Iran.
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Export restrictions and prohibitions
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- Mostly to do with SPS measures, refer to Food Safety section.
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Food security
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- For tropical fruit, contribution to food security is not only derived
from income generated by the enterprise, but also the nutritional contribution
to the household diet.
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Food safety
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- The biggest hindrance to tropical fresh fruit trade is the lack of
harmonised technical standards and treatments for fruit exports. This
situation has been exacerbated with the phasing out of methyl bromide.
There is ongoing research on alternatives to methyl bromide, and harmonisation
is still a long way off;
- Codex Maximum Residue Level of pesticides restrictions include:
Avocado (mg/kg): Bromide Ion 75, Carbendazim 0.5, Chinomethionat
0.1, Metalaxyl 0.2, Prochloraz 5;
Mango (mg/kg): Carbendazim 2, Dithiocarbamates 2, Prochloraz 2,
Propiconazole 0.05, Triademefon 0.05, Triadimenol 0.05;
Papaya (mg/kg): Chinomethionat 5, Dithiocarbamates 5, Prochloraz
1;
Pineapples (mg/kg): Deltamethrin 0.01, Diazinon 0.1, Disulfoton
0.1, Ethoprophos 0.02, Fenamiphos 0.05, Heptachlor 0.01, Methidathion
0.05, Methomyl 0.2, Oxamyl 1, Triadimefon 2, Triadimenol 1;
- Technical clearance for imports can take many years to achieve due
to lengthy testing requirements and administrative backlogs. For example,
it took from 1991 to 2000 to obtain Australian clearance for imports
of Thai durian;
- Issues have been raised on equivalency of levels of protection of
developed and developing countries.
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Rural development
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- Contribution to the development of rural economy, infrastructure and
social services.
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