Countries No. 12. Insights on rice, poultry and sugar imports into Côte d'Ivoire
In Côte d'Ivoire import surges were related mainly to the process of trade reforms and domestic market liberalization. Annual import data reveal that import surges have been relatively frequent for poultry and rice but less so for sugar.
The implementation of market access provisions under the UEMOA trade agreement was a catalyst for the rise in imports, more so than the multilateral commitments under WTO. The civil strife in 2002 had a disruptive effect on domestic production and stimulated the surge of imports to meet local market needs. The advent of the political crisis, and data limitation on import volume and prices complicated the identification of the surges and their relative causes. Structural constraints exist that impede the development of agricultural output in the rice, poultry and sugar sectors. Stakeholders' survey indicates that the main difficulties include low productivity, poor infrastructure, and limited access to technology. These can all be linked to surges in imports. The effectiveness of Côte d'Ivoire trade policy measures to contain disruptive import surges was weakened by inappropriate reference prices and the incidence of fraud and informal cross-border trade. The findings of the study suggest that additional efforts should be devoted to strengthen the trade surveillance mechanism within the UEMOA.
