EU reports about progress in fight against protectionism

EU News 125/2014

Brussels, 20 March 2014
IP/14/287

In 2013, the EU made good progress towards removing some of the most trade-distortive barriers that hinder EU companies’ access to the markets of China, India, Japan, Mercosur (Brazil/Argentina), Russia and the US, whereas some deep-rooted protectionist barriers still persist in some countries. This is the result of the Trade and Investment Barriers Report (TIBR) that the European Commission will today present to the European Council. This fourth edition of the report describes progress made in 2013 on barriers identified in previous editions and analyses some of the most serious new measures put in place. The EU will continue to use its Market Access Strategy to address the obstacles and expand trade and investment opportunities for EU businesses.

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Several barriers outlined in the previous three editions of the TIBR persist, however, and continue to significantly hamper market access for EU firms. In addition, the EU's strategic partners have taken a number of new trade-restrictive measures. These are highlighted in this year’s report:

For example, in April 2013 the Japanese Forestry Agency introduced a “Wood Use Points Program” which results in discriminatory treatment of imported wood towards domestic wood species. So far, most approvals have been for Japanese wood species while most applications submitted for foreign species from EU Member States have been rejected.

Source and additional information:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-287_en.htm?locale=en

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