Non-tariff Barriers to Trade in Southern Africa – Towards a Measurement Approach

The document proposes a study to expand upon a pilot analysis of South Africa-Zimbabwe trade by examining South Africa-Botswana trade. It argues for a broadened definition of non-tariff barriers to include "trade policy barriers" such as exchange controls and environmental levies. The research intends to move beyond individual company impacts to analyze how NTBs affect entire supply chains, utilizing a methodology of desktop analysis, interviews, and first-hand observations at selected border posts.

• A pilot study of trade between South Africa and Zimbabwe via the Beit Bridge border post demonstrated the difficulty of quantifying the economic cost of non-tariff barriers (NTBs), leading researchers to instead catalogue NTBs for four major product groups.
• The project advocates for expanding the definition of NTBs to include "trade policy barriers," which encompasses regulatory obstacles such as exchange controls, carbon taxes, environmental levies, road user charges, and variances in axle loads between countries.
• The proposed research will focus on the South Africa-Botswana trade corridor to analyze how NTBs affect the supply chains of South African corporations, noting that many of these companies currently lack a comprehensive understanding of supply-chain management and do not cost their supply chains.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2007). Non-tariff Barriers to Trade in Southern Africa – Towards a Measurement Approach. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/dttp_pap_ntb_reference_20070827_01.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Non-tariff Barriers to Trade in Southern Africa – Towards a Measurement Approach. 2007. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/dttp_pap_ntb_reference_20070827_01.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Non-tariff Barriers to Trade in Southern Africa – Towards a Measurement Approach |date=8 September 2007 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/dttp_pap_ntb_reference_20070827_01.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2007nontariff, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Non-tariff Barriers to Trade in Southern Africa – Towards a Measurement Approach}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2007}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/dttp_pap_ntb_reference_20070827_01.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }