Obstacles to world trade

There are various types of obstacles to the development of world trade: (a) Obstacles in the conduct of negotiations, such as visa formalities, lack of information about decision-making procedures, complexity of the system, contacts with officials, contacts with and decision-making power of end-users, and slowness in conducting business. (b) Concerning business representation and servicing facilities, the main obstacles are lack of information, difficulties of an administrative character, utilization of local firms, servicing, and marketing. (c) The obstacles relating to standards and technical regulations are lack of information, difference in national standards, testing and certification procedures, and inspection of goods on production sites. (d) Concerning licensing procedures and related practices, obstacles vary according to whether exports are westbound or eastbound. Those relating to westbound exports are special requirements for granting permission for imports from eastern countries, absence of information about allocation of quotas, delays in publication of quotas, late delivery of licences, sub-division of quotas by periods, and sub-division of quotas between importing firms. Those relating to eastbound exports are lack of information about import possibilities, difficulties in obtaining information on available foreign exchange, and time-limits. (e) Obstacles related to priorities in imports are: preferences for domestic producers, preferences for specific countries, and compensatory transactions. (f) Related to duties, customs procedures and related practices are import duties (particularities of clearance procedures), facilities of a technical character, valuation, classification, and specific problems. (g) Obstacles induced by problems related to payment are impact of bilateral systems of payment, advance-deposit requirements, letters of credit, delay in transfer of payment, and other financial problems. (h) Other obstacles include packaging and labelling regulations, including mark-of-origin rules, transport facilities, and legal matters.