NTM and HS Mapping Expert

Background:

NTMs are defined as policy measures other than ordinary customs tariffs, that can have an economic effect on the prices and/or quantities of goods traded internationally. While tariffs have been lowered progressively over the past 30 years, non-tariff measures (NTMs) have been proliferating and empirical evidence suggests that they are restricting trade more than tariffs.

For practical purposes NTMs are classified depending on their scope and/or design and are broadly distinguished in: (i) technical measures (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS), Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Pre-shipment Inspections) ; (ii) non-technical measures, which are further distinguished in hard measures (e.g. price and quantity control measures), threat measures (e.g. antidumping and safeguards), and other measures such as trade-related finance and investment measures); and (iii) export-related measures. In practice, NTMs are measures that have the potential to substantially distort international trade, whether their trade effects are protectionist or not.

Under its "Support project to increase regulatory transparency on Non-Tariff Measures in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)" , UNCTAD assists African States in mapping and publicizing NTMs. To support this effort, an individual contractor is needed to conduct a comprehensive mapping of the NTMs from four beneficiary countries. The mapping will consist in the identification and classification of NTMs them in accordance with the 2019 International classification of Non-Tariff Measures (UNCTAD/DITC/TAB/2019/5). It will be conducted through the review of national sets of trade related regulations be provided by UNCTAD and collected by National NTM focal points.

Beneficiary countries whose national trade related regulations will be considered include: Nigeria, Ghana, South Sudan, Uganda, Lesotho.

The individual contractor will prepare:

• A comprehensive NTM mapping for the 4 above listed countries, covering all measures falling under chapters A to P of the International Classification of Non-Tariff Measures (excluding chapter O), and including key information, such as exact source, document, regulation, measure description, day of entry into force, and NTM coding according to the latest international classification of NTMs 2019 version.

The mapping will be based on national sets of regulations provided by UNCTAD.
The procedure and outputs of data collection must closely follow the latest update of the Guidelines to Collect Data on Official Non-Tariff Measures (2021 Version), available at: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditctab2020d5_en.pdf
The latest international classification of NTMs (2019 version) can be found at https://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=2516

In addition to the above listed tasks, the individual contractor will support the comprehensive revision of 2 existing NTM datasets. For each dataset he/she will perform the following actions: A) Review NTM and HS codes and make the appropriates changes; B) Review recoded regulations and code additional measures as needed; C) Record and code new regulations; D) Ensure the that lead regulations and supporting regulations are correctly recorded; F)
Country datasets to be revised include: Rwanda, Namibia.