Zarrouk, JamelHoekman, Bernard2012-03-192012-03-192009-08-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4223The Pan-Arab Free Trade Area, negotiated under auspices of the Arab League, came into force in 1997. Under the agreement all tariffs on goods of Arab origin were to be removed by January 1, 2005. This paper summarizes the results of a firm-level survey in nine countries regarding the implementation of the Pan-Arab Free Trade Area. A majority of respondent companies report that tariffs on intra-regional trade have largely been removed, and that there has been a marked improvement in customs clearance-related procedures. Costs associated with administrative red tape and weaknesses in transport-related infrastructure services are ranked as the most important constraints to intra-regional trade. This suggests that from a policy perspective, efforts to reduce real trade costs deserve priority, including transportation and logistics services. Periodic monitoring and assessment of trade incentives and performance would help governments to benchmark performance and identify priority areas for action, at both the national and the sub-regional levels.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO THE SEAAD VALOREMADMINISTRATIVE BURDENSADMINISTRATIVE COSTSADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURESAFFECTING IMPORTSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSAIRAIR FREIGHTAIR TRANSPORTARAB FREE TRADE AGREEMENTBARRIERS TO TRADEBILATERAL AGREEMENTSBILATERAL TRADEBILATERAL TRADE BARRIERSBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTCARGOCARRIERSCERTIFICATES OF ORIGINCERTIFICATION PROCEDURESCIFCOMMON MARKETCOMPETITIVENESS OF FIRMSCONSIGNMENTCONTAINERSCOUNTRY OF ORIGINCROSS-BORDER TRADECROSSINGCROSSINGSCUSTOMSCUSTOMS AUTHORITIESCUSTOMS CLEARANCECUSTOMS CLEARANCE PROCEDURESCUSTOMS DUTIESCUSTOMS FORMALITIESCUSTOMS OFFICIALSCUSTOMS PROCEDURESCUSTOMS UNIONCUSTOMS VALUATIONDIESELDOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTSDOMESTIC TAXESDRIVERSDUTY DRAWBACKDUTY DRAWBACK SCHEMESECONOMIC INTEGRATIONECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIES OF SCALEELIMINATION OF TARIFFSEXPORT PROCEDURESEXPORT-PROCESSING ZONESEXPORTERSEXPORTING COUNTRIESEXPORTSEXTERNAL TARIFFSEXTERNAL TRADEFACTORS OF PRODUCTIONFACTORY GATEFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AGREEMENTFREE TRADE AGREEMENTSFREE TRADE AREAFREE TRADE AREASFREE ZONEFREIGHTFREIGHT FORWARDERSFREIGHT FORWARDINGFREIGHT TRANSPORTFUELFUEL CHARGESGLOBAL COMPETITIVENESSGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL TRADEHANDLINGIMPORT COSTIMPORT DUTIESIMPORT LICENSEIMPORT PROCEDURESIMPORT PROCESSIMPORT RESTRICTIONSIMPORT VALUEIMPORTED GOODSINDIRECT TAXESINLAND TRANSPORTINSPECTIONINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL NORMSINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTRAREGIONAL TRADELIBERALIZATION OF TRADELOADINGLOGISTICS COSTSMANUFACTURINGMARITIME TRANSPORTNATIONAL AUTHORITIESNON-TARIFF BARRIERNON-TARIFF BARRIERSOIL IMPORTSPACKAGINGPOLICY RESEARCHPORT OF ENTRYPREPARATORY WORKPUBLIC SECTOR OWNERSHIPREGIONAL INTEGRATIONREGIONAL LEVELREGIONAL TRADEREGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTSREGIONAL TRADE INTEGRATIONREGULATORY REGIMESRESTRICTIVE RULES OF ORIGINROADROAD TRANSPORTROADSRULES OF ORIGINSAFETYSAFETY STANDARDSSHIPMENTSSHIPPERSSHIPPINGSHIPPING COSTSSOURCINGSPEEDSTARIFF CLASSIFICATIONTARIFF EQUIVALENTTARIFF EXEMPTIONSTARIFF POLICIESTARIFF PROTECTIONTARIFF RATETARIFF RATE QUOTASTARIFF SCHEDULETAXTECHNICAL BARRIERSTERMS OF TRADETRADE BARRIERSTRADE COSTSTRADE DATATRADE DIVERSIONTRADE DIVERSION COSTSTRADE EFFECTSTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FLOWSTRADE IMPEDIMENTSTRADE IN GOODSTRADE IN SERVICESTRADE INTEGRATIONTRADE LOGISTICSTRADE PERFORMANCETRADE POLICIESTRADE POLICYTRADE POLICY INSTRUMENTSTRADE TAXESTRADE TRANSACTIONTRANSITTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORT DOCUMENTSTRANSPORT EQUIPMENTTRANSPORT FACILITATIONTRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORT SERVICESTRANSPORTATIONTRANSSHIPMENTTRUCKSTRUEVALUE OF IMPORTSVALUE OF TRADEVEHICLEVEHICLESWORLD PRICESZERO TARIFFWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5031