OBJECTIVES:
Within the scope of its trade policy responsibilities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is committed to identifying trade barriers that hinder Italian companies’ exports to non-EU markets, promoting their removal, in coordination with the European Commission, the national governments of the Member States, and companies.
TOOLS:
The Market Access Advisory Committee (MAAC) is an Advisory Committee that brings together representatives of the Member States and the Associations of major European Industries at the same table. Established on September 24, 1998, it currently meets once a month with the aim of pursuing a common strategy to remove trade barriers (both tariff and non-tariff ones) that hinder the export of European companies to third countries.
Within this context, tariff barriers (such as excess customs duties) and non-tariff barriers such as import licensing procedures, technical and sanitary barriers, discrimination in public procurement, and infringements of intellectual property rights are analysed.
In 2020, the online portal Access2Markets was created to support companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, wishing to export to non-EU markets. The portal, available in all EU official languages, provides useful information on third countries such as tariffs, domestic taxes, rules of origin, product requirements, customs procedures, trade flow statistics, and benefits resulting from trade agreements signed by the EU with these countries.
Within the Access2Markets portal, it is also possible to report to the European Commission, through two separate forms to complete, market access obstacles and infringements of trade commitments arising from EU trade agreements that occur in third countries.
CONTACTS:
Italian companies and businessmen that face any market access obstacle during their export activities into third countries may – directly or through their trade Associations – contact Office X of the DGUE of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, by sending an email to: dgue-10@esteri.it