General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
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HËSTKICTKD GENERAL AGREEMENT ON COM.II/4O(I) 17 November 1960 TARIFFS AND TRADE Limited Distribution Committee II «-. Expansion of Trade Original: French TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS TUNISIA Summary of Non-Tariff Measures Applied for the Protection of Agriculture or in Support of Incomes of Agricultural Producers, and Commodity Information, Submitted by the Government of Tunisia I0 NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL POLICY A„ General Objectives Agriculture holds a foremost position in the Tunisian economy, representing approximately 30 per cent of the gross national product. The agricultural population is estimated at about two-thirds of the total population. These two percentages emphasize the degree of undeivemployment and the low productivity prevailing in the agricultural sector. Despite the fact that it is under-developed, agriculture effects the entire Tunisian economy. If crops are plentiful; all other sectors, and in particular the industrial sector, are favourably affected. Talcing all these factors into account, the Tunisian Government has drawn up a ten-year plan of agricultural development, with the following objectives: (l) rehabilitation of unproductive land improvement of output diversification of crops development of processing industries promotion of exports, quantity-^ and quality-wise full employment of the agricultural population Based on present outlook, this plan is expeoted to yield an annual increase of 45 million dinars in the national income and of 300,000 in labour employed. Some of the results already achieved may be briefly mentioned: « in 1960 the Government contributed to the planting of 1 million fruit trees and 1 million olive trees I C0M.Il/40(i) Page 2 - the production of vegetable canneries has more than doubled in the last few years, increasing from 2,100 tons in 1956 to 3,100 tons in 1957, 5,100 tons in 1958 and 5,400 tons in 1959; - in the tomato canning industry, production increased from 700 tons in 1956 to 1,000 tons in 1957 and 3,100 tons in 1958 and in 1959. B» Special Measures The principal items of production in the sectors of agriculture and fishery are: 1 cereals (2) leguminous plants 3 vegetables fruit K olives and olive oil (5) wine-grapes and wines (6 7 citrus fruits 8 alfa dates (9 tobacco 10 livestock 11 products of the fishing trade 12 processing of agricultural products 13) (l) Cereals Cereal cultivation covers an area of over 2 million hectares, which represents about 54 per cent of total arable land. Production statistics for the last ten years are shown below: Year Hard wheat Soft wheat Barley in 1,000 tons in 1,000 tons in 1,000 tons 1950--51 280,0 180,0 200.0 1951-52 200.0 120.0 50.0 1952-53 467.2 420.0 340.0 1953-54 380,0 200.0 180.0 1954-55 435.0 189.3 170.0 1955-56 221 P 3 104,0 80.5 1956-57 332.0 145.2 156.0 1957-58 365,8 132.2 185.2 1958-59 414,3 124.3 281.7 1959-60 411.4 105.4 226.2 COM. 11/40 (i) Page 3 Cereals are an Important item of Tunisia's foreign trade. Statistics of cereal imports and exports for the last ten years are shown hereunder: Year Exports .airports Export surplus In million dinars in million dinars in million dinars 1950 8c5 8.-5 1951 3c0 0 = 6 2.4 1952 6c5 1.9 4„6 1953 11.6 0*4 11 2 1954 8,5 8*5 1955 4*7 1,6 3.1 1956 0«6 5U7 5;,1 1957 309 3o4 0o5 1958 6o3 0,9 5,4 1959 6.4 2,1 403 These figures illustrate the wide variations in output from year to year,due mainly to changing climatic conditions. In this respect, Tunisia has gone through some disastrous years (1956 for instance); for this reason and because of the fact that cereal consumption is inelastic, the Government was often compelled to import during years of poor crops. It should also be noted that the import figures shown in the above table for 1956 to 1959 inolude certain quantities of cereals imported from the United States under the IC„. plan, Cereal production in Tunisia is confronted with a number of problems, chief among them being undoubtedly its low y&sld-, In the case of hard wheat, for instance; the yield amounts to hardly 4 to 5 quintals per hectare, while in some countries yields of X quintals per hectare are easily reached or even exceeded. The best yields in Tunisia are obtained in the northern area, where they vary between 6 and 12 quintals for soft wheat and between 6 and 8 quintals for hard wheat? as against onlj'' 3 to 6 quintals for soft wheat and 0.5 to 3 quintals for hard wheat in the southern region. On the basis of such low yields, it is questionable whether some parts of Tunisia are really suitable for wheat cultivation. Under the trade and tariff Convention entered into between the Tunisian Republic and the French Republic on 5 September 1959, as amended by the additional Protocol of 22 Peptember 1960, exportable surpluses of Tunisian hard wheat, which vary between 1,300,000 and 1,500^000 quintals, are absorbed by France, where they are imported under temporary duty exemption and purchased on the basis of the French production price. This fact partly accounts for the preferences granted by Tunisia to certain French imports» C0M.Il/4O(i) Page 4 • (2) Leguminous crops The principal leguminous crops are: - green peas and chick peas, the production of which amounted to 2,800 tons in 1957, 1,800 tons in 1958 and 4,500 tons in 1959; - potatoes, with a fairly consistent yearly volume of 30,000 tons; - kidney beans, the rate of production of which dropped from 15,000 tons in 1957 to 18-000 tons in 1958 and to 12,000 tons in 1959; - lentils, the production of which fell from 1,200 tons in 1957 and 1958 to 700 tons in 1959» (3) Vegetable crops The main vegetable crops are: - artichokes: 8,000 tons in 1957., 6,000 tons in 1958 and 7,000 tons in 1959, of which about 95 per cent exported to France; - pimento.' 34,000 tons in 1957, 35,000 tons in J 958 and 34,000 tons in 1959; • - tomatoes: 35,000 tons in 1957, 55,000 tons in 1558 and 50,000 tons in 1959:. - melons and water-melons: 60;000 tons in 1957, 65,000 tons in 1958 and 110,000 tons in 1959; - other vegetable crops: 98,000 tons in 1957, 100,000 tons in 1958 and 135,000 tons in 1959. (4) froit Apart from citrus fruits, mentioned elsewhere, the production of other fruits (peaches, apricots, etc.) has increased from 75;700 tons in 195" to 82,900 tons in 1958 and 90,000 tons in 1959.. (5) Olives and olive oil This item ranks first among Tunisia;s agricultural products. At the present time the total number of olive trees exceeds 26 million, of which 20 million are in production, with the following geographical distribution: C0M.II/40(i) Page 5 - North 6,694,000 trees or 25.7 per cent <* Sahel and centre 11,042,000 trees or 42,4 per cent - South and far south 8,310,000 trees or 31,9 per cent 26,046,000 trees « 100 per cent The rate of new plantations has averaged close to 500,000 trees yearly over the last ten years, Tunisia ranks fourth among olive-producing countries, with an average yearly output of close to 60,000 tons of oil, or 3 kg. per tree. During good years, with favourable conditions prevailing, olive oil production may reach and even exceed 100,000 tons» Concurrently with the increase in production, the olive oil industry underwent a steady expansion and constant improvements. There are today in Tunisia close to 2,000 oil-works, a large number of which are equipp-^ according to the latest methods and with the most modern machinery. Tunisia is one of the leading olive oil exporting countries in the world. Production and export statistics for the last few years are shown below: Campaign Production in tons Exports in tons 1949-50 105,000 76,881 1950-51 40,000 14,269 1951-52 43,500 16,801 1952-53 35,000 8,000 1953-54 80,000 37,480 1954-55 51,000 14,898 1955-56 22,500 9,215 1956-57 90,000 29,420 1957-58 45,000 37,243 Tunisia's principal customs for olive oil are: France, the United States and Italy, COM.11/40(1) Page 6 (6) Vine-grapes and wines Vineyards in Tunisia cover an area of 52,000 hectares, of which 42,000 are in production, which represents about 1.3 per cent of total arable land, and account for an average of 10 to 15 per cent of the country's agricultural production. They are mainly located in the regions of Cap Bon (21,000 hectares) and of Tunis (18,000 hectares). Ths yearly yield of Tunisia's vineyards averages over 2 million hectolitres of wine, this high volume being chiefly due to favourable natural and technical conditions (The average age of vine-stock is fifteen.years and Tunisia has very- suitable soil and climate conditions as well as sound cultivation methods). Domestic consumption has been steadily declining: from 350,000 hectolitres in 1955, the average yearly consumption has dropped to 200,000 hectolitres in 1959 or to 10 per cent of yearly output, owing chiefly to a sharp decrease in the population of European origin.