As the BRICS economies deepen cooperation across key sectors, there is a growing consensus that traditional tariffs are no longer the sole barriers to trade. Non-tariff measures, from regulatory divergence to procedural inefficiencies, now present some of the most pressing obstacles to seamless trade among BRICS nations.
The BRICS Business Council’s 2025 Non-Tariff Measures Report, published under Brazil’s presidency, provides a comprehensive analysis of these challenges.
Drawing from private sector feedback and real-world case studies, the report identifies systemic trade barriers across technical regulations, customs, public procurement, and services.
Technical Barriers to Trade: Addressing Regulatory Misalignment
Technical barriers such as product standards, labelling requirements, and conformity assessments account for a significant share of non-tariff measures reported by BRICS exporters.
Cosmetics and Animal Testing: China’s continued requirement for animal testing on imported cosmetics, despite global shifts toward cruelty-free standards, has created an uneven playing field for foreign producers. These measures are viewed as unnecessarily restrictive, increasing costs and impeding market access.
Duplicate Certifications in Electronics: China’s Compulsory Certification regime mandates local testing, even for products certified under widely recognised standards (e.g., IEC, UL, CE). The absence of a fast-track pathway for low-risk goods exacerbates delays and compliance costs.
India’s Expanded Labelling Rules: New regulations in India require detailed product labelling across sectors, raising administrative burdens for exporters, particularly SMEs. The report emphasises the need for greater regulatory harmonisation across BRICS markets to reduce such fragmentation.
Mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) and regulatory convergence can improve cost-efficiency and predictability in cross-border trade. This is especially critical for SMEs and time-sensitive supply chains.
Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures: Science-Based Approaches Needed
SPS measures are essential for food and biosecurity, but overly cautious or inconsistent applications can function as de facto trade barriers.
Agricultural Import Restrictions: India’s suspension of imports of Chinese apples, pears, and garlic, citing pest management concerns, has halted trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Despite efforts to resume dialogue, restrictions remain in place.
Lack of Alignment on Animal Health Protocols: The report notes the absence of mutual recognition frameworks for disease zoning and compartmentalisation in animal-origin products. This leads to blanket bans during disease outbreaks, even when risks are geographically localised.
Enhanced technical cooperation and science-based risk assessment aligned with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) standards can promote more resilient and predictable agricultural trade.
Services and Licencing Barriers: Market Entry Challenges for Foreign Firms
Services trade is increasingly vital for economic integration, yet foreign service providers face restrictions that limit operational flexibility and investment incentives.
After-Sales Service Licencing: Requirements for local incorporation, complex licencing processes, and approval of foreign technical personnel in countries such as Russia and China delay service delivery and increase costs for industrial goods suppliers.
Economic Needs Tests (ENTs): ENTs are applied across sectors such as retail and education in India and South Africa. The discretionary nature of approval processes, with limited transparency or economic modelling, generates uncertainty for potential investors.
Restrictions on Legal Services: In India, regulations limit the ability of foreign law firms to operate on equal footing, despite increasing demand for cross-border advisory services. These restrictions hinder legal harmonisation and professional mobility.
Transparent, criteria-based service market entry frameworks would bolster investor confidence and promote fair competition across BRICS.
Government Procurement: Favouring Local Content Over Open Competition
Procurement-related non-tariff measures include local content requirements and price preferences, often designed to promote domestic industry but with trade-distorting consequences.
In-Country Value (ICV) Requirements: In sectors such as defence, IT, and renewable energy, governments apply ICV measures that prioritise local suppliers. These provisions, while strategic for industrial development, can disadvantage foreign competitors and delay innovation transfer.
Local Preference in Port Equipment Procurement: China’s tendering system grants a 20% price preference to local producers. In combination with mandatory CCC certification and long lead times, foreign joint ventures face substantial cost and timeline challenges.
A balance is needed between industrial policy goals and open, rules-based procurement practices. Transparent criteria and mutual recognition of standards can increase participation while supporting local capacity-building.
Intellectual Property (IP): Fragmented Frameworks Increase Risk
In the digital and innovation economy, BRICS companies face IP challenges due to inconsistent protections for software, algorithms, and trade secrets.
Divergent Standards in IT and AI: Countries like Russia and South Africa impose local certification standards misaligned with global norms (e.g., ISO, WIPO). IP localisation and varying patent interpretations raise compliance risks for global tech firms.
Greater alignment in IP frameworks would lower legal uncertainty and facilitate intra-BRICS innovation flows, particularly in high-growth sectors such as fintech, biotech, and AI.
Customs, Logistics, and Procedural Delays: Undermining Supply Chain Agility
Infrastructure, documentation, and clearance inefficiencies continue to hinder trade efficiency, even where formal tariffs are low.
Brazil’s Import Procedures: Port equipment imports face prolonged pre-shipment inspections and inconsistent application of Brazil’s single-window customs platform, resulting in supply chain delays.
Barriers to Biosimilars: Complex approval processes, including overlapping patent reviews and regulatory disputes, delay the cross-border flow of affordable biosimilar medicines. This issue has both commercial and public health implications.
Accelerating paperless trade systems and adopting digital trade facilitation tools, already successful in parts of China and Europe, can reduce transaction costs and boost regional competitiveness.
