OECD Inventory of Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials 2024

4. About the OECD Inventory on Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials

Gathering evidence on the use of export restrictions is fundamental to analysing their economic and non-economic effects, and for motivating and informing international co-operation. The OECD Inventory of Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials aims to improve transparency and to build a database of border and domestic measures that restrict the export of industrial raw materials. The Inventory is a rich source of qualitative and quantitative information on different types of export restrictions introduced (or withdrawn) by the main exporters of industrial raw materials. It is a public good that provides data for empirical analysis to advance understanding of the economic and non-economic effects of these export restrictions. The Inventory can be used to assess whether and how export restrictions may be contributing to shortages and high prices of raw materials, as well as how policy reforms may ease tensions and help ensure the secure and efficient supply of raw materials for all. 1

Data sources collection process

Information on export restrictions is collected from official websites and documents issued by governments of the key producing countries. These include ministries in charge of the economy, trade, industry, mining, forestry, or foreign affairs, as well as customs agencies. Sources of information on policies that restrict exports include legal acts, rules, regulations, public notices, circulars, and notifications by ministries published on their websites. Secondary sources, such as news articles, are also used to identify export measures applied by a country or changes made to measures during the survey year. That said, only measures that can be substantiated from official sources are entered into the database.

Product coverage

The Inventory covers 65 industrial commodities, including 58 minerals and metals, six wood products, and all metallic waste and scrap from minerals and metals covered in the Inventory (Table 4.1). Export restrictions are recorded in the database for products classified in the Harmonised System 2007 nomenclature at the 6-digit level (HS6), which currently covers 489 products.

Table 4.1. Products covered in the Inventory

Minerals and metals
Aluminium	Antimony	Arsenic	Barytes	Bentonite
Beryllium	Bismuth	Borates	Cadmium	Chromium
Cobalt	Coke	Coking coal	Copper	Diamonds
Diatomite	Feldspar	Fluorspar	Gallium	Garnet
Germanium	Gold	Natural graphite	Gypsum	Indium
Iron and steel	Kaolin	Lead	Limestone	Lithium
Magnesite	Magnesium	Manganese	Mercury	Molybdenum
Nickel	Niobium	Perlite	Phosphates	Pig iron
Platinum group metals (PGMs)1	Potash	Rare earths (REE)	Rhenium	Selenium
Silica	Silicon	Silver	Strontium	Talc
Tantalum	Tellurium	Tin	Titanium	Tungsten
Vanadium	Zinc	Zirconium

1. Platinum group metals (PGM) includes platinum, palladium, and all other PMG metals (rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium).

 

Wood (6)
Industrial roundwood coniferous	Sawnwood coniferous
Industrial roundwood non-coniferous non-tropical	Sawnwood non-coniferous non-tropical
Industrial roundwood non-coniferous tropical	Sawnwood non-coniferous tropical

 

Other
Metal waste and scrap for all metals and minerals included in the Inventory

Country coverage

All countries accounting for at least 3% of global production of any of the covered materials or which were among the top five producers of any of products covered are included in the Inventory. Eighty countries producing industrial raw material commodities are currently surveyed. These countries accounted for 97% of the world production of minerals and metals, and 81% of world production of wood in 2022. This coverage essentially allows for the monitoring of export restrictions by all significant raw materials producers worldwide.

Table 4.2. Countries covered in the Inventory

Angola	Argentina	Australia	Austria (EU)
Belarus	Belgium (EU)	Bolivia	Botswana
Brazil	Bulgaria (EU)	Burundi	Canada
Chile	China (People's Republic of)	Colombia	Czechia (EU)
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Denmark (EU)	Egypt	Ethiopia
Finland (EU)	France (EU)	Gabon	Germany (EU)
Ghana	Greece (EU)	Guatemala	Guinea
Hungary (EU)	India	Indonesia	Ireland (EU)
Israel	Italy (EU)	Jamaica	Japan
Jordan	Kazakhstan	Kenya	Korea
Kyrgyzstan	Lao People's Democratic Republic	Madagascar	Malaysia
Mexico	Mongolia	Morocco	Mozambique
Myanmar	Namibia	Netherlands	New Caledonia (France)
Nigeria	Norway	Oman	Peru
Philippines	Poland (EU)	Portugal (EU)	Qatar
Romania (EU)	Russia	Rwanda	Saudi Arabia
Senegal	Sierra Leone	Slovakia (EU)	South Africa
Spain (EU)	Sweden (EU)	Tajikistan	Thailand
Tunisia	Türkiye	Ukraine	United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom	United States	Uzbekistan	Viet Nam
Zambia	Zimbabwe

Types of measures covered

The Inventory records measures known or suspected to restrain export activity. These measures typically increase the relative price of exported products, decrease the quantity supplied, or change the terms of competition amongst suppliers. The list of surveyed measures includes export taxes, prohibitions, non-automatic licensing requirements, and any other export restricting measure (Table 4.3).

The Inventory excludes export controls that have been implemented to comply with international conventions and agreements that limit the trade of certain goods,2 or measures implemented to control exports of dual-use items.3 Only export restrictions that are applied to all trading partners are covered in the Inventory.4

Table 4.3. Measures restricting exports included in the Inventory

Export restriction	Definition
Export tax	A tax collected on goods or commodities at the time they leave a customs territory. This tax can be set either on a per unit basis or an ad valorem (percentage of value) basis. Other terms equivalent to export tax are also covered: export tariff, export duty, export levy, export charge.
Fiscal tax on exports	A tax not paid at the border, but which applies only to, or discriminates against, goods or commodities intended for export. An example is when the sales tax which a government charges is higher for goods or commodities intended for export than when these goods or commodities are offered for sale in the domestic market. Another term equivalent to fiscal tax on exports that is also covered: export royalty.
Export surtax	A tax collected on goods or commodities at the time they leave a customs territory, and which is applied in addition to the normal export tax rate. These can be part of a progressive tax system or can be adapted to price trends and can thus be of a temporary nature. Example: a USD 10 surcharge is applied on each ton of a commodity exported when the world price of this commodity exceeds USD 1 800 a tonne. Other terms equivalent to export surtax that are also covered: export surcharge.
Export quota	A prescribed maximum volume of permitted exports.
Export prohibition	No exports are permitted. Exceptions may be granted through export licences. Other terms equivalent to export prohibition that are also covered: export ban, export embargo.
Licensing requirement (including non-automatic)	Exporters must obtain prior approval, in form of a license, to export a good or commodity. This practice requires submission of an application or other documentation as a condition for being authorised to export. Although export licensing regimes may vary in their impact on exports, even those regimes that have a relatively limited economic impact, nonetheless increase the amount of time needed to engage in trade. Licensing schemes can operate on the basis of product lists of various types, usually lists of restricted products that require licences be applied to restrict exports by destination (e.g., specific countries) or that have other conditions attached, such as a requirement that exportation may only be for a specified purpose. Other terms equivalent to non-automatic licensing that are also covered: export permit.
Minimum export price/reference price for exports	The minimum allowable price for a good being exported. This practice is often used in conjunction with export taxes in order to prevent under-invoicing and can be used as a base to calculate export taxes. In some cases, minimum export prices are not binding but are used as reference prices. Other terms equivalent to minimum export price that are also covered: administered pricing.
VAT tax rebate reduction / withdrawal	Most countries with a VAT system will rebate the VAT on exports. By denying VAT reimbursement in whole or part, it is relatively less advantageous to export a product than to sell it domestically. This measure is usually used to encourage downstream local production of products that use the raw material input. A variant that is also covered is the removal or reduction of rebate from other sales taxes on exports of a product.
Restriction on customs clearance point for exports	The government specifies the ports or customs offices through which the export of a good or commodity must be channeled.
Qualified exporters list	The right to export a certain commodity is granted to specific companies by the government through a process of application and registration.
Domestic market obligation	The requirement for producers to allocate a proportion of their annual production output for sale in the domestic market. Domestic market obligations are sometimes part of production-sharing contracts or contracts allowing extraction by foreign firms.
Captive mining	When a processing company is required to own the mine that produces its inputs, or has been awarded sole mining rights with the intention that it will mine the commodity for use in its own domestic production processes and not trade it. Captive mining is a form of government support for firms with access to captive supplies, as well as a means to control the price and availability of a commodity in global markets. When captive mining concessions increase (as a share of production), exports of the relevant commodity are likely to fall.
Other export measures	Measures not elsewhere specified, but which influence de jure or de facto the level or direction of exports of industrial raw materials.

Source: OECD (2022[3]).

Notes

← 1.  See, for example, Kowalski and Legendre (2023[4]).

← 2.  These include measure such as the Kimberley Process for conflict diamonds; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for some wood products; the Rotterdam Convention with regard to some chemical products; and the Basel Convention regarding metallic waste and scrap.

← 3.  Dual-use items are goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications.

← 4.  Export controls implemented on a bilateral basis (e.g. sanctions) are not included in the Inventory.