On 17 October 2022, Tunisia introduced mandatory licences for imports into Tunisia on 130 product categories, including textile, cosmetics, home appliances, cables and some agricultural products. The above list of products at 4-digit level is indicative and the list published by the Tunisian Ministry of Trade and Export Development is more narrow indicated at 8-digits level.

The measure was not published in the Official journal of Tunisia and there was no consultation with the EU or notification to the WTO. 

The Tunisian authorities argue that the measure was triggered by consumer complaints about the poor quality of products imported to Tunisia, hence, it had to be introduced as a reinforcement of Tunisian market surveillance system. The Tunisian authorities describe the measure as a one-off ex-ante control required when an operator wishes to import covered goods into Tunisia for the first time.

The measure adds to already very burdensome import procedures in Tunisia: the reform of market surveillance and technical controls in Tunisia has been a long-standing request by the EU with a registered trade barrier since 2016 under the MACFLOW number 10961.

Under the measure, importers wishing to import any of the covered goods into Tunisia, must first obtain an import licence from the relevant Tunisian ministry. For that purpose, importers must submit an importation file to competent authorities. There are no fees charged to the applicants. The application file must contain 8 documents, some of which have to be produced by the factory directly in attempt to bypass intermediaries (invoice, legal status, quality controls in place etc.). The required documents are:

1. an invoice issued by the factory;
2. a certificate issued by an official authority in the country of export relating to the legal entity of the factory and the license permitting it to practice its activity;
3. proof that the factory has a quality control system in place (in practice: a certificate presenting the quality procedures in place, ISO standards, self-certification etc);
4. list of products to be imported;
5. the trademark of the product and the trademark that is produced under a license from the entity owning it (in practice: registered trademark in the country of origin);
6. a model of the labels of the imported products;
7. a free sale certificate delivered by the national authorities of the exporting party; and
8. documents and reports confirming that the imported products meet applicable quality standards (in practice: ISO certificates, conformity certificates, analysis certificates, quality certificates by the producer).

On top of those minimum required documents, Tunisian authorities reserve the right to request additional documents to check the quality and safety of imported goods or request samples of goods to be imported for inspection.

There are no clear or published deadlines for processing the applications by the Tunisian authorities. According to the information available, the processing of applications may vary from 48 hours to 4 months. It is not clear whether in practice there have been any rejections of EU applicants so far.