Testing the taxes and tariffs theory

摘要

Rising membership is one of the big success stories for the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), but there are still quite a number of important coffee-trading nations that do no belong, particularly on the importer side. While its 44 exporting members account for about 95 per cent of all coffee shipments, its 30 importing members' share of world imports, which was given a big boost by the US rejoining the agency in late 2004, is just under 80 per cent. Those importers outside the ICO's orbit, which are mostly relatively immature markets for coffee, are the subject of a recent study by the ICO. It shows that many of these non-members have some of the fastest consumption growth rates, but also that the taxes and tariffs on the product are much higher than in most member states - explained by the fact that in many coffee is considered a luxury item. This obviously constitutes a barrier to consumption growth, which is something that the ICO is committed to fostering.