Tunisia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in tunisia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
Select Country Guide
Trade Barriers 
Last published date:

Tunisia is a founding member of the WTO. In 2017, Tunisia domestically ratified the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and presented its instrument of ratification to the WTO in 2020 for all categories A, B, and C.  As of October 2025, Tunisia has no overdue notifications to submit.

While maintaining restrictions on designated strategic sectors by requiring prior authorization, the Tunisian government has pursued a program of liberalizing imports. Approximately 97% of imports do not require prior authorization. 

Tunisia has non-tariff barriers such as requirements of import licenses or quotas on certain products. These particularly apply to consumer goods that compete against locally produced equivalents manufactured by developing industries, or to goods for which domestic production is deemed sufficient. Two noteworthy categories affected by import quotas are agricultural products and passenger vehicles. Automotive import quotas are based to some extent on the number of Tunisian-produced automobile components utilized in the foreign manufacturer’s automobile designs.  Importers must request an allotment and import license from the Ministry of Trade and Export Development. Although this quota system only applies to vehicles for commercial sale, Tunisian consumers also cannot freely import foreign vehicles privately due to strict foreign-exchange controls.  

Working within the letter of WTO requirements, the government protects the domestic pharmaceutical industry. All pharmaceutical imports are controlled by the Central Pharmacy, a government entity under the Ministry of Health.  

Inconsistent customs procedures can be a major obstacle for importers. Importers have experienced extended delays in customs clearance due to required, but not uniformly enforced, technical and quality-control investigations.  Government use of non-tariff barriers has sometimes led to the delay or rejection of shipments of goods. However, this is not common practice and is not aimed specifically at goods imported from the United States.

Agricultural products are generally subject to high import duties and in some cases face other import barriers, such as quotas. Tunisia often gives preferential tariff rates to agricultural products originating from Arab and North African nations.

×

Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

Privacy Program | Information Quality Guidelines | Accessibility