It details the important trade measures currently affecting imports and exports of agro-food products, including price based instruments (e.g. tariffs and other import duties, and export taxes), quantitative restrictions (e.g. import quotas and export bans) and regulatory requirements (e.g. licensing and quarantine arrangements). Multilateral, regional and bilateral trade relations are also discussed. An important objective is to keep domestic retail prices of essential, strategic commodities relatively stable in order to alleviate poverty and avoid antagonising the urban population. For import-competing products, such as rice and soybeans, this objective is usually sought through a combination of policy measures, in particular low tariffs and quantitative restrictions on imports.