Babacar Sembène doesn't mince words. According to the Director General of the Market Regulation Agency (ARM), Senegal's ability to effectively defend its agricultural sectors is severely limited by commitments made under international trade agreements. "Senegal has notified the World Trade Organization of maximum tariffs of around 30%. Today, nearly 97% of our tariff lines are ad valorem duties. This severely limits our ability to use customs tools to protect local production," he explains.

Invited to Seneweb Eco this Sunday, February 1, 2026, the international trade negotiations specialist emphasized the structural imbalance in competitiveness between Senegalese producers and their European counterparts, who benefit from massive subsidies. "A European producer can benefit from three levels of subsidies: those from the European Union, those from their national government, and sometimes those from their local authority. They are therefore heavily subsidized. Conversely, our producers face significant difficulties in achieving comparable levels of productivity," stressed the Director General of the ARM (Agricultural Marketing Board).

This reality, he argues, explains the low competitiveness of local products, even in the presence of high tariff barriers. "It sometimes happens that, even with a 100% customs duty, some imported products remain more competitive than our local products," he asserts.

Faced with these constraints, Senegal often finds itself unable to use traditional trade protection instruments, even though these are theoretically provided for in international agreements. "This is one of the weaknesses of our agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO). The procedures are lengthy, cases can drag on for years, while the problems on the ground remain unresolved," laments Babacar Sembène.

He illustrates his point with the emblematic case of the poultry sector. "For poultry, Senegal was only able to act by invoking health clauses linked to avian flu. It was only when there was a health threat that we were able to use the agreements to protect the sector," he concludes.