EU exporters are overpaying on trade costs because they are failing to take full advantage of the lower tariffs on offer thanks to the blocs’ trade agreements, new research has revealed.

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are not being used to their maximum potential costing exporters at least $89bn (£63bn) between 2009 and 2013, according to a report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Swedish Board of Trade.

Rather than hurry to make new FTAs, policymakers should consider the practicalities of utilising the agreements, the report warned. The study is the first examination of how EU FTAs are used.

Overall rates of FTA usage are higher than “conventional wisdom” claimed but still fall short of their potential, one of the report’s authors, Stefano Inama, told The Daily Telegraph.

Nearly two-thirds of EU exporters to countries with which the bloc has FTAs take advantage of preferential trading arrangements.

Smaller companies may be most likely to be missing out on the benefits of FTAs, as larger firms find it easier to devote resources to navigating the administrative burdens involved with claiming lower tariff rates. According to the report, a major factor behind not cashing in on lower tariffs are “cumbersome” requirements when it comes to proving where products originate from.