This study attempts to evaluate the impact of trade openness on the agri-environmental efficiency and to disentangle agricultural protectionism from Non-tariff measures' (NTMs) dispositions justified on the grounds of true environmental concerns. To that end, we measure agri-environmental efficiency (AEE) scores based on DEA method of the primary sector of a panel of 109 countries across the globe during the period 2003-2013. This paper provides the classification of 109 countries into 5 groups according to their agri-environmental growth and stability over time. Their breakdown does not meet any economic or income criteria. Low income and high income countries conducting heterogeneous agricultural and environmental policies may belong to the same group and thus, have similar agri-environmental performances. This finding is even more surprising for the European Union given the considerable variation of the AEE among its member states which may suggest that agri-environmental measures undertaken by the Common Agricultural Policy has impacted differently the EU's countries. Further results highlight the synergy between the agricultural trade openness and the environmental efficiency which confirms the Race-to-the-Top hypothesis concerning the F&Vs sector. Furthermore, our results show that endured Technical Barriers to Trade and Quantitative Restrictions turn out to be levers for enhancing the AEE of exporters. Finally, imposed NTMs impact differently agri-environmental performance of importers. Technical Barriers to Trade as well as Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures confirm their consistency with the WTO's terms and their environmental and food safety “legitimacy” contrary to environmentally-related Export Subsidies and agricultural Special Safeguards which are susceptible to be disguised trade protectionism measures.