Donna Roberts

Evaluating the Trade Restrictiveness of Phytosanitary Measures on U.S. Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Imports

Empirically assessing sanitary and phytosanitary regulations has proven difficult because most data sources indicate whether a regulation exists but provide no information on the type or importance of the respective measure. In this article, we construct a novel database of U.S. phytosanitary measures and match these to 47 fresh fruit and vegetable product imports from 89 exporting countries over the period 1996–2008. A product‐line gravity equation that accounts for zero trade flows is developed to investigate the trade impact of different pest‐mitigation measures. While the results suggest that phytosanitary treatments generally reduce trade, the actual restrictiveness of these measures diminishes dramatically as exporters accumulate experience, and it vanishes when exporters reach a certain threshold. The results have important policy implications considering the number of empirical studies that find a negative impact of non‐tariff measures on trade.

Measurement and Political Economy of Disputed Technical Regulations

Technical regulations are increasingly visible in agricultural trade, yet their idiosyncratic nature has limited prior aggregate analysis. This article draws on a unique data source for systematic enumeration of the technical regulations questioned by one exporter among all of its trading partners in mid-1996. Political economy analysis indicates that barriers decrease when the relative contribution of agriculture to an economy increases, when the anticipated future level of protection through other forms of government intervention increases, and when economies are more open. Despite increased scrutiny and discipline by the World Trade Organization, technical barriers remain a significant impediment in world agricultural markets.

PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION, SANITARY BARRIERS, AND ARBITRAGE IN WORLD POULTRY MARKETS

World poultry markets are one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the food industry. Poultry production rose from 11 million tons in 1965 to over 63 million tons in 1999. Consumption increases have exceeded population growth, with world per capita supplies of poultry meat tripling from 3.3 kilograms in 1965 to 9.9 kilograms in 1997. International trade has more than kept pace with this industry growth. World exports of poultry meat rose from 375,000 tons in 1965 to 6.4 million tons in 1999. Trade now accounts for about 10 percent of world consumption.

The Beef Hormone Dispute Between the United States and the EU

Publisher Summary The beef hormone conflict between the United States and the EU has become one of the longest running and most intransigent trade disputes. In the 1970s, European consumers became alarmed about the human health effects of hormones in livestock production. A ban on the use of certain growth hormones in livestock followed in the 1980s, and this ban was eventually extended to include imports of meat from animals which were given hormones. Protests from the United States and other exporters were to no avail. The events leading up to the ban on EU use of hormones in cattle raising and on imports of hormone-treated beef are important in explaining the political longevity of the issue in Europe. Trade concerns were not dominant in the early years, and the disciplines applied by trade rules were in any case weak. For the United States, three objectives were finally achieved. First, the right of exporters to sell without trade restrictions posing as sanitary measures, but not scientifically based, was upheld. Second, the panel maintained the balance between the right to adopt higher levels of protection than are recognized internationally and the World Trade Organization (WTO) requirement that sanitary measures be based on scientific principles and not be more restrictive than they need be. Third, the panel ruled that sanitary measures predating the SPS Agreement are not exempt from its requirements. The EU also found some comfort in the result. The ruling affirmed its right to establish a level of consumer protection higher than the level set by international health standards, provided it is backed by an objective risk assessment.