In the search for alternative markets in face of globalisation, the export of environmentally friendly and socially preferred goods and services from the South is increasingly sold as a developmental ‘win-win-win’, providing trade opportunities which can simultaneously alleviate poverty and protect ...

A compilation of submissions to the Workshop and Policy Dialogue organized under the auspices of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour and Inwent (Capacity Building International, Germany) in Berlin, Germany on 21-22 November 2005...

This paper reviews empirical studies that have investigated how SPS/TBT measures impact trade in the food and agricultural sector. The author concludes that research supports the existence of a 'dual effect' of SPS-TBT measures on international trade of food and agricultural products, wit...

Regional agreements on standards have been largely ignored by economists and unconditionally blessed by multilateral trade rules. It is theoretically and empirically found that such agreements increase trade between participating countries but not necessarily with the rest of the world. Adopting a c...

This study looks at the impacts of EU standards on African Exports of textiles, clothing and footwear, focusing on voluntary technical regulations. The key issue the authors are trying to address is how to limit the costs and negative spillovers that product standards can bring. They contend that...

There has been increasing use of technical regulations as instruments of commercial policy in the context of multilateral, regional, and global trade. These nontariff barriers are of special concern to developing countries, which may bear additional costs in meeting mandatory standards. Many industr...

Nowadays, the impact of the measurement and testing infrastructure on economic performance and trade is theoretically and even politically widely accepted. However, there are no empirical studies on this issue. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the impact of innovative capacity and technical...

The paper analyses the effects of the US implementing mandatory seafood (HACCP) food safety standards on export partners. The authors first review existing empirical literature on food safety and the potential impact of increased food safety standards on international trade and the seafood market. ...

The book provides information, and guidance for policymakers, the development community, and others in the critical area of "behind the border" barriers to trade. With a view to promoting efforts to strengthen Africa's capacity to meet trade standards, and comply with technical regulations, the book...

The goal of this paper is to help set a research agenda for examining the effect of compatibility barriers to trade. The paper explores the relationship between compatibility standards and international trade flows from an industrial organization perspective. I provide a brief survey of the literatu...

This study looks at the experiences of seven coffee producer cooperatives in Latin America with Fair Trade certification, and the benefits they received. Through comparative analysis, the authors find that coffee organizations, communities and producers derive important material and non-material ...

Developing countries face an increasing need to upgrade the standards of their domestic markets and of their exports. This paper examines different approaches available to them for upgrading their standards and conformity assessment procedures. It focuses particularly on those followed within the co...

This paper examines the choice between alternative trade‐based approaches to reducing global environmental damage, such as trade‐related process standards and tariff‐based approaches. Estimates of the effects of alternative policies are presented, using a calibrated global trade model with pollution...

This paper reviews existing research on labels and food safety standards (both private and public) and their effects on food and agricultural trade. It argues that perceptions and empirical evidence around the impacts of standards have shifted from principally negative to more mixed results. Accordi...

The use of standards and technical regulations as instruments of commercial policy in unilateral, regional, and global trade contexts has increased as tariff and quota barriers continue to decline (Maskus and Wilson, 2001). Standards and technical regulations are principally used to mitigate food, a...

This paper analyses the impacts of food safety standards on processed food exports in developing countries using a cross-sectional econometric analysis. The empirical analysis shows that strict food safety standards in importing developed countries tend to be trade reducing for developing countries ...

This trade brief discusses the significance of technical requirements as barriers to trade taking a development perspective. It provides an overview of the situation and why it is difficult for developing countries to implement SPS/TBT measures. The author suggest that the costs of risks assessme...

While much of the focus of the economics literature has been on the role of public food safety and quality standards both as policy instruments and as non-tariff barriers to trade, it is evident that private standards are playing an increasing role in the governance of agricultural and food suppl...

Greater trade integration has often been viewed as requiring greater standardization in institutions, without which the benefits of trade do not materialize. There are many current debates concerning the degree and area of standardization needed and these debates are likely to continue for the fores...

The 17-page report highlights SCC’s two-day strategic exchange held April 14-15, 2014, with its U.S., European and Australian counterparts. Global Perspectives brings together the views of several distinguished leaders of the international standards community, on how standardization supports regiona...