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Institutional publication
International Standards and Trade - A Review of the Empirical Literature

2010 | Peter Swann

This paper reviews empirical studies that have investigated how international standards impact trade. It looks at different kinds of studies, from econometric studies to studies based on surveys of exporting firms. It concludes that the available literature does not provide a single answer to the qu...

Journal article
Product Standards, Harmonization, and Trade: Evidence from the Extensive Margin

2007 | Ben Shepherd

This paper provides empirical support for the view that international harmonization can reduce possible negative impacts of product standards on developing country exporters. It focuses on the extensive margin of trade (new products), asking whether harmonization can promote an increase in export va...

Journal article
Trade barriers or trade facilitators? The heterogeneous impact of food standards in international trade

2019 | Hege Medin

This study presents a theoretical foundation to support the "dual face of standards", a term referencing the heterogeneous impact of standards on international trade. It also provides new empirical data on the impact of food standardization for Norwegian seafood export, with as main result that whi...

Institutional publication
Assessing the impact of sanitary, phytosanitary and technical requirements on food and agricultural trade: what does current research tell us?

2013 | Sofia Boza

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...

Institutional publication
Food Safety Standards: Economic and Market Impacts in Developing Countries

2014 | Laurian Unnevehr

Compliance with public and private food safety standards has been the subject of increasing attention. Much of the literature on impacts of food safety regulation in developed countries focuses on public health. In poorer countries, the emphasis is on economic development. How standards shape access...

Institutional publication
Standards as Barriers to Trade - and how technical assistance can help

2004 | Digby Gascoine

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...

Institutional publication
Labels, Food Safety and International Trade

2017 | Norbert Wilson

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...

Institutional publication
International Standards and Trade: What does the research say?

2020 | Ben Shepherd

The relationship between standards and trade is a topic of great interest in the standardization community. In this synthesis review, a selection of emblematic studies draws together findings on the impacts of standards on trade across multiple contexts. With this, we can draw some conclusions ab...

Institutional publication
Impact of Food Safety Standards on Processed Food Exports from Developing Countries

2009 | Juthathip Jongwanich

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 ...

Journal article
Standards-as-Barriers versus Standards-as-Catalysts: Assessing the Impact of HACCP Implementation on U.S. Seafood Imports

2009 | Sven Anders

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. ...

Institutional publication
Product Standards and Firms' Export Decisions

2015 | Ana Fernandes

This paper examines the importance of standards in influencing whether firms in developing countries export opportunities agricultural and food products. Overall, the authors demonstrate that more stringent SPS standards in importing markets have a negative effect on developing country firm expor...

Journal article
"Rising powers" and Labour and Environmental Standards

2014 | Khalid Nadvi

There is a growing recognition that the “Rising Powers”, namely the emerging economies, in particular, but not only, China, India and Brazil, whose economic dynamism has begun to transform the contours of the global economy, will bring about radical shifts in global governance. A critical question t...

Journal article
Help or hindrance? The impact of harmonized standards on african exports

2009 | Witold Czubala

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...

Journal article
A selective review of the economics of standardization - Entry deterrence, tehcnological progress and international competition

1996 | Carmen Matutes

We provide a selective overview of the literature on standardization. We first summarize the essential mechanisms underlying the economics of product compatibility and in so doing we review the various frameworks that have been used. Then we survey existing work about the consequences of compatibili...

Member publication
Conformity Assessment in Canada: Understanding the Value and Implications for Internal Trade

2018 | Diane Liao

This publication explain the conformity assessment process, provides an overview of the conformity assessment industry in Canada and discussess conformity assessment as a technical barrier to trade. Implications of the misalignment of regulations and conformity assessment practices across Canada are...

Journal article
The Role of Public and Private Standards in Regulating International Food Markets

2007 | Spencer Henson

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 supply c...

Member publication
Global Perspectives on Standardization: Lessons from the European Union, The United States and Australia

2014 | Standards Council of Canada

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...

Member publication
Speaking the Same Technical Language: The Trade Impact of Canada's Participation in Regional Standardization Organizations

2017 | Standards Council of Canada

This study conducts an analysis of trade flows to determine whether participation in a regional standardization organization has a positive effect on trade flows....

Journal article
The economics of fair trade

2014 | Raluca Dragusanu

Fair Trade is a labeling initiative aimed at improving the lives of the poor in developing countries by offering better terms to producers and helping them to organize. Although Fair Trade–certified products still comprise a small share of the market—for example, Fair Trade–certified coffee exports ...

Journal article
Fair Trade coffee: Building producer capacity via global networks

2004 | Laura Raynolds

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 ...