Trade Effects of SPS and TBT Measures on Tropical and Diversification Products
by Anne-Célia Disdier, Belay Fekadu, Carlos Murillo and Sara A. Wong
Agricultural Trade and Sustainable Development Series • Issue Paper 12
The 2004 Framework Agreement reached during the Doha Round notes that the full implementation of the liberalization of trade in tropical agricultural products is “overdue and will be addressed effectively in the market access negotiations.” However, the way in which the commitment is to be implemented, and even the identification of such products, remains far from clear.
Multilateral discussions on the full liberalization of trade in tropical and diversification products have focused almost exclusively on the reduction of tariffs, and tariff escalation for those products and the overlap with the mandate on preference erosion. There has been no debate and analysis on NTBs and more specifically on SPS measures and technical barriers to trade (TBTs). This is surprising, since as the following paper reveals, imports of tropical and diversification products from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and some Latin American countries are particularly affected by SPS and TBT measures.
The following work, entitled “Trade Effects of SPS and TBT Measures on Tropical and Diversification Products,” also reveals that ACP countries are the exporters for which the most sectors are influenced negatively and significantly by SPS measures and TBTs. As such, this paper represents a contribution to a knowledge-based discussion in this area.
This study analyzes the trade effects of SPS measures and TBTs on tropical and diversification products. The authors examine to what extent and for what products SPS and technical requirements under public law represent barriers for exports of tropical and diversification products to enter developed countries’ markets, namely the European Union (EU), the United States (US), Japan, Canada, Australia and Switzerland. The objective of the study is also to generate solution-oriented analyzes and to identify possible policy responses.
By way of introduction, the paper provides information on the SPS and TBT agreements, the private sector requirements and NTBs to trade. The paper presents case studies documenting the effects of SPS and TBT measures on producers and exporters. These cases studies are based on surveys and interviews. They focus on production and export of bananas and pineapples in Ecuador, bananas, melons and pineapples in Costa Rica, coffee in Ethiopia and cut flowers in Kenya.
The paper provides a statistical analysis of SPS and TBT measures applied by main developed countries on their imports of tropical and diversification products. Results of the surveys and case studies are not easily generalized. The main advantage of the statistical analysis is to be more exhaustive. This analysis reveals information on the types of measure used (authorizations, technical measures), the motives to impose SPS and TBT measures on tropical and diversification products, the number of notifications by country, the stringency of SPS and TBT measures, and the affected exports. Furthermore, the paper presents econometrical estimations of the trade impacts of public standards through the gravity equation.
Finally, the paper describes the existing technical assistance programmes to help farmers and exporters of developing countries to conform with SPS and TBT requirements adopted by main developed markets. It assesses their strengths and weaknesses, and it provides recommendations to improve their efficiency. The paper analyses how the Aid for Trade initiative can help developing countries to meet these standards. Additional policy responses resulting from the study are also suggested.