The impact of EU and US agro-food nontariff measures on exports from developing countries.

摘要

This study evaluates the impact of EU and US agro-food nontariff measures (NTMs) on exports from African, Asian, Oceanian and Latin American developing countries. Data on NTMs applied in 1999 were obtained from the Trade Analysis Information System (Trains, version 9 - December 2002) from UNCTAD. Results from this study highlight three important aspects. First, structural differences exist in the trade impact of EU and US NTMs. Second, the impact of technical measures differs across agro-food products. Third, the origin of the agro-food products affects the estimated trade impact. Overall, European NTMs have a stronger negative effect on imports from developing countries in all continents if compared to the measures imposed at the US border.