Non-Tariff Measures and the WTO

Abstract

In this paper I sketch out the rough contours of the challenge faced by the WTO in dealing with non-tari¤ measures (NTMs) as seen from the economic theories of trade agreements. The key questions for the WTO -the answers to which largely dictate the choice between shallow and deep approaches to integration -appear to be two: (1) Is it the terms-of-trade problem or the commitment problem that WTO member governments seek to solve with their WTO membership?; and (2) Is it market clearing or o¤shoring/bilateral bargaining that is now the most prominent mechanism for the determination of international prices? I suggest that evidence on the …rst question points to the terms-of-trade theory and hence toward shallow integration, but that answering the second question may be the key to identifying the best way forward on NTMs for the WTO. Along the way I provide a terms-of-trade interpretation of the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement. JEL: D62, F13, F55, H21 and H23.

Bird Flu, the OIE, and National Regulation: The WTO's India Agricultural Products Dispute

“…A related result is found in the more general and large country model ofBagwell and Staiger (2001). See alsoStaiger (2015).18 While this framework does fit the scenario of this particular dispute between geographically separated India and the United States, we recognize that in cases of geographical proximity the trans-boundary externality could also arise through production. For example, the US outbreak of HPNAI in 2014 in Washington State may have resulted from a prior HPNAI outbreak across the border in Canada (OIE, 2014).…”

Bird Flu, the OIE, and National Regulation: The WTO's India Agricultural Products Dispute

“…McAusland (2008) consider implications on optimal policymaking of these types of trans-boundary 17 A related result is found in the more general and large country model of Bagwell and Staiger (2001). See also Staiger (2015).…”

Agriculture and economic transformation in the Middle East and North Africa: A review of the past with lessons for the future

“…NTBs include but are not limited to quotas, import licensing systems, sanitary regulations, and prohibitions. See "nontariff measures" (Staiger 2012).…”