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The aim of this paper is to verify empirically whether the Specific Trade Concerns (STCs) regarding Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs) notifications by WTO members can serve as an early warning system for past and future disputes (DS) covering allegedly trade restricting TBTs. WTO members, in order to increase transparency of trade policies, have m...
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Citations
... Therefore, these restrictive NTMs are initially discussed in the Committee meetings of the WTO to find mutually acceptable solutions. If they are not resolved, they may lead to trade disputes that are dealt with by the Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) of the WTO (Ghodsi and Michałek, 2016). ...
Eight multilateral rounds of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and international agreements under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have contributed significantly to the reduction of tariffs among WTO members. However, the imposition and use of non-tariff measures (NTMs) have surged over the years, mostly for legitimate policy goals. Among these measures, technical barriers to trade (TBTs) and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, in particular, allow countries to impose restrictions on the imports of low-quality products suspected of harming domestic consumers’ health, plants, animals or the global environment. Such trade policy instruments aim to force higher standards in the import market and to ensure alignment with domestic regulations. The main question therefore is whether and how regulative NTMs affect trade flows, and in particular the quality of traded goods. Following the theoretical framework proposed by Feenstra and Romalis (2014), we theoretically illustrate how NTMs affect the average quality of imported products, while also incorporating the impact on the quantity and value of imports. The framework then allows us to estimate the impact of NTMs on traded values, quantities, unit values, quality and quality-adjusted prices at the detailed HS six-digit level. The results of the various estimated variables for all countries at the detailed product level are available in a visualised format (Tableau) as well as an online data appendix, providing comprehensive insights for scholars and policy makers. Generally, the results point towards a quality-increasing impact of regulative NTMs, though this may come with lower traded quantities or values. These aspects must be weighed against the positive outcomes, i.e. the compliance with the aims of the regulations concerning health, security or environmental goals and the overall increase in quality. Imposing such measures should therefore be done in such a way that they reduce trade frictions as much as possible while recognising the legitimate motivations behind the imposition of NTMs. Further, harmonisation of standards at the multilateral level may circumvent potential frictions while supporting the overall aims of regulative NTMs.
... Therefore, WTO established TBT and SPS committees to allow member states to discuss the policy measures imposed by other countries. These STCs have certain impact on bilateral trade flows, which sometimes lead to Dispute Settlement cases within the WTO (Ghodsi and Michalek, 2016). ...
... As the EU notified the largest number of TBTs to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after the United States and China until 2016, the number of TBTs imposed by the EU-CEE was also very large. Some TBTs might be too trade restrictive which could raise concerns from other members of the WTO and could ultimately cause trade disputes ( Ghodsi and Michałek, 2016 ;Dawar and Ronen, 2016 ). WTO members are obliged to notify their unilateral (non-discriminative) TBTs directly to the WTO Secretariat to improve the transparency in trade policies. ...
Trade liberalisation and the EU enlargement over the past two decades has allowed European multinational enterprises (MNEs) to benefit from production fragmentation in Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE). Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs) might induce costs of certification, inspection and compliance at the border that encourage MNEs to undertake foreign direct investment (FDI) in the host market instead of exporting to that market. However, overregulation and stringency of standards that are embedded within these TBTs might discourage FDI in a given market. The former shows the intuition behind ‘tariff jumping’ motives, while the latter is based on the ‘regulation haven hypothesis’. These two opposing hypotheses are tested in this article by analysing the impact of TBTs imposed by both home and host countries on inward FDI stocks in the CESEE host countries during the period 1996–2016. The results hint at ‘tariff jumping’ motives of FDI in these countries. This is more evident for discriminative TBTs imposed by the host economy on which the home country raised Specific Trade Concerns (STC) at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
... Mahdi Ghodsi and Michalek (2016) co-authored the research paper, 'Technical barriers to trade notifications and dispute settlement within the WTO' with the aim of verifying empirically whether the specific trade concerns (STCs) regarding technical barriers to trade (TBTs) notifications by WTO members could serve as an early warning system for past and future disputes (DS) covering allegedly trade restricting TBTs. In this paper it was noted that 45 requests for consultation to identify the possible violations of the technical barriers to trade agreement and the decision by the dispute body were critically discussed. ...
The study investigated the possible nexus between trade liberalization and poverty in 21 African countries covering the period 2005–2014. The study deployed the following econometric tests: descriptive statistics; the correlation matrix and variance inflator; the panel unit root test; the pooled OLS technique; and the panel co-integration test (Johansen co-integration test). In order to confirm the robustness and validity of the regression model result, Ramsey RESET, cross dependence, autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity tests were conducted. The findings reveal that foreign direct investment and inflation rate had a positive relationship with the human development index while exchange rates and trade openness were negatively related to poverty level at the 5 percent level. The study recommended urgent policy measures aimed at revamping the poverty alleviation programmes. The study recommended that in a bid to diversify export market, developing countries should target other developing countries in the spirit of South–South cooperation. Such countries should also consider the joining or strengthening of regional economic integration. Incentives for production and human capacity building in the export-oriented sector should be emplaced. Social and economic policies are required to protect any country against the adverse effects of lowered trade barriers.
... In the conditions of globalization and the internationalization of economic processes, competitiveness is often considered in the context of the international market (16)(17). Understood as the ability of effective and profi table placement of domestic enterprises on foreign markets it is the subject of many analyzes and evaluations. ...
... W warunkach globalizacji oraz internacjonalizacji procesów gospodarczych konkurencyjność jest często rozpatrywana w kontekście rynku międzynarodowego (16)(17). Rozumiana jako zdolność skutecznego i opłacalnego lokowania się krajowych przedsiębiorstw na rynkach zagranicznych jest przedmiotem wielu analiz i ocen. ...
In the conditions of globalization and the internationalization of economic processes, competitiveness is increasingly being considered in the context of the international market. It is understood then as the ability of effective and profitable placement of domestic enterprises on foreign markets. The work is focused upon the analysis of Poland’s competitive position in the trade of cement industry products with the use of selected quantitative measures. The choice of measures was made taking into account the specificity of products offered by the cement industry, because this industry, mainly due to high transport costs, offers products chiefly on the domestic market. There was a more than double increase of the trade in this type of goods in the years 2004-2016. The results achieved in foreign trade in the cement industry products and the evaluation of Poland’s competitive position made in this area indicate a diverse situation on individual foreign markets. The most unfavourable relations in the trade of cement industry products occurred in the turnover with Belarus and Lithuania. The lack of advantage, especially in recent years, was also remarked by the exchange with the most important trade partner of Poland - Germany. On the other hand, a favourable situation occurred in the trade with the Czech Republic and Ukraine. © 2018, Foundation Cement, Lime, Concrete. All rights reserved.
... Although the TBT STC database does not cover all TBT notifications, the information provided is very helpful in conducting economic analyses. Ghodsi and Michalek (2016) found that TBT STCs have positive linkages to the Dispute Settlement (DS) cases of WTO citing the TBT agreement. Therefore, finding the causes of these policy instruments can contribute to a better understanding of trade conflicts and disputes. ...
... The opaque nature of TBTs often leads to trade conflicts. Ghodsi and Michalek (2016) analysed the relationship between TBT STC notifications and dispute settlement cases citing TBT agreements within the WTO. Their econometric analysis points towards a positive relationship between the two. ...
... Nevertheless, the aggregation to two-digit levels does not affect all other variables that are at the country levels. There are some double entries in the database even before aggregation of products, which makes the analysis biased (Ghodsi and Michalek 2016). In order to correct this bias, duplicated observations are removed. ...
This contribution evaluates determining factors of Specific Trade Concerns (STCs) raised on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) notifications over the period 1995–2011. While multilateral and international agreements bind countries concerning the imposition of tariffs on imports, TBTs have been used as trade policy instruments, which conceal the true motivations of governments. The main legitimate reasons behind the imposition of TBTs are to increase environmental qualities and human health, or to improve market efficiencies. However, in addition to these reasons, governments are also in pursuit of protecting their domestic industries. In fact, this contribution analyses how trade protectionist motives and legitimate public policy objectives induce these specific trade measures. Various effective factors of TBT STC notifications are considered in the econometric analysis using fixed effect Poisson estimation as the main technique, and Poisson GMM as robustness specification. Separate estimations on the European Union block in this study points at the determining factors of TBTs harmonized by heterogeneous member states. Results suggest that bilateral trade and tariffs are one of the forces of TBT STC notifications, acknowledging the protectionist behaviour of authorities. Moreover, countries with high quality of humans’ health-related environmental issues, and low environmental vitalities, are more likely to impose new TBTs. Overall, this study confirms the complex nature of TBT STCs affected by economic, technological, institutional, and health and environmental issues.
... The government does not inform anybody (except a special interest group) -not even its own citizens -about the new measures and policies. Even though this rarely happens in reality, it raises specific trade concerns (STCs) that are likely to lead to trade disputes in the WTO (Ghodsi and Michalek, 2014). According to Baba (1997), informing voters and consumers generally is costly. ...
... Concerning the United States there were 11 requests for consultation for violation of the TBT agreement; the DSB finally concluded that the US had in fact violated the TBT agreement four times (DS cases 381, 384, 386 and 406). Interestingly, in the case of China there have been no requests for consultation concerning the violation of the TBT agreement until 2014.Ghodsi and Michalek (2014)have shown a strong positive relationship between TBT STC notifications and requests for consultations citing the TBT agreement within the DS mechanism. Thus, TBT STCs might follow some protectionist motivations causing trade conflicts. ...
... Since majority of TBT STCs are maintained on a vast variety of products, the data applied in the analysis is aggregated to two-digit level of HS-2. There is some duplication in the database even before aggregation of products, which makes the analysis biased (Ghodsi and Michalek, 2014). In order to correct this bias, duplicated observations are removed. ...
Nos últimos anos, intensificou-se o uso de medidas não tarifárias (MNTs) pelos países participantes do comércio internacional. Por definição, as MNTs são políticas comerciais, excluindo as tarifas, que podem afetar preços e/ou quantidades dos produtos transacionados mundialmente. As MNTs incluem tanto políticas e regulamentos que dificultam o comércio, tais como cotas e restrições às exportações, como políticas que podem facilitar as transações mundiais, doravante medidas sanitárias e fitossanitárias (sanitary and phytosanitary measures – SPS) e medidas técnicas (technical barriers to trade – TBT), que têm objetivos cientificamente fundados. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar um panorama sobre as medidas não tarifárias técnicas (SPS, TBT e medidas pré-embarque), destacando os aspectos principais por trás desses regulamentos e a literatura empírica recente sobre a temática. O estudo mostra que o primeiro passo para a avaliação de MNTs técnicas é enfatizar que os seus efeitos são, a priori, desconhecidos. As MNTs técnicas incorporam um conjunto de requisitos específicos que afetam de modo diferente os países exportadores e, mais do que isso, os efeitos são distintos quando avaliados do ponto de vista setorial.
