EFFECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE PATTERN FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade,

Brazilian biofuels policies and impacts on world agricultural trade

Agricultural and Food Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS AMBIENTAIS: A EXPERIÊNCIA DOS PAÍSES NO USO DE INSTRUMENTOS ECONÔMICOS COMO INCENTIVO À MELHORIA AMBIENTAL

Este trabalho consiste de uma revisão crítica dos estudos que relatam a experiência de diversos países na adoção de políticas públicas, visando conter os impactos ambientais em seu território. O principal objetivo é analisar comparativamente a adoção de instrumentos econômicos (IE) pelos países em suas políticas públicas ambientais, considerados os diferentes objetivos ambientais perseguidos. Identificaram-se instrumentos de incentivo adotados em 54 países, pesquisados na literatura nacional e internacional, organizados por objetivo ambiental (proteção de florestas, recursos hídricos, solo, atmosfera, entre outros), e pela natureza da política. Há uma crescente tendência de adoção dos Instrumentos Econômicos, em parceria com os de Comando e Controle ou individualmente, que pode ser explicada pelo estabelecimento de metas globais, discutidas em fóruns internacionais. Alguns desses instrumentos estão associados com a formação de mercados, estimulando a que os agentes adotem alterações em seus padrões de consumo e produção. Recentemente, observou-se que novos mecanismos passaram a se incorporar à lista de instrumentos econômicos (IE): o mercado de carbono, o pagamento por serviços ambientais (PSA), o estímulo ao ecoturismo e a capacitação de técnicos e demais profissionais para orientação da produção sustentável. Este estudo mostrou que tanto países desenvolvidos quanto em desenvolvimento intensificam a adoção de tais instrumentos de incentivo em sua política ambiental. Os primeiros com uso intenso de impostos sobre combustíveis fósseis, por exemplo; e os últimos, além de impostos, adotando a rotulagem ambiental. Uma temática freqüente aos dois grupos de países é o tratamento de resíduos sólidos, seu reaproveitamento e formas de valorização. -----------------------------------------------------This paper is a critical review of studies reporting the experience of several countries in the adoption of public policies, which aim to control the environmental impacts and their territory. The main goal is to analyze comparatively the adoption of economic tools (IE) by countries in the scope of their environmental public policies, considering different objectives pursued. Tools of incentive were identified for 54 countries, collected in the national and the international literature, organized by the environmental objective as forest protection, water resources, soil, atmosphere, etc., and by the type of policy. There is a growing trend of adopting the IE, complementing the tools of command and control or individually, and this is explained by the establishment of global targets discussed internationally. Some of these policies are associated with the emergence of new markets, stimulating the agents to shift their consumption and production patterns. Recently new mechanisms were noticed to be incorporated to the list of economic policies: the credit carbon market, the payment for environmental services, the incentives to eco-tourism and the capacity of professionals to act for the sustainable production. This study showed that both developing countries increased the application of such incentives as environmental policy. The former adopting intensively the taxes on fuels, for example; and the last, besides the taxes adopting the environmental label. The policies aimed at solid residues are common in both countries.meio ambiente, políticas públicas, instrumentos de incentivo, florestas, resíduos, environment, public policies, incentive instruments, forests, residues, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Environmental regulation and international trade patterns for agro-industrial under a South-North Perspective

This paper aims at examining the relation between the international trade and the environment, particularly focused on sensitive agribusiness sectors. It consists on an empirical test to the conflicting positions supported by economists, some following the traditional approach (trade-off or neoclassical), while others supporting the Porter’s hypothesis, which considers that impacts of the stricter environmental regulation can benefit the trade competitiveness. A Heckscher-Ohlin- Vanek model was applied to net exports as the dependent variable. The agricultural products analyzed were total agriculture, rice, maize, soybean, wheat, dairy and swine; run for 97 countries, divided as developing and developed, in a cross-section approach. This modeling allows including the environmental endowment as explanatory variables. Moreover the Environmental Performance Index (Esty et al, 2008) was also tried as explanatory variables in order to catch any effect of the environmental regulation on the trade patterns. Results were not conclusively as they show that the net exports of the selected products, considered environmentally sensitive, can be affected even positively or negatively (neoclassical approach) by the environmental regulation. The results depend on the products. A remarkable outcome to highlight is that the dummy for developing countries and developed countries was significant, pointing that for rice, for example, it makes difference being a developing country, as well as it does for wheat, being a developed country.Trade, environmental regulation, agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade,

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Quantification of non-tariff barriers effects on brazilian beef exports.

Este estudo teve como meta propor uma metodologia que permitisse avaliar, quantitativamente, os impactos de barreiras não-tarifárias (BNTs), em especial as técnicas e sanitárias, sobre os volumes e preços das vendas externas de carne bovina brasileira. O período de análise compreendeu desde o mês de janeiro de 1992 a dezembro de 2000, tendo-se considerado dois mercados especificamente: o dos cortes especiais de traseiro e dianteiro destinados à União Européia e o do corned beef para os EUA. Os dados básicos utilizados foram cedidos pela Associação Brasileira de Indústrias Exportadoras de Carnes Industrializadas (ABIEC). A hipótese deste trabalho foi a de que as questões técnicas/sanitárias interferem nas vendas externas de carnes bovinas do Brasil. Essa interferência dá-se sobre os volumes transacionados, os preços de negociação ou sobre ambos. Para a consecução do objetivo exposto foi, inicialmente, realizado um levantamento dos métodos já utilizados para mensurar efeitos de barreiras comerciais. Não foi encontrado um instrumental específico que atendesse à proposta deste trabalho. Assim, optou-se por construir um modelo reduzido para vendas externas desses produtos. Foram estimadas regressões visando identificar a influência das principais variáveis de oferta e demanda domésticas e da demanda internacional. A partir desses modelos, foi conduzida uma análise do comportamento dos resíduos, para identificação de outliers que pudessem refletir impactos de eventos de natureza sanitária ou de outros com caráter exógeno, não captados pelas variáveis explicativas. Uma vez constatados resíduos anormais, associados a eventos de interesse para este estudo, foram ajustados modelos de intervenção, de forma a permitir obter estimativas desses impactos diretamente sobre as séries de preços e volumes e estabelecer o padrão de influência da intervenção. Para a seleção das variáveis explicativas e dos eventos de interesse elaborou-se uma descrição detalhada sobre o mercado exportador do produto e seus fatores determinantes, domésticos e externos. Além da revisão de literatura, foram aplicados questionários e realizadas entrevistas junto ao setor exportador dessas carnes. Verificou-se que grande parte das variações nos volumes e preços das vendas externas foram explicadas pelas variáveis representativas dos fundamentos do mercado, como taxa de câmbio, preço do boi gordo, renda do Brasil, preços de países concorrentes, entre outras. Foram obtidos coeficientes de determinação elevados tanto para os modelos para cortes especiais quanto para os de corned beef. Para o volume e preços de exportação do corned beef destinado aos EUA também mostraram-se significativos os coeficientes dos preços médios de exportação brasileira desse produto para a UE. A maior parte da variação naqueles preços foi explicada por variáveis da demanda externa. No caso do modelo de intervenção para preços dos cortes especiais, a intervenção em março de 1995 mostrou-se significativa, com efeito de reduzir os preços, durante três meses. Este efeito pode estar relacionado à proibição das importações européias de carne de São Paulo e Minas Gerais naquele período. De modo geral, as intervenções relacionadas a eventos sanitários não se mostraram significativas ou não apresentaram resultados conclusivos. Possivelmente, a utilização de dados regionalizados para Circuitos Pecuários poderia gerar resultados mais claros sobre os impactos desses eventos.This research aimed to develop a methodology to evaluate quantitatively non-tariff barriers impacts, mainly technical and sanitary, on the quantities and prices of Brazilian beef foreign sales. The analysis was implemented for the period from January/1992 to December/2000, considering two specific markets: European Union market for special beef cuts (chilled or frozen.) and the United States market for corned beef. Export basic data were provided by Associação Brasileira de Indústrias Exportadoras de Carnes Industrializadas (ABIEC). This studys hypothesis was that technical/sanitary issues influence the Brazilian beef exports. The impact is expected either on transaction volumes, prices or both. In order to reach the objective the methods already employed to measure trade barriers effects were reviewed. No specific instrument to apply to this study proposition was found. Then, a reduced form model was built to explain the products external sales. Regressions were estimated in order to identify the influence of main domestic supply and demand variables as well as international demand factors. The residuals of those models were analyzed to indentify the outliers that could reflect impacts of sanitary and other exogenous events, not measured by the explanatory variables. Since abnormal residuals were found, that could be related to relevant events. Intervention models were adjusted to permit to obtain impact estimates directly on prices and quantities series and stablish the intervention influence pattern. A detailed description on beef export market and its determinants, both internal and external was presented. Besides the literature review, questionnaires were applied to beef exporting industries. Results show that a great part of external sales volume and price variations were due to market fundamental variables, like exchange rate, cattle price, Brazil income, prices of competitive countries and others. High determination coefficients were observed both for special cuts and corned beef models. Coefficients for average prices of Brazilian corned beef exports to European Union were significant to explain prices and volumes of corned beef exports to USA. Most of those prices variations were due to external demand variables. In the intervention model analysis for special cuts, the 1995 March point was significant, indicating a reduction effect on those product prices, for three months. This effect can be related to the embargo of European imports to the São Paulo and Minas Gerais States beef exports, during that period. In general, interventions results related to sanitary events were not significant or conclusive. Possibly, data regionalization for Cattle Circuits could generate clear results on those events impacts

Estimation of Tariff Equivalent for NTM on Brazilian beef exports to the European Union

In this paper, we estimate the tariff equivalent of NTMs considering the beef trade between Brazil and the EU. The literature review points out a considerable number of requirements that affect beef trade. The tariff equivalents are estimated for the period of 2000 to 2009, for frozen and fresh beef, bone and boneless. Two models are estimated, assuming homogeneity and heterogeneity of goods, and following, respectively, the methodology proposed by Deardorff and Stern (1997) and Yue, Beghin and Jensen (2005). In general, we observe high values for the tariff equivalents, i.e., the European domestic prices and the world prices actually differ, which could indicate that the European beef market has been protected by NTMs

POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS AMBIENTAIS: A EXPERIÊNCIA DOS PAÍSES NO USO DE INSTRUMENTOS ECONÔMICOS COMO INCENTIVO À MELHORIA AMBIENTAL

Este trabalho consiste de uma revisão crítica dos estudos que relatam a experiência de diversos países na adoção de políticas públicas, visando conter os impactos ambientais em seu território. O principal objetivo é analisar comparativamente a adoção de instrumentos econômicos (IE) pelos países em suas políticas públicas ambientais, considerados os diferentes objetivos ambientais perseguidos. Identificaram-se instrumentos de incentivo adotados em 54 países, pesquisados na literatura nacional e internacional, organizados por objetivo ambiental (proteção de florestas, recursos hídricos, solo, atmosfera, entre outros), e pela natureza da política. Há uma crescente tendência de adoção dos Instrumentos Econômicos, em parceria com os de Comando e Controle ou individualmente, que pode ser explicada pelo estabelecimento de metas globais, discutidas em fóruns internacionais. Alguns desses instrumentos estão associados com a formação de mercados, estimulando a que os agentes adotem alterações em seus padrões de consumo e produção. Recentemente, observou-se que novos mecanismos passaram a se incorporar à lista de instrumentos econômicos (IE): o mercado de carbono, o pagamento por serviços ambientais (PSA), o estímulo ao ecoturismo e a capacitação de técnicos e demais profissionais para orientação da produção sustentável. Este estudo mostrou que tanto países desenvolvidos quanto em desenvolvimento intensificam a adoção de tais instrumentos de incentivo em sua política ambiental. Os primeiros com uso intenso de impostos sobre combustíveis fósseis, por exemplo; e os últimos, além de impostos, adotando a rotulagem ambiental. Uma temática freqüente aos dois grupos de países é o tratamento de resíduos sólidos, seu reaproveitamento e formas de valorização. -----------------------------------------------------This paper is a critical review of studies reporting the experience of several countries in the adoption of public policies, which aim to control the environmental impacts and their territory. The main goal is to analyze comparatively the adoption of economic tools (IE) by countries in the scope of their environmental public policies, considering different objectives pursued. Tools of incentive were identified for 54 countries, collected in the national and the international literature, organized by the environmental objective as forest protection, water resources, soil, atmosphere, etc., and by the type of policy. There is a growing trend of adopting the IE, complementing the tools of command and control or individually, and this is explained by the establishment of global targets discussed internationally. Some of these policies are associated with the emergence of new markets, stimulating the agents to shift their consumption and production patterns. Recently new mechanisms were noticed to be incorporated to the list of economic policies: the credit carbon market, the payment for environmental services, the incentives to eco-tourism and the capacity of professionals to act for the sustainable production. This study showed that both developing countries increased the application of such incentives as environmental policy. The former adopting intensively the taxes on fuels, for example; and the last, besides the taxes adopting the environmental label. The policies aimed at solid residues are common in both countries