Animal welfare in poultry production systems: impact of EU standards on world trade

Animal welfare receives more legislative attention in the European Union (EU) than in many other regions of the world. Animal welfare standards for poultry are generally taken to be higher in the EU than in producing countries exporting to the EU, particularly developing countries. The recent action plan for animal welfare introduced by the European Commission aims to further expand the body of regulatory standards. In broiler production worldwide, birds are mainly kept on litter. Recently the EU agreed on a new Directive to set standards for maximum bird density. However, this is not considered likely to have a great impact on global trade. At present, the difference in animal conditions, including bird density, in Brazil and Thailand is limited compared to the EU. In egg production the majority of commercial layers are kept in laying cages. There is wide variation in space allowance per bird from 300 to 400 cm in Brazil, Ukraine and India towards the current minimum of 550 cm(2) per hen in the EU. After 2012, hens in the EU will be kept in enriched cages with a minimum space allowance of 750 cm(2) per hen. It is expected that this will have an impact on world trade in egg products and especially egg powder. Trade in table eggs will continue to be limited to the local region. The EU is considering the use of labelling to provide consumers with more information concerning the standard of production. Another option could be to use financial mechanisms such as taxes or tariffs to prevent imports from other countries with lower standards. The likelihood of a measure being challenged would depend on how difficult it was for exporters outside the EU to meet the requirements

EU-India free trade agreement : a quantitative assessment

This report analyses the effects of a regional trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and India, for which negotiations are underway. The study starts with abrief overview of the key insights from the existing literature on FTAs and their relationship with multilateral negotiations. The remainder of the study is devoted to analysing the impact of tariff slashes under an FTA on merchandise trade between the EU and India. Of particular interest are the implications for agricultural markets, given the tension between agricultural liberalisation and India's policy goals relating to self-sufficiency in food grains and poverty reduction. The analysis employs GTAP, a global general equilibrium model using a recent database which has 2004 as its reference year. The results suggest that India's interests in a regional trade agreement with the EU are downplayed by the fact that India's economy is not well integrated in global markets. Impacts on the EU are minor and further reduced if a Doha agreement is in place when the FTA is implemented. Results indicate the rationale for a strongly asymmetric arrangement: it would be in the interest of both partners if the EU provides large concessions to India for market access, while India maintains the bulk of current border protection. An EU - India FTA delivers little scope for achieving efficiency gains via adjustments to the pattern of international specialisation. An EU - India agreement on merchandise trade is unlikely to embody substantial preferential treatment with regard to market access. Probably, India can find more suitable FTA partners. Agriculture is a key sector for India in the consideration of equity and growth purposes of a FTA with EU

Measure the Measure: the Impact of Differences in Pesticide MRLs on Chilean Fruit Exports to the EU

This paper advances the measurement of nontariff measures (NTMs) by discussing a framework for how to compare regulations. We argue that relative differences in SPS regulations trigger the impact on trade flows between trading partner countries and specifically look at maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides in a case study on Chilean fruit exports to the EU. In order to capture the relative differences and stringency in tolerance levels of trading partners, a simple indicator is constructed and applied in an econometric analysis. In comparison to existing indices of regulatory heterogeneity, the depth of information generated by our indicator severely compromises its coverage. Further development of our heterogeneity index will need to aim at including elements of process standards and conformity assessment procedures

Cattle trade and the risk of importing animal diseases into the Netherlands

This study examines the risk of importing animal diseases into the Netherlands through livestock trade. It presents projections of Dutch cattle imports until 2010, and applies quantitative epidemiology to estimate the related probabilities of importing three animal diseases (foot and mouth disease, bovine tuberculosis, and leptospirosis). A key result is that trade flows involving large numbers of cattle from a large number of small-scale farms poses alarming risks to veterinary health in the Netherlands

Trade liberalisation under the Doha Development Agenda: Options and consequences for Africa

This study provides a quantitative estimate of the potential economic consequences of multilateral trade reform under the WTO for Africa using a framework that explicitly incorporates issues of concern to the region, such as preference erosion, loss of tariff revenue, and trade facilitation. It also examines the impact of OECD agricultural support programmes on economic welfare and specialisation in Africa. In the static version of the GTAP model, the study finds that full liberalisation of trade would increase global welfare (income) by 0.3 per cent, but would add 0.7 per cent annually to income in the African region. Sub-Saharan Africa and, to a lesser extent, Southern Africa, are vulnerable to partial trade reforms as they incur losses from partial reform while all other regions derive positive gains from a liberalisation of minor scop