Protecting health or protecting imports? Evidence from EU non-tariff barriers

Arbeitspapier

Non-tariff measures such as food safety standards are used to achieve the non-trade objective of protecting consumers' health and safety. However, they can also be used as a trade protection tool to drive a price wedge between domestic and foreign producers. This study investigates the protectionist intent of EU food safety standards using a sample of EU food imported from African countries with a specific focus on tomatoes and citrus fruits. We formalize what protectionism is by comparing EU standards to the internationally scientific referenced benchmarks regulated jointly by both the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization. Our results show that the EU tomato sector is less dependent on imports and is overprotected by more stringent standards relative to the international benchmarks. Conversely, we find that the EU orange and lime and lemon sectors are heavily import dependent and are under-protected relative to the international standards. These results largely support the hypothesis that heavily import dependent sectors are less protected.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: GlobalFood Discussion Papers ; No. 84

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations ; Empirical Studies of Trade ; Information and Product Quality; Standardization and Compatibility ; Capitalist Systems: Political Economy ; Agriculture in International Trade ; Agricultural Policy; Food Policy
• Subject: Trade Protectionism ; Non-tariff barriers ; Food Safety Standards ; Food exports

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Kareem, Fatima Olanike ; Martinez-Zarzoso, Immaculada ; Brümmer, Bernhard
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Research Training Group (RTG) 1666 - GlobalFood
• (where): Göttingen
• (when): 2016

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/142796
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET