scholarly journals Monitoring the impact of trade agreements on national food environments: trade imports and population nutrition risks in Fiji

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amerita Ravuvu ◽  
Sharon Friel ◽  
Anne-Marie Thow ◽  
Wendy Snowdon ◽  
Jillian Wate
Keyword(s):  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Food Environments ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Analysing the Impact of Trade Agreements on National Food Environments: The Case of Vanuatu

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amerita Ravuvu ◽  
Joe Pakoa Lui ◽  
Adolphe Bani ◽  
Anna Wells Tavoa ◽  
Raymond Vuti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Liberalisation ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Food Environments ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Objective Monitoring ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: The liberalisation of international trade and foreign direct investment through trade agreements have been influential in the changing structure and nature of food systems. They have also contributed to the increased availability of foods associated with the nutrition transition globally. Despite the large body of literature on trade liberalisation and the ways in which trade agreements can affect food systems, the ways in which trade agreements can affect national food environments has been little studied. There is a need for more systematic and objective monitoring of the impacts of trade agreements to better understand its links and impacts on the influx of food imports high in fat, sugar and salt entering a country as this has direct impacts on the availability, nutritional quality and accessibility of foods in national food environments. Using the INFORMAS trade monitoring framework, a systematic analysis of Vanuatu’s membership to the WTO under the framework’s four domains was undertaken. Results: The baseline results presented in this paper suggest a strong association between Vanuatu’s trade liberalisation and the increased availability of the diverse range of imported products: fats and oils, meat and canned fish, processed dairy products, energy-dense beverages, and processed and packaged foods.Conclusions: The analysis presented in this paper suggest that Vanuatu’s commitments to WTO Agreements do play an important role in shaping their food environment by increasing both healthy and less healthy imports. For all Pacific Island countries, the systematic and objective monitoring of the impacts of these agreements on national food environments remains a significant challenge. There is also minimal data to inform the development of effective, coherent trade and health policy approaches to promote healthier food environments that can contribute to reducing the burden of obesity and related NCDs. Nevertheless, there is scope when developing trade policies and agreements to consider NCDs as part of broader social impact assessment studies. These can be used to identify potential modifications that can be made to trade policies and agreements. These modifications can regulate food environments and reduce the impact of NCDs or ensure that mitigating complementary actions are taken.

scholarly journals Analysing the impact of trade agreements on national food environments: the case of Vanuatu

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amerita Ravuvu ◽  
Joe Pakoa Lui ◽  
Adolphe Bani ◽  
Anna Wells Tavoa ◽  
Raymond Vuti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Environment ◽  
Ice Cream ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Liberalisation ◽  
Food Environments ◽  
Bakery Products ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
Tariff Rates ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Wto Agreements

Abstract Background A large body of literature exists on trade liberalisation and the ways in which trade agreements can affect food systems. However, the systematic and objective monitoring of these and their impact on national food environments has been limited. Using a case study, this paper undertakes a systematic analysis of how Vanuatu’s obligations under WTO agreements has impacted its food environment. Results Data collection was guided by the INFORMAS trade monitoring framework’s minimal approach and seven selected indicators outlined in three domains: trade in goods, trade in services and FDI, and policy space. Strong associations between trade liberalisation and imported foods, especially ultra-processed foods were evident in measured indicators as follows: (i) food trade with 32 WTO countries showing high levels of import volumes; (ii) a marked increase in ‘less healthy’ focus food imports namely fatty and other selected meat products, sugar, savoury snacks, ice-cream and edible ices and energy-dense beverages; (iii) actual and bound tariff rates impacting import trends of ice-cream and edible ices, bakery products and confectionary; and in other instances, a sharp increase in import of crisps, snacks and noodles despite tariff rates remaining unchanged from 2008 to 2019; (iv) policies regulating food marketing, composition, labelling and trade in the domestic space with relatively limited safeguard measures; (v) 49 foreign-owned food-related companies involved in food manufacturing and processing and the production of coffee, bakery products, confectionary, food preservatives, fish, local food products and meat, and the manufacturing, processing and packaging of palm oil, coconut oil, cooking oil, water, cordial juice, flavoured juices, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. These were largely produced for local consumption; (vi) 32 domestic industries engaged in food and beverage production; and (vii) an assessment of WTO provisions relating to domestic policy space and governance showing that the current legal and regulatory environment for food in Vanuatu remains fragmented. Conclusions The analysis presented in this paper suggest that Vanuatu’s commitments to WTO agreements do play an important role in shaping their food environment and the availability, nutritional quality, and accessibility of foods.

scholarly journals Protection, economic war and structural change: the 1930s in Ireland

1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (107) ◽  
pp. 250-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Peter Neary ◽  
Cormac Ó Gráda
Keyword(s):  
Economic Activity ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Home Market ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Political Controversy ◽  
Cumann Na Ngaedheal ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Economic Outlook

If I were an Irishman, I should find much to attract me in the economic outlook of your present government towards greater self-sufficiency. (J.M. Keynes)The 1930s were years of political turmoil and economic crisis and change in Ireland. Economic activity had peaked in 1929, and the last years of the Cumann na nGaedheal government (in power since the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922) saw substantial drops in output, trade and employment. The policies pursued after Fianna Fáil’s victory in the election of February 1932 were therefore influenced both by immediate economic pressures and by the party’s ideological commitments. The highly protectionist measures associated with de Valera and Lemass — key men of the new régime — sought both to create jobs quickly and to build more gradually a large indigenous industrial sector, producing primarily for the home market.Political controversy complicated matters. De Valera was regarded as a headstrong fanatic by the British establishment. His government’s refusal to hand over to Britain the so-called ‘land annuities’ — a disputed item in the Anglo-Irish settlement of 1921 — led to an ‘economic war’, in which the British Treasury sought payment instead through penal ‘emergency’ tariffs on Irish imports. The Irish imposed their own duties, bounties and licensing restrictions in turn. The economic war hurt Irish agriculture badly; the prices of fat and store cattle dropped by almost half between 1932 and mid-1935. Farmers got some relief through export bounties and the coal-cattle pacts (quota exchanges of Irish cattle for British coal) of 1935-7, but Anglo-Irish relations were not normalised again until the finance and trade agreements of the spring of 1938, and the resolution of the annuities dispute did not mean an end to protection. The questions ‘Who won the economic war?’ and ‘What was the impact of protection on the Irish economy?’ are analytically distinct, but they are not that easy to keep apart in practice.

Was India Right in Not Joining RCEP? A Cost–Benefit Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 097492842110477
Author(s):  
Monika Jain
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Trade Diversion ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Trade Creation ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

India dropped out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which included the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, China, South Korea, New Zealand, Japan and Australia, after negotiating for almost seven years in November 2018 on the grounds of national interest and also that free trade agreements (FTAs) did not amount to free trade and led to more trade diversion than trade creation. The cost and benefit of a regional agreement depend on the amount of trade creation with respect to trade diversion (Panagriya, 2000). This study tries to examine India’s concerns and at the same time, highlights the cost of not joining RCEP. India’s trade deficit with 11 out of the 15 RCEP nations has been a major cause of concern. Unfavourable trade balance, concerns about the impact on dairy sector, economic slowdown, past experience with FTA’s, China factor, data localisation, rules of origin, the experience of ASEAN countries with Sino-FTA have been some of the reasons behind India’s decision to opt-out of this mega multilateral agreement. Also, bilateral trade agreements with some RCEP countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and South Korea were operational. A multilateral trade agreement with ASEAN countries was very much in place. So, trade between India and 12 of the RCEP member countries would not have changed much after India’s inclusion in RCEP. The impact of lower tariffs would have been evident for the remaining three countries: China, Australia and New Zealand. Furthermore, there was fear of a massive surge in imports of manufactures from China, dairy imports from Australia and New Zealand. This study also examines the long term impact of this decision and if India has missed out on becoming a part of the global value chain and gaining greater market access in the Asia Pacific region. India’s policy of import substitution and protectionism did not capitulate desired results in the past. Hence, a critical evaluation of India’s decision and some validation on her concerns and fears have been done.

International Cooperation and Natural Disasters: Evidence from Trade Agreements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Conevska
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Exogenous Shocks ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Environmental Shocks ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Domestic Economies

Abstract Environmental shocks in the form of natural disasters are well known for their impact on domestic economies. Less known, however, is their impact on the global economy. The scant existing literature suggests that macro-economic impacts manifest in observed empirical decreases in international trade. The literature, however, does not examine whether the impact of natural disasters on trade varies for trading partners with differing levels of market integration. This paper examines if preferential liberalization serves to protect or buffer against the negative economic consequences of natural disasters. I show that deep preferential liberalization can not only protect countries against the negative macro-economic impact of natural disasters but can actually allow countries to increase exports during natural disaster events that otherwise induce trade decline. These findings suggest that by allowing countries to expand the quantity and the range of exports, preferential trade agreements lead to enhanced resilience against exogenous shocks.

The impact of plurilateral trade agreements on developing countries – to participate or not to participate?

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talitha Bertelsmann-Scott ◽  
Susara J. Jansen van Rensburg ◽  
Wilma Viviers ◽  
Asmita Parshotam ◽  
Ali Parry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Reciprocal Trade Agreements in Asia: Credible Commitment to Trade Liberalization or Paper Tigers?

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Hicks ◽  
Soo Yeon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Trade Flows ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Credible Commitment ◽  
Coding Scheme ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact

Reciprocal trade agreements (RTAs) have proliferated rapidly in Asia in recent years, an unprecedented phenomenon in a region in which state-led institution-building efforts were largely unsuccessful during the Cold War years. In this article, we investigate the qualitative provisions of RTAs in Asia, focusing on agreements that are professedly geared toward trade liberalization through reciprocal exchanges of trade concessions. We build on the concept of credible commitment—that states “tie their hands” through international agreements and thus signal strong commitment to trade liberalization. We argue that a broad range of agreement provisions will affect an RTA's ability to achieve its primary objective: trade liberalization. We present a coding scheme that measures the strength of a wide variety of provisions in the legal texts of RTAs. Using quantitative analysis, we analyze the impact of various components of Asia's RTAs on participants' trade flows.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document