Government regulation of the Internet as instrument of digital protectionism in case of developing countries

The research is devoted to the study of digital protectionism technologies, in particular, Internet censorship as a non-tariff barrier to digital trade and the determination of the strategic motives of states to use them. The reports ‘Freedom on the Net’ and ‘The network readiness index 2020’ acted as a basic data source for the study of modern instruments of government regulation of interactions in the digital environment. Internet censorship technologies have been considered in six countries with varying levels of Internet freedom: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and Estonia. The key instruments of digital protectionism as a non-tariff barrier of the digital economy have been identified, such as: localisation requirements; restrictions on cross-border data flow; system of national protection of intellectual property rights; discriminatory, unique standards or burdensome testing; filtering or blocking; restrictions on electronic payment systems or the use of encryption; cybersecurity threats and forced technology transfer. Internet censorship technologies have been demonstrated and their influence on the strategic development of trade relations between economies in cyberspace has been determined. The scientific value of the article lies in substantiating the understanding of Internet censorship as a natural tool for regulating the development of a digital society and international trade relations. Each state at one time goes through a technological stage of development, which leads to the emergence of different levels of digital isolation and integration; and Internet censorship is a natural element in the system of building a national platform economy and consolidating the country’s internal technological and innovative advantages in digital realities.

Impact of Tariffs and Nontariff Barriers on the International Trade

In the modern world economy, tariff and non-tariff barrier regulation actsas an effective regulator, promoting greater openness of the market, oras the most widespread foreign trade instrument of protectionism. Over the past decades there has been a steady decline in the rates of import customs duties. On the other hand, non-tariff measures to regulate foreign trade are being applied more and more effectively. But at the same time customs and tariff policy continues to be a key factor determining the national trade regime and the conditions for access of foreign products to the domestic market.The main purpose of this research is to assess the influence of tariffs and non-tariff barriers on international trade, asthese factors play an essential role in the international trade.The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the work of scientists in the field of finance, state regulation of foreign economic activity and international relations. In the methodology part gravity model regression is assessed for tariff and non-tariff measures (NTMs)regulatingforeign trade flows. As result, non-tariff barriers (NTMs) such as Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS) and Technical Barriers to trade (TBT) have had the largest negative impact.

PENGARUH HAMBATAN NONTARIF DI PASAR UNI EROPA TERHADAP EKSPOR KOMODITAS CPO INDONESIA

This research aims to analyze which trade barriers are implemented by European Union (EU) on Indonesian Crude Palm Oil (CPO) commodity and did the non-tariff barrier named “Report on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforrest” which has been ratified by the European Comission (EC) have a significant effects on Indonesian CPO export or not. This research used literature study method with secondary and primary data obtained from BPS, Indonesian National Export Development Agency, Central Bank of Indonesia, Eurostat, WTO, FAO, PASPI, Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesian Ministry of Trade and Indonesian Palm Oil Assosiation (IPOA). The results of this research show that the EU has implemented non-tariff barriers on Indonesian CPO since 1905 with various kinds of issues such as health, social and environment. The non-tariff barrier which has been ratified in April 2017 by the European Comission did not significantly affect on Indonesian CPO export.Key words: CPO, European Union, Non-tariff Barriers.

Nigeria and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement Area (AFCFTA): Issues, Challenges and Prospect.

In order to improve intra-continental trade in Africa Union (AU) introduced the African Continental Force Trade Agreement Area (AFCTFA) to create single continental market for the free movement of goods and services within the African Continent. AU is progressively eliminating tariffs as well as non-tariff barrier to African trade through the AFCFTA which will make it easier for African businesses to trade within the continent and benefit from growing African market. Nigeria’s position on the AFCFTA remains that African economic and social integration must be rules-based and with built-in safeguard against injurious practices. AFCFTA is an important part of the AU – 2063 Agenda to promote economic and social integration on the continent. Agreement comprises of the framework, the protocols for trade in goods and trade in services and the mechanism for dispute resolution. AFCFTA is to facilitate economic growth and diversification through preferential access to Africa’s market. The paper examines Nigeria’s stands which states that continental aspirations must compliment Nigeria’s national interest which includes not positioning it as a dumping ground for finished goods. The paper makes use of secondary source of data to elicit information while it examines the challenges like how will the agreement be implemented on the ground without the necessary infrastructure being built without the procedural issues that makes corruption very possible at the borders. The paper adopts free trade theory to midwife the study.

An Analysis of the Tariff and Non-tariff Barrier on Global Cottonseed Oil Trade

This study is conducted to estimate the effect of both tariff and non-tariff barriers on global crude cottonseed oil, refined cottonseed, and cottonseed oil. This effect is estimated for a sample of developed and developing countries using data over the period 2005 to 2015. The study employed three maximum residue limits (MRL) indices, namely Li and Beghin, Actual Heterogeneous Index (AHI) and Heterogeneous Index (HI) as well as two estimation techniques, Poisson and Ordinary Least Square method (OLS). Marginal effects are obtained by using the Poisson technique. Estimated parameters such as distance, common border, PTAs, are found significant and according to prior expectations. The role of tariffs is more substantial in the oilseed trade compared to the trade in cottonseed crude oil. It is also found that the estimated elasticity by using Poisson technique is highly elastic as compared to OLS method. However, the aggregation of commodities at a higher level, as in the case of cottonseed oil, shows that the effect of the tariff on trade becomes statistically insignificant. Further, cottonseed crude oil is a major commodity affected by tariffs, particularly in the case of trade between North-North and North-South countries. Finally, the effect of tariffs on cottonseed refined oil trade was found insignificant.

Assessing the potential of plains zebra to maintain African horse sickness in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

African horse sickness (AHS) is a disease of equids that results in a non-tariff barrier to the trade of live equids from affected countries. AHS is endemic in South Africa except for a controlled area in the Western Cape Province (WCP) where sporadic outbreaks have occurred in the past 2 decades. There is potential that the presence of zebra populations, thought to be the natural reservoir hosts for AHS, in the WCP could maintain AHS virus circulation in the area and act as a year-round source of infection for horses. However, it remains unclear whether the epidemiology or the ecological conditions present in the WCP would enable persistent circulation of AHS in the local zebra populations.Here we developed a hybrid deterministic-stochastic vector-host compartmental model of AHS transmission in plains zebra (Equus quagga), where host populations are age- and sex-structured and for which population and AHS transmission dynamics are modulated by rainfall and temperature conditions. Using this model, we showed that populations of plains zebra present in the WCP are not sufficiently large for AHS introduction events to become endemic and that coastal populations of zebra need to be >2500 individuals for AHS to persist >2 years, even if zebras are infectious for more than 50 days. AHS cannot become endemic in the coastal population of the WCP unless the zebra population involves at least 50,000 individuals. Finally, inland populations of plains zebra in the WCP may represent a risk for AHS to persist but would require populations of at least 500 zebras or show unrealistic duration of infectiousness for AHS introduction events to become endemic.Our results provide evidence that the risk of AHS persistence from a single introduction event in a given plains zebra population in the WCP is extremely low and it is unlikely to represent a long-term source of infection for local horses.

Competitiveness Analysis and Factors Affecting Trade of Main Commodities between Indonesia and Turkey

This study aims to analyze the competitiveness, trade integration, trade complementarity, and factors affecting the export and import of main commodities between Indonesia and Turkey. Data used in this study is time series data in 1996-2018 and the methods used are Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), Intra-Industry Trade (IIT), Trade Complementarity Index (TCI), and Ordinary Least Square (OLS). Results of RCA showed Indonesia's main export commodities to Turkey are woven fabrics, stearic acid, palm oil and natural rubber. While IIT showed that there is only one way trade from Indonesia. Import commodities from Turkey are carpets, borax, wheat flour, and tobacco. TCI showed low complementarity between Indonesia�s export and Turkey�s import. GDP per capita has positive impact on exports and imports. The exchange rate has positive impact on exports and negative on imports. Price and tariff rate have negative impact on both exports and imports. Dummy Non-tariff barrier has negative impact on exports while in import side, it only affects the wheat flour negatively. The Government of Indonesia should pursue a strategy in trade cooperation as efforts to reduce trade barriers such as tariffs and non-tariffs for some commodities that have competitiveness in the Turkish market.

A Pluralist Approach to the Law of International Sales

International trade can support economic development and social upliftment. However, people are often discouraged from contracting internationally due to differences in legal systems which act as a non-tariff barrier to trade. This article focuses on the private law framework regulating international contracts of sale. During the twentieth century, the problem of diverse laws was primarily addressed by global uniform law such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). However, uniform law is rarely complete and has to be supplemented by national law, trade usage or party agreement. Because of gaps that exist in the CISG the Swiss government made a proposal for a new global contract law. But is this a feasible solution to the fragmentary state of international trade law? In Europe, signs of reluctance are setting in towards further harmonisation efforts. The Proposal for a Common European Sales Law (CESL) was recently withdrawn, and now Britain has voted to leave the European Union; rumour having it that more countries might follow. The current private law framework for international sales contracts consists of a hybrid system where international, national, state and non-state law function side by side. This article submits that universalism is not per se the most efficient approach to the regulation of international sales law and that economic forces require a more varied approach for business-to-business transactions. The biggest challenge, however, would be to manage global legal pluralism. It is concluded that contractual parties, the courts and arbitral tribunals can effectively manage pluralism on a case-by-case basis.