Impact of SPS based MRL standards on agro-food exports from India to European union
Student name: Ms Disha Jain
Guide: Dr Shantanu De Roy
Year of completion: 2017
Host Organisation: Centre for WTO Studies- IIFT, New Delhi
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Murali Kallummal
Abstract: The study tries to examine impact of MRL-based SPS standards on agro-food exports from India to European Union and impact of these stringent standards on the Indian firms for the period 2000-2015. Non- Tariff Barriers refer to wide range of trade barriers as well as policy interventions that distort and restrict trade. NTBs lead to limited growth in sales and increase cost of exporting and thereby economically affecting both potential and current exporters. NTBs also include broad range of Non-Tariff Measures (NTM) such as countervailing duties, import quotas, rules of origin, customs and administrative procedures, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT).
Non Tariff Measures (NTM) has taken a central role in international trade agenda. In the recent years, due to fall in tariffs worldwide, NTMs have increased tremendously. Some NTMs also lead to failure of markets such as informational asymmetries and externalities between the producers and consumers. This scenario has led to imbalance in access of markets in global arena. There has been a significant increase in MRL-based SPS standards in the developed nations whereas these standards are internationally harmonised in developing nations. With the fall in tariff barriers, developed countries are making use of these standards extensively to safeguard domestic industries, with much higher technological capabilities, thus, facilitating these countries to continue and further maintain high and stringent standards. The study analyzes export performance and firm level analysis for selected products using Econometric modelling.
The research quantifies the effects of the NTMs i.e. SPS-
Application of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures identifies the right of the government to protect animal, plant life, human or health. SPS measures instead of necessary are much stricter and lead to impediments to trade as well as economic losses for the countries who are importing.
