Search Results (23)

Limited landfill capacity and increasing waste production present obstacles for the management of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Thailand, where 7.1 million tons of MSW were non-sanitarily managed in 2022. This provides an opportunity for the nation to recover valuable materials and energy from landfill waste through excavation by implementing the enhanced landfill mining technique, which is consistent with business sustainability goals. This study evaluates regulatory, financial, and institutional challenges to enhanced landfill mining implementation, identifying key barriers such as Thailand’s restriction on using refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in waste-to-energy (WtE) projects, despite its higher calorific value (18–24 MJ/kg compared to 13.7–16.6 MJ/kg for fresh MSW-derived RDF). Case studies, particularly from European nations, are comparatively evaluated using a combination of qualitative analysis methods. The results of this study highlight that the potential of enhanced landfill mining in Thailand is restricted by the prohibition of the use of RDF in WtE projects, as well as a lack of financial incentives to follow existing regulations. This demonstrates that the implementation of enhanced landfill mining could be facilitated by changing Thai regulations to permit the use of RDF in WtE projects and providing financial incentives such as tax credits and feed-in tariffs. Implementing such reforms can help Thailand achieve its sustainability objectives while reducing the amount of waste in landfills and generating energy. Full article

Asia accounted for 167.1 million tons of global fisheries and aquaculture production, 75 percent of the world’s total. Seafood, especially aquaculture products, is a dominant and growing sector and crucial in the Asia-Pacific region for ensuring global food security, supporting sustainable livelihoods, reducing poverty for small-scale fisheries, and promoting environmental sustainability. However, amidst the current backdrop of the World Trade Organization (WTO)‘s inefficiency and dysfunctional mechanism, coupled with a slowdown in global economic growth and the resurgence of trade unilateralism and protectionism, these challenges have created significant barriers to trade, limiting market access and hindering the sustainable growth of the seafood industry. The implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) offers Asia-Pacific economies a promising opportunity to expand trade and stimulate economic growth sustainably. In this study, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the potential effects of the RCEP on aquatic products trade among the parties. A key marginal contribution in our study is that we adjusted the existing tariff rates under other FTAs to the same period as tariff rates under RCEP and compared the concession rates between these different FTAs to clearly illustrate the potential tariff effects of RCEP. On the non-tariff side, we analyze specific provisions in the RCEP agreement that could potentially affect aquatic products trade and evaluate their possible impacts. The results showed that, as of 2022, in almost all RCEP parties, the average tariffs under the RCEP agreement are generally higher than those under other existing FTAs, which indicates that the tariff concession efforts under RCEP are limited for most parties. However, due to certain progressiveness compared to other FTAs in terms of its provisions on non-tariff measures, such as rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) regulations, etc., RCEP has the potential to benefit a broader range of countries and products, making market access more convenient and inclusive for the seafood industry. Full article

This study aims to examine the relationship between customs policy and the economic blocs of which Egypt is a member, with a focus on the theory of New Regionalism and modern trends in customs policies. Egypt joined numerous economic blocs following its accession to the world trade organization (WTO) in 1995, yet this membership has not yielded significant positive impacts on the performance of Egyptian exports or the trade balance. The study utilized panel data analysis of Egypt’s international trade from 2001 to 2023. The results indicate that, despite Egypt’s limited success in reaping the benefits of most economic blocs, largely due to the concentration of Egyptian exports in primary and agricultural products and the low tariff rates, factors such as customs clearance processes, tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers, regional trade agreements, and technology adoption still play a crucial role in influencing trade volume among member countries. The findings highlight the significance of effective customs procedures and the reduction of trade barriers in boosting trade volumes within regional trade agreements. The study proposes a strategy for Egypt’s customs policy to maximize benefits from economic blocs, focusing on four key areas: aligning customs policy planning with targeted export sectors to realize trade creation and trade diversion effects; fully implementing trade facilitation programs and liberalizing customs policy procedures; adopting a national strategy to stimulate high value-added export industries as a long-term solution; and adopting regional trade agreements that support cumulative origin as a short-term solution. Full article

This study examines the effects of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on the value-added trade of food and non-food sectors. This study uses a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model coupled with an extension module for the origin decomposition of value-added flows embodied in gross trade. The results suggest that by cutting down tariff and non-tariff barriers, the RCEP would significantly stimulate the economies of and gross trade among Asia–Pacific countries involved in the agreement. The potential benefits of the RCEP will be overestimated if we ignore the origin of value added and measure the benefits by gross exports. The domestic components of bilateral value-added flows between RCEP members would increase greatly, indicating an increasingly integrated value chain between RCEP members. Import taxes and non-tariff barriers for processed food, textiles and clothes, and heavy manufacturing are relatively significant in the region, so the RCEP would significantly improve their value-added exports. The domestic component of value-added exports in agricultural products and processed food from RCEP members would be increased significantly, indicating that the closely integrated food value chain boosts the food economies of RCEP members. Full article

Citizen-driven approaches are promising to overcome the challenges in the energy transition of geographical islands. However, the economic profitability of related activities must be ensured to achieve the intrinsic and sustainable uptake of related solutions in an island’s communities. Here, we investigate the long-term (2020–2054) economic profitability of solar-based prosumption on islands belonging to the European Union (EU), soft-linking energy system modelling and actor-related cash-flow analysis. This combination considerably extends common assessments of the profitability of renewable energy technology and long-term projections of island energy systems. We base our case study on the French overseas territory of Mayotte, discussing household affordability and the socio-economic impact of prosumerism. These topics are relevant to transferability on non-EU islands. The profitability of investments in PV depends on (i) the size of the PV system, with larger systems (>9 kWp) profiting from lower specific investment costs compared to smaller systems; (ii) the time of investment, with more profitable investments to be expected in early periods; (iii) the level of decarbonization of the entire energy sector, with an ongoing decarbonization reducing the compensation or energy-saving possibilities; and (iv) the market behavior, with the practice of feeding in all electricity produced rather than self-consuming energy offering a higher expected return on investment under current feed-in-tariff (FiT) compensation schemes. We introduce various policy measures to improve solar rooftop PV profitability and discuss their trade-offs and effectiveness. While indirect subsidies via FiT are generally effective in improving PV profitability, they undermine efforts to incentivize decentralized self-consumption. From the perspective of harmonizing efforts in the energy transition of African and European islands, we recommend a careful evaluation of the trade-offs in relevant regulations required for the economic incentivization of prosumers to achieve compatibility with the principles of a citizen-driven and just energy transition. Particular attention must be paid to context-specific socio-economic characteristics, including low access to financial resources and non-financial access barriers, including legal status. Full article

As a vital guarantee of food security for many countries, international food trade has been threatened by volatile international political ties in recent years. However, the existing literature lacks empirical evidence on the relationship between political ties and food export stability. Therefore, this article examines the impact of political ties on food export stability using United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voting data and export data on food products from 2010 to 2018. The chosen timeframe ensures the exclusion of potential influences from both the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, enhancing the robustness of the findings. The test results show that the deterioration of political ties can reduce food export stability: the higher the voting dissimilarity of the trading partners in the UNGA, the less stable food exports. Mechanism analysis suggests that political ties can impede food export stability by increasing tariff and non-tariff barriers. The analysis of heterogeneity indicates that the advancement of urbanization in importing countries intensifies the adverse effects of political ties on food export stability. However, this negative impact is less pronounced when importing countries have more allocation and higher productivity regarding land resources such as cultivated land and forests. This article adds to the literature on the relationship between political ties, trade, land resource optimization, and food security. The findings of this study highlight the importance of land resources with respect to reducing the risk of food trade instability in the context of volatile international politics. Full article

This paper develops a multi-sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with specific features for Greece and the non-EU Rest of the World (RoW). The novelty of this work stems from the lack of energy-focused CGE models for Greece in the current literature. The study’s objective is to determine how the Greek economy would react if a 30% import tariff and a quota of 67% on energy imports and 35% on remaining imports were implemented. Furthermore, if quotas and tariffs are in force, the Greek economy will initiate countermeasures by increasing investment in renewable energies through substitution and a 35% subsidy. To quantify this, the 2015 Input-Output (I-O) table for Greece and the non-EU RoW was used. To offer a better understanding, the 36 production sectors have been divided into Agriculture, Energy, Manufacturing, and Services. The quota scenario resulted in a reduction in all sectors in domestic production in terms of output and domestic uses, with some sectors experiencing around a 30% reduction. Renewable energy investments, on the other hand, have proven to be effective for domestic production, increasing output and domestic uses by (6.561%) and (7.886%), respectively. In terms of import tariffs, prices have increased, resulting in a significant decrease in household consumption that exceeds 30% in several sectors. Finally, policy recommendations for addressing these trade barriers and Greece’s renewable energy opportunities are proposed. Full article

Genome- or gene-editing (abbreviated here as ‘GEd’) presents great opportunities for crop improvement. This is especially so for the countries in the Asia-Pacific region, which is home to more than half of the world’s growing population. A brief description of the science of gene-editing is provided with examples of GEd products. For the benefits of GEd technologies to be realized, international policy and regulatory environments must be clarified, otherwise non-tariff trade barriers will result. The status of regulations that relate to GEd crop products in Asian countries and Australasia are described, together with relevant definitions and responsible regulatory bodies. The regulatory landscape is changing rapidly: in some countries, the regulations are clear, in others they are developing, and some countries have yet to develop appropriate policies. There is clearly a need for the harmonization or alignment of GEd regulations in the region: this will promote the path-to-market and enable the benefits of GEd technologies to reach the end-users. Full article

Today’s geopolitical and economic situation (negative economic effects of COVID-19; war in Ukraine) adversely affects the energy market situation. These circumstances make it necessary to quickly adapt the previously adopted long-term strategies for transforming the energy market to maximise the country’s energy security through greater diversification and energy self-reliance. The legal systems of the Member States, including Poland, provide for various instruments to support the production of electricity from renewable sources. However, each Member State has a different potential for producing energy from renewable sources (later as RES), so the measures used to promote the use of energy from renewable sources in the broad sense are tailored to achieve the desired level of renewable energy production, particularly under EU law. For this reason, a variety of support models are used in the Member States, which are subdivided into direct (e.g., feed-in tariffs) and indirect (e.g., tax credits). However, state support schemes for renewable energy production do not always allow producers to have stable, long-term revenues and sources of additional income that guarantee the possibility to raise external financing for RES projects. However, irrespective of the support measures used in individual countries, European electricity markets (following the American system) have created a non-public instrument—the power purchase agreement (later PPA or PPAs). In 2021 alone, Europe saw record volumes of renewable energy contracted under PPAs—6.9 GWh. Despite the importance of PPAs for the development of renewable energy (most evident in the Danish, Finnish, British and Norwegian markets), Polish legal acts do not apply this contractual construct. Although Polish law creates the possibility for energy market participants to establish PPAs, these agreements will not be a key instrument for the development of renewable energy at the local level, as they are not a sufficient alternative to the current public forms that support renewable energy generation in Poland. This analysis proves that the existing status of regulations in Poland means that PPAs have limited significance and are rather dedicated to entities that will be able to face up to administrative, legal and technological barriers as an addition to the public support system. The analyses conducted are theoretical in nature. The research is based on the dogmatic approach (the analysis of the law in force) applied in the science of law, which is part of the social sciences. Full article

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the establishment of a TBT system that utilizes the knowledge-based view as a means of overcoming the problems of scarcity of human resources and lack of technological capabilities faced by export companies that produce and supply products and services is being emphasized. The WTO TBT Agreement, which is based on the multilateral agreement of the GATT 7th Tokyo Round, consists of 15 articles and 3 annexes to ensure that technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment systems do not act as technical barriers to trade. The transition to the digital economy (EDT) has been accelerating, and currently the EDT presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The US, which is at the center of the international standards competition, has accelerated standards competition by invoking supply chain executive order decoupling, and as China looks to implement the policy set out in the China Standards 2035 Plan, the relationship between the US and China is worsening in relation to the preoccupation with standards. Dreaming of a Chinese version of this US strategy, China, which is connected from 12.5 to 14.5 units, is accelerating its standardization strategy through the Made in China 2035 program. The “double cycle development strategy” and “technological innovation” are key mid- to long-term policy directions. Korea should develop a Korean-style conformity assessment development model based on the TBT system, which is a major element of non-tariff barriers, under the WTO/FTA system that promotes the flow of the KBV along with the establishment of a digital transformation system. Full article

An explosion of different preferential rules of origin (PROO) has accompanied the spread of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) around the world. Complying with PROO requirements entail costs for producers, exporters, and customs officials. Observers, firms, customs officials, and policymakers have advocated simplification as well as harmonization. The paper surveys the literature drawing on the extensive database in ITC’s Rules of Origin Facilitator (ROF) database covering 54,000 distinct PROO spread across 370 PTAs to illustrate the issues covered in the literature. We review what we know about the compliance costs associated with PROO requirements. We illustrate these costs graphically and summarize through mathematical decomposition of compliance costs along two dimensions: distortionary costs resulting from the restrictiveness of PROOs and administrative costs. We survey the existing evidence in literature by themes: (i) determinants of the utilisation of preferences; (ii) effects on third countries outside the PTA; (iii) choice of rule; (iv) preference margin and complexity of rules; (v) trade deflection; and (vi) firm-level evidence. In conclusion, drawing lessons from the empirical literature is a complicated exercise because preference uptake, an important indicator of compliance costs, is only available for a handful of PTAs at the disaggregated product level. Full article

India and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are on the path to forging deeper economic cooperation. Both countries signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in 2009, which was in effect in 2010, and agreed to reduce and/or eliminate tariffs on goods. In this paper, we examine the sectors—both merchandise goods and services—where India and the ROK have a comparative advantage. We analyze the tariffs and non-tariff measures in the context of India–ROK trade and the gains from trade that can result from a reduction in tariff barriers. Our results suggest that India has a comparative advantage in services and the ROK in merchandise goods. Therefore, future negotiations must focus on India offering market access to the ROK’s merchandise goods and the ROK providing access to India’s services. Full article

In recent years, the Indian Ocean Rim Association has witnessed an increasing trend in the use of non-tariff measures (NTMs). This study evaluated the impact of NTMs in the Indian Ocean Rim Association through estimations of their ad valorem equivalents at the HS chapter and country levels. A gravity model using NTM count data (intensity) was specified and estimated to derive the importer-specific ad valorem equivalents for the four (4) most used NTMs in the region. The results showed the presence of both import-impeding and import-promoting effects of NTMs; however, the import-impeding effects dominated in the region. The quantitative restriction and safeguard measures were more restrictive compared to the sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade. This was expected since quantitative restrictions are trade-distorting by design. This calls for reforming trade policy in the region toward NTMs that are more transparent and trade enhancing for successful subsequent trade negotiations in the Indian Ocean Rim Association, which would support the sustainable economic development of the region. Full article

The palm oil industry has contributed enormously to the economic growth of developing countries in the tropics, including Malaysia. Despite the industry being a development tool for emerging economies, the oil palm crop is inundated with allegations of its unsustainable plantation practices and viewed as environmentally detrimental and socially adverse. These negative perceptions are amplified through anti-palm oil campaigns and protectionist trade regulations in developed countries, particularly in the European Union (EU). This situation, if further exacerbated, could potentially affect the export of palm oil and the industry as a whole. As such, this article provides a critical review of the key sustainability issues faced by the Malaysian palm oil industry as the second biggest exporter of palm oil to the global market. The various insights and the interpretations of sustainability are contested according to the contexts and the interests of the countries involved. Hence, palm oil is constantly exposed to bias masked by non-tariff barriers from consumer countries to protect their domestically produced vegetable oils. This could constrain the commodity competitiveness in the international market. As issues on palm oil sustainability continue to evolve, policymakers at key stakeholder agencies need to devise strategies to manage global disruption in the palm oil trade. Full article

Synthetic controls of crop pathogens are increasingly associated with harm to the environment and human health, and pathogen resistance. Pesticide residues in crops can also act as non-tariff trade barriers. There is therefore a strong imperative to develop biologically based and natural product (NP) biofungicides as more sustainable alternatives for crop pathogen control. We demonstrate the field efficacy, over multiple seasons, of NP biofungicides, NP1 (based on anhydrous milk fat) and NP2 (based on soybean oil), on two major diseases of winegrapes—Botrytis bunch rot (Botrytis) and powdery mildew (PM). The NPs were integrated into a season-long integrated disease management programme that has produced chemical-residue-free wines. Efficacies for Botrytis control on three different varieties were: 63–97% on Chardonnay, 0–96% for Sauvignon Blanc and 46–58% on Riesling; with 65–98% PM control on Chardonnay and Riesling. NP2 exhibited the significant control of Botrytis latent infections, making it a viable alternative to mid-season synthetic fungicides. Disease control was significantly better than the untreated control and usually as efficacious as the synthetic fungicide treatment(s). Yields and wine quality in NP-treated crops were normally equivalent to those in the synthetic fungicide treatments. The results indicate that NP-mediated disease control of Botrytis and powdery mildew can be obtained in the vineyard, without synthetic fungicide input. Full article