Global Environmental Standard: Barriers or Catalysts to Trade? The Case of Indian Marine Sector

Abstract

The environmental measures promulgated by the countries attain their WTO compatibility through the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement; the essential condition being that the measures are to be applied in a manner that they become least trade restrictive. A case of exporters of shrimps is taken to analyse the effect of environmental measures on marine exports of India. Using primary data on compliance costs and linking the measures with it, the author concludes that the environmental measures indeed prove to be trade barriers to their international business operations thus losing out on access to markets.