International Commodity Trade Research Articles

The fruit and vegetable import pathway for potential invasive pest arrivals.

The expansion of international trade in commodities increases the risk of alien species invasions. Invaders are difficult to detect on introduction, so prevention remains the preferred strategy for managing the threat of invasions. Propagule pressure has been shown to be a good predictor of invasion risk. Most studies to date, however, link potential invasive species arrivals with indirect measures of propagule pressure such as aggregate trade volumes. This paper estimates propagule pressure using data that measure actual arrivals. Specifically, it uses inspection data that covers almost all U.S. fruit and vegetable imports from 2005–2014 to estimate a logit model of the probability of potential invasive species arrival and expected propagule frequencies for 2,240 commodity/country of origin combinations. Clear patterns in the geographic origin and commodity pathways for potential pests are identified. The average probability of arrival is low, approximately 0.03, but is two to ten times higher for some commodities, most notably herbs. We identify commodities with a high number of expected arrivals due to either a large volume of trade, high interception rates, or a combination of both. Seven of the top ten countries of origin for propagule frequency are from the Western Hemisphere and further trade liberalization within the Western Hemisphere is likely to heighten challenges to enforcement of US phytosanitary standards. Patterns in the data can help identify the commodities and countries of origin in greatest need of technical assistance and guide targeting of surveillance for the pathways of greatest phytosanitary concern.

Food fraud and adulteration: a challenge for the foresight of Veterinary Services.

Demographic and commercial trends predict an increase in the production of food of animal origin in the coming decades. Therefore, it is expected that health risks will also intensify in parallel. During recent years, food fraud has emerged as a potential threat to various countries, with direct implications for public health and international trade in livestock commodities. Thus, Veterinary Services need to work together in an integrated manner to make food hygiene a shared responsibility between the state and the private sector, to guarantee the right of people to eat safe food. This article analyses why food fraud is an emerging challenge for national Veterinary Services and proposes possible lines of action to mitigate its side effects.

Challenging the Coproduction of Virtual Water and Palestinian Agriculture

The idiom of virtual water feeds a prolific literature now shaping the policies of national administrations and international organizations, including donors. This article explores the manner in which Palestinian agriculture and the concept of virtual water shed light on each other’s coproduction. It opens the black box of virtual water to identify the underlying hypotheses. It invalidates these hypotheses using empirical research. Integrating structuration theory to an STS approach, it explores the manner the coproduction of an interpretive scheme, virtual water, is linked to the construction of a structure of power. Within the idiom of virtual water, flows exist only through the international trade of commodities while states are endowed with an annually renewed stock of water. We focus on the real flow of water from its emergence from the earth to its evapotranspiration by a cultivated plant. We demonstrate that social and political variables within water governance determine the volumes of virtual water flows far more than climatic or agronomic variables. The idiom of virtual water portrays Palestinian smallholders as inefficient water users while ignoring the manner they sustain food security and environmental sustainability. It legitimizes export oriented agribusinesses as their mode of production corresponds to the coproduction of the idea of efficiency underlying the concept of virtual water. These results allow us to reconsider smallholder agriculture as it exists in the Palestinian territories and what sort of policies can support it.

Phytosanitary measures to reduce the movement of forest pests with the international trade of wood products

International trade in wood products brings the risk of the movement of tree pests, which can cause devastating ecosystem and economic damage. International phytosanitary guidelines have been created to help countries that import wood products develop import requirements to minimize pest movement. Requirements may include specific phytosanitary measures, including treatments such as heat, fumigation, chemical, or systems approaches that combine phytosanitary measures. This paper provides an overview of phytosanitary measures for the international trade of wood commodities and the regulatory framework in which they are applied.

The Dynamics of Deforestation in the Wet and Dry Tropics: A Comparison with Policy Implications

Forests in the dry tropics differ significantly from forests in the humid tropics in their biomass and in their socio-ecological contexts, so it might be reasonable to assume that the dynamics that drive deforestation in these two settings would also differ. Until recently, difficulties in measuring the extent of dry tropical forests have made it difficult to investigate this claim empirically. The release of high resolution LANDSAT satellite imagery in 2013 has removed this impediment, making it possible to identify variations in the extent of wet and dry forests within countries by measuring variations in the canopy cover of their forests. These metrics have in turn made it possible to investigate human differences in the dynamics of deforestation between dry forested and wet forested nations in the tropics. Cross-national analyses suggest that international trade in agricultural commodities plays a more important role in driving deforestation in the wet tropics than it does in the dry tropics. The variable salience of international trade as a driver has important implications, described here, for the success of policies designed to slow deforestation in the dry tropics and the wet tropics. Curbing dry forest losses, in particular, would appear to require locally focused and administered policies.

Analysis Of The EU Anti-dumping Policy In Terms Of The Revealed Comparative Advantages

Anti-dumping policy is an important instrument of trade policy as far as protecting markets against dishonest practices of foreign suppliers is concerned and it is compliant with international regulations such as e.g. these set by the World Trade Organisation. Generally, dumping concerns exporting commodities at lower prices than a selling price of commodities (so-called normal value). Anti-dumping policy uses appropriate preventive means against dishonest practices in a situation when:- commodity was brought to customs territory of an importing country at dumping prices,- import inflicted damage (or threatens to do it) to importing country’s industry. The first principles of anti-dumping policy were formulated in 1964 at the United Nations Conference and Development UNCTAD. The agreement was signed by 194 countries, including Poland. A similar agreement was also signed by the European Union countries. One of the types of agreements is tariff agreements in which a tool used as a system of cataloguing commodities in international trade is so-called Combined Nomenclature (CN). The system is used in customs proceedings and for registration needs. Anti-dumping proceedings also use HS classification system formulated by the World Customs Organization. The aim of the paper is to determine the proportion of goods covered by anti-dumping proceedings in the value of import conducted by the European Union between 1995–2012. In the empirical research the eight-digit commodity codes CN8 were used as well as HS2 codes that allow grouping imported commodities covered by anti-dumping proceedings by their manufacturing divisions. In that way a determined classification of commodities was used to describe a comparative advantage. To conduct assessment the modified Ballasa index (Bi) and Grupp/Legler index were used. The result of conducted analysis is determination of groups of commodities that are crucial for export of a given country.

Genetically modified crops, regulatory delays, and international trade

AbstractGenetically modified (GM) crops have been produced in the initial adopting countries for 20 years. Over this period of time, hundreds of articles and reports have been published by academic journals, government regulatory agencies, and national science organizations on the safety aspects of biotechnology and GM crops. In addition to this, there is a growing body of quantified peer reviewed literature on the economic and environmental benefits following the adoption of GM crops in both developed and developing countries. Some estimates place the economic benefits in the billions of dollars a year range. In spite of the documentation of these economic and environmental benefits, GM crops face a challenging future. Environmental nongovernmental organizations (eNGOs) are relentless in their campaigns of misinformation about the dangers and hazards of GM crops. While eNGOs are unable to quantify their claims and accusations, their political and policy influences continue, particularly in Europe and numerous developing nations. The result of this is regulatory delays for the approval of new GM crops and frequent international commodity trade failures, where shipments have been rejected due to the low‐level presence of a GM crop. Taken in combination, the regulatory and trade challenges facing GM crops are having a detrimental impact on improving food security. This article quantifies the benefits of GM crops, highlights the regulatory costs of delayed approval, and provides insights into the spillover effects from GM crop trade.

Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade of Brazil

Freshwater scarcity has increased at an alarming rate worldwide; improved water management plays a vital role in increasing food production and security. This study aims to determine the water footprint of Brazil’s national food consumption, the virtual water flows associated with international trade in the main agricultural commodities, as well as water scarcity, water self-sufficiency and water dependency per Brazilian region. While previous country studies on water footprints and virtual water trade focused on virtual water importers or water-scarce countries, this is the first study to concentrate on a water-abundant virtual water-exporting country. Besides, it is the first study establishing international virtual water trade balances per state, which is relevant given the fact that water scarcity varies across states within the country, so the origin of virtual water exports matters. The results show that the average water footprint of Brazilian food consumption is 1619 m3/person/year. Beef contributes most (21%) to this total. We find a net virtual water export of 54.8 billion m3/year, mainly to Europe, which imports 41% of the gross amount of the virtual water exported from Brazil. The northeast, the region with the highest water scarcity, has a net import of virtual water. The southeast, next in terms of water scarcity, shows large virtual water exports, mainly related to the export of sugar. The north, which has the most water, does not show a high virtual water export rate.

The many faces of food security

Food insecurity occurs when people do not have secure access to food necessary for a healthy life. The food-insecure are typically the poor, and the traditional focus of food insecurity thinking has been the global poor. Increasingly, it is being recognized that in the rich world, food insecurity manifests itself in calorie-rich but nutrient-poor diets, leading to the linkage between poverty, obesity and its associated health problems. Furthermore, the historical link between income and diets, when projected forwards, shows a growth in demand that would be extremely challenging to meet with sustainable production. This is especially true given that emissions from the food system are significant contributors to climate change, perhaps more so than any other sector; and yet, probably less than half the world's calories are used directly for healthy diets (over half of agricultural production is lost or wasted, fed to animals or consumed in excess of healthy requirements). This review article, of a suite of four books, covers the way the food security argument is framed and how this is changing, food politics and justice and why our food system is as it is. The overall conclusion is that our food system is placing unsustainable demands on the planet, as well as creating injustice and inequity. The 'productivist paradigm' of growing 'ever more, ever more cheaply' while relying on international commodity trade and markets to solve the distributional issues, is unlikely to create a sustainable, just and food-secure world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Recommendations for the Development of Logistics Services in Dong Nai Province

International Trade of Vietnam has grown rapidly, particularly since Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Vietnam's international trade grew rapidly, especially after Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Vietnam has trade goods and rapid growth, resulting in the development of some service sectors concerned. In recent decades, service logistics has developed quickly helps people use their resources in a manner optimized to deliver products and services with the highest quality and lowest cost to the user last. Logistics service in import-export operations is one of the important contents of logistics management. Logistics service in import-export operations are now becoming an indispensable activity in international commodity trade. Given the fierce competition of companies active in logistics services and foreign, domestic enterprises need to keep up with trends in developed countries and logistics services around the world to make improvements and development activities of the business logistics services, to the development of Vietnam enterprises on a par with the world, to meet the sophisticated and the increasing demand of customers. This paper conducted during the period from March 2014 to March 2016. Besides, the research results showed that there were 250 enterprises that interviewed and answered about 16 questions (but 225 samples processed). The researcher had analyzed Cronbach's Alpha test, the result of KMO analysis used for multiple regression analysis. The results showed that there were three factors, which included of factors following Technology (T), human resource development (D) and customer needs (CN) affecting the development of logistics services in Dong Nai province with significance level 5 %.

International commodity trade, transport costs, and product differentiation

Transport costs and product quality have received increased attention in the international trade literature. Product quality is a particularly important factor in international trade of high-valued commodities. We observe that significant transport costs for a relatively high quality product represent a natural trade barrier. In this case, transport costs may introduce product differentiation, protecting home-country production of the higher quality product and constraining the foreign exporter to shipping a lower quality substitute. With differential transport costs between a higher and a lower quality product, firms in both countries may gain by implicitly coordinating in an increasingly segmented market and choosing a high-price strategy for both products. Home-country producers clearly gain. Through product differentiation in an oligopolistic market, the foreign producers may also gain when the home producers exploit the transport cost advantage. The international orange juice market, with significant trade volumes in both lower quality frozen-concentrated juice and higher quality not-from-concentrate juice, provides compelling evidence supporting this model.

Diversity and ecology of <em>Phytophthora</em> species on the island of Ireland

The island of Ireland (Ireland and Northern Ireland) has a long history with the plant pathogenic oomycete genus Phytophthora. Since the introduction of the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans in the mid-19th century, Phytophthora species have caused major changes to plant health, affecting agriculture, forestry and the wider environment on the island of Ireland. In recent years scientific expertise in plant pathology and mycology on the island of Ireland has been drastically diminishing, while invasions of plant pathogens have been on the rise, in line with increasing globalisation and international trade in plants and plant-based commodities. In order to draw attention to the increasing threat posed by Phytophthora to the plant health of this island, the records of Phytophthora species detected and the ecologies of these species have been reviewed. Using published and unpublished records, it was found that 27 species and two provisionally named taxa of Phytophthora have been recorded on the island of Ireland. There was evidence that the movement of plants for planting within the horticultural trade was responsible for spreading some invasive Phytophthora species.

In this issue

IN THIS ISSUE Bruce Osborne Reef Decline When I think of reefs, a vision of a warm tropical paradise often springs to mind. Whilst these coraldominated reefs, comprised largely of small marine invertebrates that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate, are globally the most significant, other reefs that are not as well-known as their tropical cousins can be found in cooler temperate locations. Reefs come in a range of shapes and sizes and are generally considered to consist of rocky concretions that rise from the sea bed. There are two major types, one where the structure is created by animals, called biogenic reefs and one where the animal and plant communities are found growing on raised inanimate material. One such biogenic reef that is found in temperate waters is largely made up of the Horse Mussel, Modiolus modiolus. In Strangford Lough (Northern Ireland), reefs dominated by M. modiolus were formerly quite common but, as Strong et al., in this issue, show there has been a dramatic decline in this reef type over the last 40 years, with the area occupied reduced by 37% and the abundance by 87%. Trawling for scallops, predation and environmental change are all proposed as factors that could have contributed to this decline, although the evidence for any of these is equivocal. Given the importance of M. modiolus, as a filter feeder, in maintaining water clarity as well as having an important role in nutrient cycling, this decline could have a large impact on primary production and ecosystem functioning. As the authors point out, however, unless we know exactly the reason(s) for the decline, the implementation of any conservation measures is fraught with difficulty. Benthic fish and sea urchins in Lough Hyne Lough Hyne, Europe’s first marine reserve and is still the only one in Ireland, has been the focus of extensive research since the 1930s. Despite the extensive research, however, the role of fishes in the benthic and pelagic food webs within the Lough has received little attention. This is of particular concern due to recent changes in the Lough, including elevated nutrient concentrations, modified oxygen concentrations and the increased mortality of the purple urchin, which is regarded as a keystone species. The decline in the sea urchin populations since the 1990s has often been assumed to be due to increased predation by benthic fishes, which are known to be potential predators. However, this earlier suggestion is largely refuted by Jiole et al., in this issue, who base their argument on an analysis of fish gut contents and point out that there is also little direct evidence of predation before or after the 1980s. So what is the cause of the decline in sea urchins? Again, we are left with a conundrum. In terms of fish populations, all the factors examined, including site, tidal effects and weather conditions had an impact, as could the marked changes in the environmental conditions in the Lough. Perhaps the markedenvironmental changesunderliethe demise of the sea urchin, but to what extent is unclear and warrants further investigation. A top oomycete Losses due to plant disease probably result in a 40% reduction in the productivity of the six most important food crops. Of these plant diseases, infestations by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora are particularly significant, with a recent survey listing six species as being in the top ten of oomycete pathogens globally. Traditionally, species from the Phytophthora genus were classified as fungi, although molecular analyses suggest that they have attributes that are related more to golden brown algae and diatoms rather than true fungi. Their effect on plant health in Ireland has been significant, influencing both agriculture and forestry and, by all accounts, this impact is likely to increase given increased globalisation in the international trade in plants and plant-related commodities as well as through changes in climate. O’Hanlon et al., in this issue, reflect on the evidence for the increased impact of Phytophthora and other disease-causing microorganisms , which comes at a time of declining expertise and investment in plant pathology and mycology. O’Hanlon et al. use published and unpublished records to review the occurrence and ecology of Phytophthora species on this Island, paying...

The global markets for coking coal and iron ore — Complementary goods, integrated mining companies and strategic behavior

The global market for coking coal is linked to the global market for iron ore since both goods are complementary inputs in pig iron production. Moreover, international trade of both commodities is highly concentrated, with only a few large companies active on both input markets. Given this setting, the paper presented investigates the strategy of quantity-setting (Cournot) mining companies that own both a coking coal and an iron ore division. Do these firms optimize the divisions' output on a firm level or by each division separately (division-by-division)? First, using a theoretical model of two Cournot duopolies of complementary goods, we find that there exists a critical capacity constraint below/above at which firm-level optimization results in identical/superior profits compared with division-level optimization. Second, by applying a spatial multi-input equilibrium simulation model of the coking coal and iron ore markets, we find that due to the limited capacity firms gain no (substantial) additional benefit from optimizing output on a firm level.

Assessing the Global Risk of Establishment of Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) using CLIMEX and MaxEnt Niche Models.

Accurate assessment of insect pest establishment risk is needed by national plant protection organizations to negotiate international trade of horticultural commodities that can potentially carry the pests and result in inadvertent introductions in the importing countries. We used mechanistic and correlative niche models to quantify and map the global patterns of the potential for establishment of codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.), a major pest of apples, peaches, pears, and other pome and stone fruits, and a quarantine pest in countries where it currently does not occur. The mechanistic model CLIMEX was calibrated using species-specific physiological tolerance thresholds, whereas the correlative model MaxEnt used species occurrences and climatic spatial data. Projected potential distribution from both models conformed well to the current known distribution of codling moth. None of the models predicted suitable environmental conditions in countries located between 20°N and 20°S potentially because of shorter photoperiod, and lack of chilling requirement (<60 d at ≤10°C) in these areas for codling moth to break diapause. Models predicted suitable conditions in South Korea and Japan where codling moth currently does not occur but where its preferred host species (i.e., apple) is present. Average annual temperature and latitude were the main environmental variables associated with codling moth distribution at global level. The predictive models developed in this study present the global risk of establishment of codling moth, and can be used for monitoring potential introductions of codling moth in different countries and by policy makers and trade negotiators in making science-based decisions.

The Next Rising Tax Haven

The Next Rising Tax Haven

English

Aflatoxin contamination of food and feed commodities, caused by Aspergillus section Flavi group of fungi, is a serious problem worldwide. Exposure through consumption of contaminated food and feed has deleterious effects on human and animal health. Therefore, aflatoxin contaminated products are a barrier to international trade of agricultural commodities. Not all fungi from Aspergillus section Flavi produce aflatoxins. Hence it is important to differentiate Aspergillus spp. into toxigenic and atoxigenic species to better understand their population structure in a specific environment. A range of methods are available today, including cultural, analytical and molecular methods, to identify the toxin producing ability of isolates from section Flavi. A comprehensive review of these methods would be of great use for researchers in developing nations where fully equipped aflatoxin detection laboratories are lacking. In this paper we critically reviewed the cultural and molecular methods of detecting aflatoxigenic Aspergillus species and their precision. Key words: Toxigenic Aspergillus, atoxigenic Aspergillus, cultural methods, PCR based methods.

Updates on the Species of Shrimps in Kakkaithivu Coastal Waters, Jaffna Estuary, Sri Lanka

Shrimps are an important commercial fishery resource and highly diverse group in the world. They are considered a luxury food commodity in international trade and command an excellent market price. The marine fishing grounds around Jaffna district and the brackish water resources are more favourable for shrimp production than the other parts of the country. Kakkaithivu Coastal Area is a part of the Jaffna estuary and a major fish landing center in Jaffna peninsula. An investigation was carried out on shrimp species to identify and update the information on shrimp species, in Kakkaithivu Coastal waters, Jaffna district in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Samples were collected from the commercial catches in Kakkaithivu landing center from November, 2010 through April, 2012. Collected shrimps were initially identified using standard keys according to the morphological features. Seven species of shrimps P. indicus, P. monodon, P. latisulcatus, P. semisulcatus, P. japonicus, Metapenaeus monoceros and M. dobsoni were identified. The presence of P. japonicus and M. dobsoni were recorded for the first time in the coastal waters of Kakkaithivu, Jaffna estuary. Tropical Agricultural Research Vol. 24(1): 82-90(2012) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tar.v24i1.7991

The Spillover Effects of Fed’s Policies with Emphasis to the Fragile Five

Since the Bretton Woods Agreement, the U.S. dollar has played the role of dominant global currency. As a result, the Federal Reserve Bank has many privileges such as the ability to run trade deficits without foreign exchange reserves. In the world, foreign exchange rates of currencies are quoted against the dollar, and majority of currency trading involves the dollar. Besides, international trade in primary commodities, such as oil, wheat, gold and coffee are bought and sold in U.S. dollar. The central banks of countries hold major positions of their international reserves in dollars. Any changes in its interest rates automatically alter the revenues of all world assets. With deregulated financial markets, the spillover effects of the Federal Reserve Bank’s decisions have increased. In this paper, we examine the impacts of Federal Reserve Bank policies over the Fragile Five that is a sub group of the weaker emerging markets namely Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey. We are mainly focusing on the consequences of changes in Fed’s policies on the fragile five’s basic indicators; exchange rate, interest rate, and the stock exchange indices. All Fragile Five currencies have been depreciated by about 10 to 25% after the Fed tapering decisions. In addition we test for mean and volatility spillover of Wall Street on stock exchange indices of the Fragile Five in GARCH in mean framework and document the existence of such spillovers in almost all cases.

Globale Prozesse verlangen nach regionalen Lösungen (Essay)

Global processes ask for regional solutions (essay) In this essay we discuss the impact of important global processes on the Swiss forests, such as 1) climate change, 2) the nuclear reactor disaster of Fukushima with the consequence of a pull-out from nuclear energy, 3) the globalization of the international commodity trading and the resulting increase of introduced pests, 4) the deforestation of the tropical rainforests and 5) the increasing demand on further forest services in addition to wood production. Even if the Swiss forests are increasingly impacted and steered by global processes one should be aware that solutions and management concepts need to be effective on a local scale. Hence, an important task of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL is to engage in international networks, to observe international trends in the state of the environment and research, to bring in the Swiss particularities and to contribute to the development of regional problem solving.