International Trade Regulation Research Articles

Liberalisation of Foreign Investment Law in Indonesia

The liberalisation of economy is the existing phenomenon affecting developed and developing countries. They have, to a greater extent, affected the international trade regulation and foreign investment. As a sovereign state, with its own economic system based on Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution and Pancasila, Indonesia must have to adopt itself to the era of globalisation and liberalisation in such a way that it may be able to partake in the global economy through the international trade and foreign investment. The research seeks to demonstrates, firstly, the globalisation and liberalisation of economy have increased the economic dependence through international trade and direct foreign investment. In addition, the economic liberalisation embodied in the WTO has substantial impact upon the investment regulation in Indonesia. The research also demonstrated that the economic globalisation and liberalisation are actually against the principle of economic democracy as contained in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

A Case Study: Impact of International Liberalization on the Indian Economy

This paper, using the Solow growth model looks at the impact of liberalization on India's economic growth. Additionally, using empirical data, it analyzes the patterns, processes, and characteristics of India's economic growth. The Solow model explains the long run economic growth via the change in the Solow residuals. This paper defines the Solow residual as International trade. This paper will show that International trade and fewer regulations on exports and imports have ignited high economic growth in India. After the late 1980s, India saw an immense increase in international trade. Led by low tariff rates, India saw a hike in exports and imports and more importantly, foreign investments. With the backing of facts and figures, this paper will show that India has actually benefited in terms of economic growth from international trade. With liberalization, India has not only had success in the macro level, but it has also impacted people in terms of per capita income in the micro level. This paper is broken down into 4 sections. The first section gives an introduction to India and its relevance to the Solow model. The second section explores the theoretical framework of the Solow model. The third section uses the empirical data to examine the impact of liberalization on India (pre and post reformation). Finally, the fourth section is the analysis and conclusion section which compares India to other South Asian counties and gives policy recommendation.

Anti-Counterfeit Technologies: A Pharmaceutical Industry Perspective

Growth of international free trade and inadequate drug regulation have led to the expansion of trade in counterfeit drugs worldwide. Technological protection is seen to be the best way to avoid this problem. Different technologies came into existence like overt, covert, and track and trace technologies. This review emphasises ideal technological characteristics, existing anti-counterfeit technologies, and their adoption in different countries. Developed countries like the USA have implemented RFID while the European trend is towards 2D barcodes. The Indian government is getting sensitised about the extent of the problem and has formulated rules mandating barcodes. Even the pharmaceutical companies have been employing these technologies in order to detain illegitimate drugs in their supply chain.

Testing the effectiveness of an international conservation agreement: marketplace forensics and CITES caviar trade regulation.

BackgroundThe international wildlife trade is a key threat to biodiversity. Temporal genetic marketplace monitoring can determine if wildlife trade regulation efforts such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are succeeding. Protected under CITES effective 1997, sturgeons and paddlefishes, the producers of black caviar, are flagship CITES species.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe test whether CITES has limited the amount of fraudulent black caviar reaching the marketplace. Using mitochondrial DNA-based methods, we compare mislabeling in caviar and meat purchased in the New York City area pre and post CITES listing. Our recent sampling of this market reveals a decrease in mislabeled caviar (2006–2008; 10%; n = 90) compared to pre-CITES implementation (1995–1996; 19%; n = 95). Mislabeled caviar was found only in online purchase (n = 49 online/41 retail).Conclusions/SignificanceStricter controls on importing and exporting as per CITES policies may be having a positive conservation effect by limiting the amount of fraudulent caviar reaching the marketplace. Sturgeons and paddlefishes remain a conservation priority, however, due to continued overfishing and habitat degradation. Other marine and aquatic species stand to benefit from the international trade regulation that can result from CITES listing.

The Prospects of International Trade Regulation: From Fragmentation to Coherence edited by Thomas Cottier and Panagiotis Delimatsis Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011

<b>The Prospects of International Trade Regulation: From Fragmentation to Coherence</b> edited by Thomas Cottier and Panagiotis Delimatsis Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Trade Governance in the Digital Age (Preface)

The development of new digital technologies has resulted in significant transformations in daily life, from the arrival of online shopping to more fundamental changes in the ways we work and communicate. Many of these changes raise questions that transcend market access and liberalisation and demand cooperation and coherent regulatory design. International trade regulation has hitherto not reacted in a forward-looking manner to the digital revolution; particularly at the multilateral level, legal engineering has yielded few tangible results. This book examines whether WTO laws possess the necessary flexibility and resilience to accommodate the changes brought about by burgeoning digital trade. By revealing both the potential and the limitations of the WTO framework, it provides a broad picture of the interaction between digital technologies and trade regulation, links the often disconnected discourses of international trade law, intellectual property and cyberlaw, and explores discrete problems in different domains of global trade regulation.

La calidad de las instituciones y su impacto sobre el comercio internacional

As a consequence of the increasing international mobility of productive resources, national institutions and organizations relevant for the regulation of international trade are no longer, or mainly, those related with customs operating in the border. They now involve an increasing set of other institutions and organizations operating within nations that participate in this international flow of productive resources. This new scenario derives from the geographical presence of transnational corporations at least partially subject to the domestic legislation of nations where they are located. Consequently, the quality of national institutions directly affect international trade and, more generally, overall international economic relations.

Regulating agriculture in the WTO

AbstractThis article argues there is value in exploring the resonance between the regulation of international agricultural trade as a specific topic and the general notion of international trade regulation in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It explores particular problems to illuminate more general concerns. In this ascendant way of looking at things, certain aspects of agricultural trade regulation have direct resonance for other areas covered by the WTO agreements. We might see these additional dimensions as addressing a different series of questions: the nature of agreement and the different ways in which agreement can manifest itself. The two dimensions are the nature of international agricultural trade as a polycentric problem and the way accepted concepts and categories influence how we see problems in international agricultural trade. Polycentrism goes to the nature of the stability of the Agreement on Agriculture, whereas the question of concepts and categories concerns the way in which we represent the problem as coherent to ourselves.

Transboundary spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza through poultry commodities and wild birds

The extensive circulation of the H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus in animals and the human health implications which it poses have led to extensive research in unexplored fields and thus a re-assessment of our understanding of this infection. Moreover, widespread infection of poultry has raised concerns about the food safety and trade implications of this infection, necessitating revised international trade regulations. The role of wild birds has been much debated and resources have been invested to clarify the role that they may play in the spread of infection. It is now clear that wild birds may be responsible for primary introduction in a previously free area. To date it is still unclear whether HPAI infection may be maintained in wild bird populations for extended periods of time. This paper reviews existing knowledge on the transboundary spread of HPAI through poultry and poultry commodities and summarises evidence of spread through wild birds.

Traditional And Non-Traditional Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment In Developing Countries

This paper extends previous studies on the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by looking at both traditional and non-traditional factors that influence the amount of FDI flowing to developing countries. Emphasis is placed on the role of non-traditional qualitative factors. Data from 1998 and 2000 for fifty-five developing countries are employed to estimate an empirical model of FDI. Results indicate that FDI is significantly affected by several qualitative factors such as the level of economic freedom, level of corruption, and the level of international trade regulations adopted in the host country. These findings support the need for increased considera- tion of cultural and institutional factors in attempting to better estimate and understand the devel- opment process.

International Trade, National Treatment, and Domestic Regulation

Existing formal models of the relationship between trade policy and regulatory policy suggest the potential for a regulatory race to the bottom. World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and disputes, however, center on complaints about excessively stringent regulations. This paper bridges the gap between the existing formal literature and the actual pattern of rules and disputes. Employing the terms-of-trade framework for the modeling of trade agreements, we show how “large” nations may have an incentive to impose discriminatory product standards against imported goods once border instruments are constrained and how inefficiently stringent standards may emerge under certain circumstances even if regulatory discrimination is prohibited. We then assess the WTO legal framework in light of our results, arguing that it does a reasonably thorough job of policing regulatory discrimination, but that it does relatively little to address excessive nondiscriminatory regulations.

Serial exploitation of global sea cucumber fisheries

In recent decades, invertebrate fisheries have expanded in catch and value worldwide. One increasingly harvested group is sea cucumbers (class Holothuroidea), which are highly valued in Asia and sold as trepang or bêche-de-mer. We compiled global landings, economic data, and country-specific assessment and management reports to synthesize global trends in sea cucumber fisheries, evaluate potential drivers, and test for local and global serial exploitation patterns. Although some sea cucumber fisheries have existed for centuries, catch trends of most individual fisheries followed boom-and-bust patterns since the 1950s, declining nearly as quickly as they expanded. New fisheries expanded five to six times faster in 1990 compared to 1960 and at an increasing distance from Asia, encompassing a global fishery by the 1990s. Global sea cucumber production was correlated to the Japanese yen at a leading lag. Regional assessments revealed that population declines from overfishing occurred in 81% of sea cucumber fisheries, average harvested body size declined in 35%, harvesters moved from near- to off-shore regions in 51% and from high- to low-value species in 76%. Thirty-eight per cent of sea cucumber fisheries remained unregulated, and illegal catches were of concern in half. Our results suggest that development patterns of sea cucumber fisheries are largely predictable, often unsustainable and frequently too rapid for effective management responses. We discuss potential ecosystem and human community consequences and urge for better monitoring and reporting of catch and abundance, proper scientific stock assessment and consideration of international trade regulations to ensure long-term and sustainable harvesting of sea cucumbers worldwide.

Less than a State, More than an International Organization: The Sui Generis Nature of the European Union

In this paper, I show that the European Union (EU) is less than a state, but more than an international organization. Although it possesses some characteristics of both, the European Union is, I argue, a sui generis project: Although the EU wields extensive influence in some policy areas (such as competition policy or international trade regulation), its institutions’ powers are quite limited in many areas that remain firmly within the grasp of its Member States’ governments (such as security, justice, tax or redistribution policies). The European Union’s supranational elements – especially the EU laws’ supremacy over the laws of individual Member States – distinguish it, furthermore, from international organizations, such as the United Nations or the World Trade Organization. I conclude that the European Union is really a sui generis project that has not been attempted anywhere else: As such, it could be regarded as a useful case study, or perhaps even a “pilot project,” for regional integration projects elsewhere.

Important export skills comparison in different export stage

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to build a theoretical framework that identifies the important skills for successful export from different business areas and make an empirical ranking of their importance.Design/methodology/approachA survey containing 88 practical export skills, selected from the existing literature, was sent to 800 Chinese exporting companies in major Eastern regions of China. With the factor analysis, eight skill categories were identified and 56 skills were found more important.FindingsThe results of the study show that in the higher export stage, skills in international marketing and international trade logistics were viewed as being more important. However, a firm in an early export stage showed more concerns on international trade policy and regulations, international finance and international trade research. Firms with rich export experience viewed strategic management in international trade as being more important than those with less export experience. International payment terms were considered to be very important by firms across all export stages. However, only these firms which were exploring the availability of export business viewed international trade practice as being somewhat important.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the export skills pool should be extended and examined according to the firms' characteristics. Second, the study is cross‐sectional and there should be specific analysis of different exporting firms. Third, supplement of the study with more samples from other regions should provide more generalizable implications. Finally, another future work should be to examine how export skills affect financial performance of those Chinese exporting firms.Practical implicationsThis paper can serve as useful information for the exporting firms to improve their existing skill training programs. The skills importance rankings can also be used to guide the resource allocations.Originality/valueThis study builds a theoretical framework that identifies the important skills for successful export from different business areas and makes an empirical ranking of their importance based on the data of Chinese exporting firms.

The Role and Limit of Epistemic Community in the Formation and Development of Global Environmental Regimes: The Case of International Trade Regulation on African Elephant

The Role and Limit of Epistemic Community in the Formation and Development of Global Environmental Regimes: The Case of International Trade Regulation on African Elephant

Bringing Predictability and Security to Developing Countries Tariff Preferences

While most economists criticise the GSP for a number of (good) reasons, all preference donors and receivers profess their commitment to what they consider as a tool for developing countries ‘to secure a share in the growth of world trade’. The political support given by both receivers and donors to preferences as an economic development tool means that they will remain part of the landscape of international trade regulation for the foreseeable future.Under the WTO Enabling Clause, such preferences are allowed if they are generalized, non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory. However, tariff preferences are also often withdrawn on dubious grounds and without due process. This reduces much of their potential value, because traders and investors lack the predictability and security necessary to make long term business decisions based on the market access opportunities that these preferences provide. Indeed, the lack of predictability and security of unilateral tariff preference schemes has been one of the reasons that some developing countries have concluded regional trade agreements (RTAs) under Article XXIV GATT, despite the sometimes heavy price of reciprocity.In this paper we offer an alternative. Based on a legal examination of tariff preference schemes and their limitations (coverage, graduation, safeguards, and conditionality), we make three practical proposals to provide better security and predictability for both preference beneficiaries and donors:1. a binding of GSP schemes under Article II GATT (negotiated under Article XXVIII GATT)2. as an alternative, a dispute settlement regime specifically targeted at unbound preferences, and3. legally secure rules on limitations to GSP programs, including transparent and objective graduation criteria, which may be bound or unbound.Contrary to what is often assumed, this paper demonstrates that it is perfectly possible to bind tariff preferences and graduation criteria under existing WTO rules. All it takes is sufficient political will.Presented at the SIEL 2010 Conference in Barcelona.

Book Review: International Trade Regulation and the Mitigation of Climate Change, Cambridge, edited by Thomas Cottier, Olga Nartova &amp; Sadeq Z. Bigdeli. (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009)

View Book Review: International Trade Regulation and the Mitigation of Climate Change, Cambridge, edited by Thomas Cottier, Olga Nartova &#38; Sadeq Z. Bigdeli. (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009) by Markus Wagner - Global Trade and Customs Journal

Parasites from ‘Alien Shores’: The Decline of Canada's Freshwater Fishing Industry

Abstract: After 1900, the Northwest fishing industry expanded substantially from southern Manitoba to the Northwest Territories, with production directed principally to American urban markets. In response to the economic crisis of the 1930s, new international trade regulations prohibited the importation of fish infected with the Triaenophorus parasite and included two of the most important commercial freshwater fish species: tullibee and lake whitefish. In the following decades, in spite of repeated state and scientific interventions in the fishery, Canada's freshwater fishing industry was unable to fully recover from the economic impacts of the new trade regulations. This failure reflected the unprecedented influence of the parasite and its ecological relationships to other species and the freshwaters in which it was found. This paper goes beyond a conventional narrative of the impacts of economic protectionism to ascertain how the natural context in which resources such as fish are found intervenes in human socio-economic affairs.

Parasites from 'Alien Shores': The Decline of Canada's Freshwater Fishing Industry

Après 1900, les pêcheries du Nord-Ouest se sont développées considérablement depuis le sud du Manitoba jusqu'aux Territoires du Nord-Ouest, leur production étant principalement destinée aux marchés urbains des États-Unis. En réaction à la crise économique des années 1930, de nouveaux règlements commerciaux ont interdit l'importation de poisson infecté par un parasite appelé Triaenophorus, et ont frappé deux des plus importantes espèces commerciales de poisson d'eau douce : le cisco et le grand corégone. Au cours des décennies suivantes, malgré les nombreuses interventions scientifiques et gouvernementales dans les pêcheries, I'industrie de la pêche au poisson d'eau douce fut incapable de se remettre complètement des impacts économiques de nouveaux règlements commerciaux. Cet échec témoignait de l'influence sans précédent du parasite et de ses relations écologiques avec les autres espèces et avec l'eau douce où il a été trouvé. Cet article va au-delà du récit habituel sur les impacts du protectionnisme économique : il vérifie la manière dont le contexte naturel où l'on trouve des ressources comme le poisson intervient dans les affaires socio-économiques des humains

Law, Language and International Trade Regulation in the WTO

While attending a major conference on the Future of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently, I noticed that few delegates attended the session on international agricultural trade. This seeming lack of interest was striking for two reasons. First, international markets for agricultural products are highly distorted because states use quotas and subsidies to manipulate the supply and demand for agricultural products, which in turn affects the price of those goods both on domestic and international markets. 1 Notwithstanding numerous efforts between 1947 and 1995 to liberalize agricultural trade and return it to a more market-led approach, the sector remained largely outside international regulation under the rules in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the GATT). 2 It was not until 1995, with the creation of the WTO including an Agreement on Agriculture, that specialized rules were finally introduced which attempted to regulate states' use of restrictive trade measures. Despite these new rules, liberalization efforts in international agricultural trade remain considerably behind those in other goods sectors. 3