Local Production Capacity Research Articles

Znaczenie lokalnej żywności oraz krótkich łańcuchów dostaw w kształtowaniu zrównoważonego rozwoju rolnictwa i obszarów wiejskich w Unii Europejskiej

Celem niniejszego opracowania jest określenie znaczenia lokalnej żywności oraz krótkich łańcuchów dostaw we wdrażaniu koncepcji zrównoważonego rozwoju rolnictwa i obszarów wiejskich oraz przedstawienie działań Unii Europejskiej w tym zakresie. Działania te są prowadzone na podstawie Wspólnej Polityki Rolnej. W celu przygotowania tekstu posłużono się metodą opisową oraz analizą literatury. W kontekście różnorodnych wyzwań współczesnej gospodarki światowej, rozwój lokalnych systemów żywności, oznaczających produkcję, przetwórstwo i obrót na stosunkowo małym obszarze, jest szczególnie ważny. Ma on istotny wkład w rozwiązywanie problemów wynikających z postępującej globalizacji i stanowi ważny element zrównoważonego rozwoju na świecie. Przywiązywanie szczególnej wagi w polityce rolnej Unii Europejskiej do rozwoju lokalnych systemów żywności pozwala osiągać jej główne cele, zwłaszcza zachowanie bezpieczeństwa żywnościowego i żywności, m.in. dzięki utrzymaniu lokalnych zdolności wytwórczych, zapewnieniu transparentnego procesu produkcji żywności oraz dbaniu o zrównoważony rozwój całego sektora rolno-spożywczego.

The Politics of Modernization and the Misleading Approaches to Development

This article deconstructs the theory of modernization and argues that the theory is a political propaganda to mislead the people of Third World countries; the social transformation the theory advocates is not for the development of Third World countries. Instead, modernization is actually gradually destroying the local productive capacity, while cultivating the Western individualism in the South. In Uganda, the policies to bring about modernization under economic reform have made the economy to be dominated by a service sector that neither creates ample employment opportunities nor earns foreign exchange for the country. They have undermined manufacturing and agriculture, and as a result, a large percentage of the population is experiencing food insecurity. The article concludes by arguing that Uganda should have learnt from China's self-determined reforms and China should also learn from Uganda's experience while contemplating to adopt further reforms under foreign pressure.

A Risky Business? The Role of Incentives and Runaway Production in Securing a Screen Industries Production Base in Scotland

A Risky Business? The Role of Incentives and Runaway Production in Securing a Screen Industries Production Base in Scotland

Framework for Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems in Support of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries’ Food Security

Globally, food security faces unrelenting challenges, including growing population expected to reach 10 billion toward the end of 21st century, shifting diet preferences, diminishing natural resources and a changing planetary climate. This challenge is most acute in arid, hot Arabian Gulf region. Presently, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are comfortably food secure, almost entirely through food importation, with all the risks associated with total dependency on food import. Risks related to heavy reliance on food import include i) disturbance to global supplies routes, ii) food price volatility in global markets like 2007-2008, and iii) the unpredicted impact of climate change on global food supplies. To balance risks of food import, two measures seem to be effective: 1) stable grain stock and 2) a boost in domestic production. There are gaps in our knowledge regarding the local production capacity and how much contribution can be expected under prevailing climatic and environmental conditions. The primary objective of this paper is to identify and analyze innovative, resource-conserving, practical and sustainable ways to improve food production under local climatic conditions. In this framework, we considered agro-ecosystem agriculture (AEA) as a farming system that balances production and environmental goals and, most importantly, minimizes the trade-off between the two. We conclude that enhancing local food production would require capital investment in greenhouse structures, irrigation technology, and skilled labor.

Does Diversification towards Oilseeds Production reduce the Import burden in Pakistan?

Agriculture, constitutes a large segment of Pakistan’s economy, is facing problems in the production of oilseed crops. The situation is getting bad to worse due to increase in population and demand of oilseeds has increased from 1.298 million tons to 3.069 million tons during the last thirty three years with the same local production capacity. During 2013-14, the local oilseed production comprised of 17.9 percent of the total consumption, while the remaining 82.1 percent of the demand was fulfilled through import. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique is applied to examine the impact of different factors on the IHVC in Pakistan. The regression coefficient of import of oilseeds showed a negative and highly significant impact which indicated that huge import of oilseeds badly affects the public exchequer. The regression coefficient of number of tube wells, availability of credit and farm machinery (tractor) showed a positive and significant impact on IHVC. The regression coefficient of local production of oilseed crops showed a positive and significant impact, it showed that increasing the area for production of oilseeds enhanced the contribution of high value crops in GDP resultantly reduce the import burden.

Push and Pull Contracts in a Local Supply Chain with an Outside Market*

Wholesale price contracts are widely studied in a single supplier-single retailer supply chain, but without considering an outside market where the supplier may sell if he gets a high enough price and the retailer may buy if the price is low enough. We fill this gap in the literature by studying push and pull contracts in a local supplier–retailer supply chain with the presence of an outside market. Taking the local supplier's maximum production capacity and the outside market barriers into account, we identify the Pareto set of the push and/or pull contracts and draw managerial implications. The main results include the following. First, the most inefficient point of the pull Pareto set cannot always be removed by considering both the push and pull contracts. Second, the supplier's production capacity plays a significant role in the presence of an outside market; it affects the supplier's negotiating power with the retailer and the coordination of the supply chain can be accomplished only with a large enough capacity. Third, the import and export barriers influence the supply chain significantly: (i) an export barrier in the local market and the supplier's production capacity influence the supplier's export strategy; (ii) a low import (resp., export) barrier in the local market can improve the local supply chain's efficiency by use of a push (resp., pull) contract; and (iii) a high import (resp., export) barrier in the local market encourages the supplier (resp., retailer) to bear more inventory risk.

The Development State: Aid, Culture and Civil Society in Tanzania by Maia Green

Reviewed by: The Development State: Aid, Culture and Civil Society in Tanzania by Maia Green James Biedzynski Green, Maia. The Development State: Aid, Culture and Civil Society in Tanzania. Suffolk, UK: Boydall and Brewer, 2014. Development is a controversial topic in African studies. Many African nationalists blame European colonialism for distorting their respective economies and making them dependent on the global market. Others argue that Africa has never had a chance to develop its own economic strategy given the violence and corruption that erupted after independence. Whatever the case, one cannot understand contemporary Africa without looking at development. Maia Green, an anthropologist at the University of Manchester, provides the reader with an interesting, yet jargon-laden, account of how development has unfolded in Tanzania. Tanzania was colonized by Germans at the end of the nineteenth century. Known as German East Africa, it was the jewel of the German colonial empire. After World War I, the United Kingdom took control and ruled it as Tanganyika until 1961. Tanganyika was first a League of Nations Mandate and then a United Nations Trusteeship. Thus, it had more external supervision than many other [End Page 85] African colonies. After World War II, an indigenous nationalist movement pushed for independence, which was achieved in 1961. Following independence, Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar to produce the new state of Tanzania in 1964. Tanzania's first leader, Julius Nyerere, unveiled the Ujamaa path to social and economic development in 1967. The villagization of production, a key component of the Ujamaa plan, essentially collectivized all forms of local productive capacity. For many citizens, who were forced out of their old homes, this new system was as disruptive as some of the pre-1914 German practices. By 1985, it was apparent that the Ujamaa plan was a disaster and had to be abandoned. At that point, Tanzania shifted to a market-oriented economy. Green participated in several development projects in Tanzania over the past twenty years. Her accounts of the process cast doubt on whether development projects truly benefit Tanzania. For one thing, there is a limit to what any project can do. In addition, any project is enmeshed with the state and people seeking secure and well-paying government employment. Green reveals the difficulties involved when government officials get involved in development projects. The biggest winners in any development project are often the local and national bureaucracy. One might wonder if Tanzania would be better off with more privately-controlled development projects or simply letting the market grow the economy. That plan, however, would toss many public sector employees out of work. Tanzania aims to become a middle-income state, yet all of its development projects have failed to achieve that goal. Could it be that development managers and government are the problem? [End Page 86] Do Tanzanians expect too much from these people? An engaging and revealing aspect of Green's book is her treatment of witchcraft, which is rampant across the continent. Many Africans simultaneously believe in witchcraft and fear its powers. A large sector of Tanzania's health care system consists of faith healers and witches. It might be better to work with them rather than against them. British officials urged that approach before World War II. Perhaps it might be wise to revisit that approach. Green's book will leave many readers frustrated with the limits of development in Tanzania and the rest of Africa. One important question posed in the books concerns the level of outside involvement in the development process. Should the developed nations leave Africa to its own devices? Should the developed nations attempt to impose their definition of development on Tanzania? The Development State: Aid, Culture and Civil Society in Tanzania will generate a lively discussion on the confluence of culture and society on development projects in Tanzania. James Biedzynski Middlesex County College Copyright © 2016 Association of Global South Studies, Inc.

The impact of Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme median pharmaceutical pricing methodology and reimbursement policy on the pharmaceutical system

Background Over 10 years after the establishment of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana, the use of a median pricing methodology for pharmaceuticals remains a topic of debate due to its positive and negative outcomes. Residual effects of this pricing methodology include proliferation of low-quality medicines, irrational medicine use, insurance fraud and other untoward outcomes. Of particular interest is the ripple effect of this median pricing policy on the entire pharmaceutical system. Ghana’s pharmaceutical system has limited local production capacity and is heavily dependent on importation. Medicine prices continue to rise and the medicine reimbursement value constitutes an increasingly larger proportion of overall claims values. With finite resources allocated to the NHIS, this presents a sustainability challenge to be addressed promptly.

Geostatistical Modeling of Site Index Classes in Teak Stands

More realistic estimates of a local productive capacity, and thus reliable maps of site index, can be obtained in unsampled locations of a forest site when one chooses from among appropriate spatial characterization techniques. This study aimed apply and compare geostatistical modeling techniques to estimate dominant height and to map site index classes in teak stands in the Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Samples were taken and the average dominant height was obtained annually between the 2 nd

O09.2 Financing Free and Universal Access to Antiretroviral Drugs in the Long-Run: ART Cost Evolution in Brazil

BackgroundFollowing the international aid crisis, developing country governments have assumed greater financial responsibility in the fight against HIV/AIDS. First-line antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) have become more affordable, yet, assuring lifetime treatment...

Bioenergy Alongside Other Land Use: Sustainability Assessment of Alternative Bioenergy Development Scenarios

The development of bioenergy offers major possibilities for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel dependency, but negative impacts can also occur—e.g., the outcome for food production and biodiversity can be negative. This is a dilemma for policy: how to promote bioenergy developments that can substantially reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fossil fuel use without jeopardizing other policy objectives. One major activity within IEA Bioenergy Task 30 and its successor Task 43 concerns strategies to integrate expanding bioenergy systems with the existing land use, in order to reduce land use competition and displacement risks, and with the aim of improving land use productivity and reducing negative environmental impacts of the existing land use.This paper presents the outcome of an activity within this topic area: an evaluation tool that is being developed for comparing alternative ways of producing biofuel feedstocks—here applied on selected approaches that combine fuel production with other objectives. The tool, described as a generalized integrative assessment tool, has been used to evaluate several alternative bioenergy development options: (i) an alternative sugarcane expansion scenario for the Cerrado areas in Brazil, (ii) the use of crop or industrial residues for biogas production in the Netherlands, and (iii) an accelerated agricultural growth scenario generating additional food and biofuel feedstocks while conserving biodiversity areas in Ukraine.The results suggest that the tool can be useful for presenting and evaluating multidimensional effects of bioenergy expan-sion—by listing, analyzing and depicting all dimensions in a clear and comprehensive way. The evaluations of the three cases show that if biofuel feedstock production systems are developed in ways that do not lead to displacement of the prevailing land use, impacts on local food production capacity and biodiversity can be avoided, or at least significantly reduced, compared to a scenario of bioenergy expansion crowding out other land uses. Integrated bioenergy food systems can offer opportunities for both economic and social development.

Capacidade produtiva local de Tectona grandis em Monte Dourado, Estado do Pará, Brasil

O trabalho teve como objetivo determinar a capacidade produtiva local da teca em Monte Dourado, Estado do Pará, Brasil, por meio da análise de curvas de índice de sítio. Os dados foram obtidos pela análise de tronco de dez árvores dominantes de um povoamento com 26 anos de idade. Foram ajustados dez modelos de regressão e o critério de seleção obedeceu ao menor erro padrão da estimativa, ao maior coeficiente de determinação ajustado, à significância do teste F e dos coeficientes de regressão e à análise gráfica dos resíduos. As curvas de índice de sítio foram confeccionadas pelo método da curva-guia. O modelo de Spillman apresenta o melhor ajuste, por meio do qual foram geradas três curvas de índice de sítio de 16m a 24m na idade-índice de 26 anos. A região de Monte Dourado, PA, apresenta potencial produtivo para o desenvolvimento da teca.

A post-implementation evaluation of ceramic water filters distributed to tsunami-affected communities in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. During recovery, the Red Cross distributed approximately 12,000 free ceramic water filters. This cross-sectional study was an independent post-implementation assessment of 452 households that received filters, to determine the proportion still using filters, household characteristics associated with use, and quality of household drinking water. The proportion of continued users was high (76%). The most common household water sources were taps or shallow wells. The majority (82%) of users used filtered water for drinking only. Mean filter flow rate was 1.12 L/hr (0.80 L/hr for households with taps and 0.71 for those with wells). Water quality varied by source; households using tap water had source water of high microbial quality. Filters improved water quality, reducing Escherichia coli for households (largely well users) with high levels in their source water. Households were satisfied with filters and are potentially long-term users. To promote sustained use, recovery filter distribution efforts should try to identify households at greatest long-term risk, particularly those who have not moved to safer water sources during recovery. They should be joined with long-term commitment to building supply chains and local production capacity to ensure safe water access.

Modeling agricultural potential in Chaco Canyon during the Bonito phase: a predictive geospatial approach

This study presents a geospatial analysis of surficial hydrology and geomorphology and their relationship to potential agricultural productivity in order to better understand the economic role of water in Chaco Canyon during the Bonito Phase (ca. AD 850–1150). Defined as the Natural Agricultural Suitability Analysis, the foundation of this study is a hierarchical geospatial analysis that integrates six key natural factors: slope, soil texture, soil depth, non-catastrophic overbank flooding potential, drainage flow length, and drainage proximity and flow potential. These factors are combined through a raster weighted overlay function to generate composite suitability map that offers a testable proxy for variability in relative agricultural potential during the Bonito Phase at Chaco. The rationale for including this set of natural factors is based largely on ethnographic and modern agricultural studies, but the predictive model differs from previous studies of agricultural potential in that it is independent of the specific archaeological distribution of evidence of agriculture in the study area. The results of this analysis suggest that previous models of Chacoan agricultural productivity have underestimated local production capacity. Previous studies have focused solely on floodplain contexts, whereas this study points to a more comprehensive and geographically distributed use of the landscape.

Methods for mapping local food production capacity from agricultural statistics

Interest in local food security has increased in the last decade, stemming from concerns surrounding environmental sustainability, small scale agriculture, and community food security. Promotions for consumption of locally produced foods have come from activists, non-governmental organizations, as well as some academic and government research and policy makers. Methods to empirically assess the types and quantities of crops and animals produced locally (i.e., local food production capacity) are under-developed, hindering the ability of policy makers to effect innovative local food security policy. In this paper, we demonstrate methods to estimate local food production capacity using regularly gathered federal Agricultural Census and survey data for a Canadian province. The methods are generalizable to other provinces and nations. Operating at the sub-provincial scale of Local Health Area (LHA), our goal is to integrate census farmland and survey yield data to construct local food production estimates in each LHA. We also assess the stability of these surveyed agricultural yields over time to determine the temporal extent of data required for reasonable representation of product yields. We find that provincial yield data may be used to construct reasonable estimates of local scale food production, due to the high level of regionalization in productive farmland of each product in the province. However, many products exhibit significant yield variability over time, suggesting that, for some foods, local production capacity is a dynamic and variable concept. The methods developed will be useful for researchers and government officials alike, as well as a first step towards more advanced modeling of current local food capacity and future potential.

A Health and Nutritional Evaluation of Changes in Agriculture in the Past Quarter Century in British Columbia: Implications for Food Security

This paper describes change in local food production in British Columbia with a focus on changes in the production of foods recommended for increased consumption by nutritionists. We determine, in one of the most productive agricultural provinces in Canada, whether secular trends in agricultural land use and food production, over the past quarter century, have resulted in increased production of foods recommended by nutritionists as more healthy and nutritious. In particular we are concerned with estimating the extent to which changes in agriculture and food production are congruent with official nutrition advice to avoid less healthy foods and to consume more vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. We demonstrate, using regularly collected agricultural census data, in spite of nutritionists’ advocacy for improved access to locally produced fruits, vegetables, and grains, since 1986, that BC agriculture is moving firmly in the opposite direction with greater production of animal fats, and hay and grain for animal feed and much reduced production of traditional fruits, vegetables, and grains designed mainly for human consumption. While nutritionists advise us to increase consumption especially of whole grains, vegetables and fruit, local production capacity of these foods in BC has decreased markedly between 1986 and 2006. In conclusion, there is a structural disconnect between the kinds of foods produced in BC and the nutritional needs of the population.

Optimal policy for FDI incentives: An auction theory approach

A multinational corporation’s (MNC) entry into a host country brings benefits to the economy of that country, some direct (such as increasing production and employment) and some indirect (such as productivity spin-off). Governments that view MNCs as engines for growth and regional development have begun to encourage the flow of foreign investment into their country in hopes of increased local employment, market production and export capacity. MNCs consider first the maximization of profit when selecting a site to establish their subsidiaries. An MNC examines possible investment sites and indicates those that are best fitted for the investment. The countries that remain at this stage are similar in terms of their economic characteristics, and they compete with each other for receiving the foreign investment. In this paper we use tools from auction theory to analyze the competition between host countries and MNCs and investigate the existence of Nash equilibrium strategies. The characteristics of this equilibrium are considered and assessed. We developed a general model for examining the incentive competition between two countries and then apply it for several subgroups according to the number of MNCs and the availability of information. It turns out that the characteristics of the equilibrium depend on the number of MNCs as well as on the structure of their contribution to the host country economy.

The Beat

Vol. 117, No. 10 NewsOpen AccessThe Beat Erin E. Dooley Erin E. Dooley Search for more papers by this author Published:1 October 2009https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.117-a438bAboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Vehicles Concentrate NicotineA study by Patrick Breysse et al. published online 25 August 2009 ahead of print in Tobacco Control found that vehicle passengers riding with smokers may be exposed to nicotine levels 40–50% higher than those found in restaurants and bars that permit smoking. Nicotine concentrations inside vehicles increased twofold for every cigarette smoked, and while opening the windows reduced smoke somewhat, it did not eliminate exposure within the vehicle. Breysse et al. state the levels are unacceptable for nonsmoking passengers, especially children, who are at increased risk for secondhand smoke–related health problems..USDA Maps Local Food ProductionUntil recently, low fuel prices meant the U.S. food system could rely on food imported from other countries, but rising transport costs and regional food shortages and crop failures are among several factors encouraging a closer look at local food production. Wayne Honeycutt and colleagues at the Agricultural Research Service are now mapping data from Maine to Virginia on weather, soil, land use, and water availability to model potential crop production and determine local food production capacity. They say expanding opportunities for local food production could stimulate rural development and offset the risk of food shortages by diversifying and increasing local production in other areas.Fredon Township School playgroundSchool Averts EMF-Related ClosureThe debate over the safety of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) nearly closed a New Jersey school this fall until the state’s biggest electric utility and the Sussex County Board of Education reached an eleventh-hour settlement. The board had planned to close the K–6 Fredon Township School 1 October 2009 because the existing high-voltage power line crossing the school’s playground had been found to emit EMF levels more than 8 times the WHO-recommended maximum of 3 milligauss. Under the settlement, Public Service Electric & Gas Co. agreed to pay $95,000 to relocate playgrounds located under its lines. There is limited evidence that EMFs from power lines may be a risk factor for childhood leukemia.Colorimetric “Nose” Alerts Chemical HandlersIn a report published online 13 September 2009 in Nature Chemistry, Kenneth Suslick and colleagues present a postage stamp–sized electronic sensor capable of quickly and inexpensively detecting toxic chemicals and their concentrations through color visualization. The pattern created by color changes in the disposable 36-dye sensor array identifies both the toxicant and its concentration. The sensor can detect more chemicals than previous methods and produces most results within 2 minutes. The researchers have developed a handheld version similar to a card-scanning device that uses LED illumination and an ordinary camera.Take-Home Dust Boosts Car Seat Lead LevelsSeveral studies have established that lead-exposed workers can carry lead-contaminated dust off the jobsite on their clothing, shoes, and tools. In the 21 August 2009 MMWR Tina Bernier et al. report the first known cases of childhood lead poisoning attributed to take-home lead dust deposited onto car safety seats. No contamination was found in the six children’s homes, leading the researchers to examine family vehicles and car seats, where high lead levels were found. Although previous studies have recommended monitoring blood lead levels among children of lead-exposed workers, no standards exist for levels of lead dust contamination in vehicles or on child car safety seats.Indoor Greenery Releases VOCsPeace lilies, snake plants, weeping figs (ficus trees), and areca palms are just a few of the houseplants that have been shown to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from indoor air, but a new study by Dong Sik Yang et al. in the August 2009 issue of HortScience finds they can also release these chemicals. The authors found these four types of houseplants released 12–23 VOCs, and although the researchers did not quantify potential exposures, they did note that emissions were higher during the day than at night. The authors attributed the VOCs to pesticides used in nurseries, microorganisms living in the growing medium, and offgassing of plastic planters.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 117, No. 10 October 2009Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published1 October 2009Published in print1 October 2009 Financial disclosuresPDF download License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. Note to readers with disabilities EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact ehponline@niehs.nih.gov. Our staff will work with you to assess and meet your accessibility needs within 3 working days.

Non-Tariff Barriers in Ukrainian Export to the EU

The economic relations between the EU and Ukraine have intensified in recent years. Following the 2004 enlargement, Ukraine became the direct neighbour of the EU. At the same time, the country has been developing rapidly and both local production capacities and demand for foreign produce have been increasing. Ukraine also become more open to external partners. All this is reflected in the gradual effective trade integration with the EU; i.e. in growing bilateral trade flows. The overall EU tariffs for Ukrainian products are rather low and other tradition protection measures apply to selective sectors only. Moreover they are expected to disappear gradually within the next few years, following Ukraine WTO entry and expected establishment of the free trade area in manufacturing goods between the EU and Ukraine. However, there exist other so called 'non-tariff’ barriers to trade that protect and will protect the EU market. For a relatively poorer country these barriers may turn to be prohibitive. This is probably the cause that there is general perception about Ukrainian export to the EU still being below its potential. The goal of this report is to explore whether the non-tariff barriers impede Ukrainian export to the EU and to what extent.This report is published about the time when the free trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine is negotiated. The authors hope that the findings will turn useful for designing the extent of this agreement and contribute to the discussion about it by showing the extent of non-tariff barriers faced currently by Ukrainian exporters. The report starts from the overview of Ukraine trade policy (chapter 1), with the special emphasis put on economic relations between the EU and Ukraine. Evolution of bilateral trade flows is discussed next (chapter 2). This is supplemented with the brief discussion of recently conducted surveys on barriers hampering Ukrainian exports (chapter 3).The experience of some current EU members from Central and Eastern Europe, which together with gradual phasing out of tariff and traditional protection measures in the 1990s faced growing non-tariff barriers to trade with the EU, seems to be relevant for Ukraine. Chapter 4 reviews the exposure of CEECs exports to the EU’s non-tariff barriers, and describes how the countries were changing its trade-related legislation towards the EU laws in order to tackle these barriers. Chapter 4 also shows the extent of the EU’s technical barriers to trade in different sectors and how well CEE enterprises were prepared to meet them, once the EU commodity markets opened up completely for the new EU members in 2004. Results of the survey on non-tariff barriers to trade that are faced by Ukrainian exporters to the EU are presented in chapter 5. This is the main empirical contribution and the focus of this paper. The survey covered such areas as certification of origin, customs procedures and technical standards. Finally, chapter 6 concludes with policy recommendations.The authors are grateful for the assistance received from the State Committee of Ukraine for Technical Regulation and Consumer Policy and Association of Light Industry Producers of Ukraine. This publication was made possible due to the financial support provided by the 2006 Foreign Aid Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland.

“AIDS is Not a Business”: A Study in Global Corporate Responsibility – Securing Access to Low-cost HIV Medications

At the end of the 1990s, Brazil was faced with a potentially explosive HIV/AIDS epidemic. Through an innovative and multifaceted campaign, and despite initial resistance from multinational pharmaceutical companies, the government of Brazil was able to negotiate price reductions for HIV medications and develop local production capacity, thereby averting a public health disaster. Using interview data and document analysis, the authors show that the exercise of corporate social responsibility can be viewed in practice as a dynamic negotiation and an interaction between multiple actors. Action undertaken in terms of voluntary CSR alone may be insufficient. This finding highlights the importance of a strong role for national governments and international organizations to pressure companies to perform better.