Market Access Issues Research Articles

Role of Polyhouse Technology in Mitigating Climate Risks for Floriculture

Climate change poses significant challenges to agricultural productivity, particularly in sectors like floriculture that rely heavily on favorable environmental conditions. In this context, polyhouse technology emerges as a promising solution for mitigating climate risks faced by floriculture farmers. Polyhouses provide a controlled environment that shields crops from extreme weather events, temperature fluctuations, and excessive rainfall, thereby reducing the vulnerability of floriculture production to climate variability. This paper reviews the role of polyhouse technology in climate risk mitigation for floriculture farmers. It examines how polyhouses help in maintaining optimal growing conditions, including temperature, humidity, and light intensity, throughout the year. By regulating these environmental factors, polyhouses enable year-round cultivation of high-value flower crops, offering farmers a stable income stream despite external climate fluctuations. Furthermore, the study explores the economic and environmental benefits associated with polyhouse-based floriculture systems. It analyses the cost-effectiveness of polyhouse construction and operation, considering factors such as energy consumption, water usage, and crop yield. Additionally, the environmental sustainability of polyhouse technology, including its potential to reduce pesticide and fertilizer usage, is discussed. The paper also highlights the challenges and limitations of adopting polyhouse technology in floriculture farming, including initial investment costs, technical expertise requirements, and market access issues. Strategies for overcoming these barriers, such as government subsidies, capacity building programs, and market linkages, are proposed. The polyhouse technology can play a climate-resilient solution for floriculture farmers, offering opportunities for increased productivity, income stability, and environmental sustainability in the face of climate change.

Explaining drivers of farmers’ willingness for early adoption of enhanced irrigation technologies: case of Tunisia

The objective of this paper is to identify the influencing factors of farmers’ willingness for early adoption of enhanced irrigation technologies in Tunisia. We estimate a multinomial logit model with data from 931 farmers in Central (Chebika) and Northern (Fernana) of Tunisia. Regression results reveal that early adoption is positively influenced by levels of extension service quality, trust in farmers’ associations and extension agents, farmer’s perception towards the innovation, credit access, and off-farm income. However, it is negatively affected by market access issues, risk aversion, and age. Risk, trust, and perception towards technology are important factors in driving early adoption decision. The findings imply that farmers training on water conservation technologies, financial support for innovation adoption, awareness of young farmers about the opportunities of agricultural innovation, incentives to farmers’ associations in order to improve their market access, and inclusive participatory approaches during technology generation and transfer are all accelerators of early adoption speed of innovations by farmers.

Research on Market Access Issues for Agricultural Management Entities of Different Scales in Heilongjiang Province in the Development of Digital Agriculture

Research on Market Access Issues for Agricultural Management Entities of Different Scales in Heilongjiang Province in the Development of Digital Agriculture

Critical insecurities? The European Union’s strategy for a stable supply of minerals

Abstract The green transition is creating exponential needs for critical minerals. As demand currently exceeds supply for many of these minerals, governments worldwide are devising strategies to secure stable procurements of the minerals they lack as well as to ensure that they reap the benefits of their own natural wealth. The European Union (EU) is in a difficult position in this regard due to limited domestic reserves and, thus, serves as an ideal case study to explore developments in international economic law on this issue. Internally, the EU has been reforming its financing mechanisms, developing risk management tools, and enhancing recycling. Externally, the EU has been using international trade tools to focus on access to supply rather than traditional market access issues while also developing new investment rules to open doors and protect its foreign investors in extractive industries. Both internal and external actions are being coordinated with allies through new cooperative mechanisms. However, challenges abound. These strategies will face resistance from resource-abundant economies in view of their growing demand for policy space to protect their own mineral sector. Such strategies are also inherently competitive and, hence, might lead to growing tensions among resource-seeking economies themselves.

Sustainable and Climate Smart Agriculture for Food Security: A Review

This review provides an in-depth examination of the principles, practices, and challenges associated with sustainable and climate-smart agriculture. Sustainable agriculture, with its focus on soil health, biodiversity, water management, and reduced chemical inputs, is crucial for meeting current food production needs while preserving resources for future generations. Climate Smart Agriculture builds upon sustainability by emphasizing climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, including climate-resilient crop selection, greenhouse gas reduction, and technology integration. However, several challenges hinder the widespread adoption of these practices. Indian Farmers often lack knowledge and resources, while financial constraints and policy barriers pose significant hurdles. Additionally, climate variability and market access issues further complicate the transition to sustainable and climate-smart agriculture. Efforts to address these challenges require comprehensive education and training programs, supportive policies, financial incentives, and increased collaboration among governments, NGOs, and the private sector. Achieving sustainable and Climate Smart Agriculture is crucial for ensuring food security and resilience in the face of climate change.

MAPPING INDIA-NIGERIA RELATIONS: BRINGING ENERGY SECTOR INTO FOCUS

India and Nigeria, two populous nations with rapidly growing economies, have cultivated a multifaceted relationship that extends beyond diplomatic ties. This paper delves into the intricate web of India-Nigeria relations, with a specific emphasis on the pivotal role of the energy sector. The energy sector has emerged as a linchpin in this bilateral relationship, showcasing the dynamics of energy diplomacy between the two nations. Nigeria, an African energy giant, holds abundant reserves of oil and gas, while India, one of the world’s fastestgrowing energy consumers, presents a compelling market for Nigerian energy resources. This paper scrutinises the evolution of this partnership, tracing its historical roots to the present day. Furthermore, it explores the geopolitical dimensions that shape energy cooperation, including Nigeria’s position as a vital oil supplier to India, and the diplomatic efforts taken to ensure a stable energy supply. The study also addresses the challenges and opportunities inherent in this energy-centric partnership, from market access issues to the potential for technology and knowledge transfer. By shedding light on the nuances of India-Nigeria relations within the energy sector, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the global energy landscape and the strategic interests that underpin the ties between emerging economies.

Evaluating the Performance, Export Competitiveness and Direction of Trade of Indian Banana in the International Market

ABSTRACT The study examined the changing pattern of international trade in bananas globally and in India at a macro level from 2000 to 2020. It analyzed the growth pattern, direction of trade, trade competitiveness, and market access issues like tariff and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) faced by exporters in major markets. The analysis revealed that the export of bananas from India increased from $8.10 thousand to $212 thousand from 2000 to 2020, with an annual growth of 21 per cent. Iran, UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia are the major destination markets for Indian bananas, wherein India exports more than 70 per cent of its banana export. Banana exports from India possess export competitiveness as the Nominal Protection Coefficient (NPC) was less than one (ranging between 0.28 to 0.70), and the domestic prices were lower than the international prices. Oman emerged as a stable market for banana imports from India in quantity and value terms. Iran and Nepal were the most important markets for Indian bananas but Kuwait and Saudi Arabia markets were unstable markets for Indian bananas. Among the major importing countries of Banana, Japan has imposed the highest number of notifications (164 Non-tariff Measures (NTMs)) on total imports of India since 1995. The USA imposed 119 NTMs, and the EU imposed 65 notifications. Still, it had imposed more TBT measures (35). Regarding Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, agricultural goods do not involve technological prowess but only consider consumer health and safety issues, which can be harmonized as it is good for trading partners. For Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) measures driven mainly by technology, India must follow the same approach carefully. Future research should concentrate on the impact of NTMs in depth by considering all the stakeholders. Keywords: Banana export, competitiveness, Markov Chain Analysis, NPC. JEL Codes: C88, F13, Q17.

Evaluating the Performance, Export Competitiveness and Direction of Trade of Indian Banana in the International Market

ABSTRACT The study examined the changing pattern of international trade in bananas globally and in India at a macro level from 2000 to 2020. It analyzed the growth pattern, direction of trade, trade competitiveness, and market access issues like tariff and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) faced by exporters in major markets. The analysis revealed that the export of bananas from India increased from $8.10 thousand to $212 thousand from 2000 to 2020, with an annual growth of 21 per cent. Iran, UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia are the major destination markets for Indian bananas, wherein India exports more than 70 per cent of its banana export. Banana exports from India possess export competitiveness as the Nominal Protection Coefficient (NPC) was less than one (ranging between 0.28 to 0.70), and the domestic prices were lower than the international prices. Oman emerged as a stable market for banana imports from India in quantity and value terms. Iran and Nepal were the most important markets for Indian bananas but Kuwait and Saudi Arabia markets were unstable markets for Indian bananas. Among the major importing countries of Banana, Japan has imposed the highest number of notifications (164 Non-tariff Measures (NTMs)) on total imports of India since 1995. The USA imposed 119 NTMs, and the EU imposed 65 notifications. Still, it had imposed more TBT measures (35). Regarding Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, agricultural goods do not involve technological prowess but only consider consumer health and safety issues, which can be harmonized as it is good for trading partners. For Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) measures driven mainly by technology, India must follow the same approach carefully. Future research should concentrate on the impact of NTMs in depth by considering all the stakeholders. Keywords: Banana export, competitiveness, Markov Chain Analysis, NPC. JEL Codes: C88, F13, Q17.

Analysis of the Digital Trade Agreements among Several APEC Member Countries

We analyze a variety of digital trade agreements with a view to exploring a useful guidance to clarify and improve the agreements. After examining the key features of the agreements, we compare them in two aspects, market access and policy cooperation. While the market access issues include the cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, the location of computing facilities, no imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions and the express shipments, the policy cooperation issues do cooperation on standard and conformity assessment for digital trade, FinTech cooperation, and competition policy cooperation. Next, after evaluating the digital trade agreements, we find the need for reasonable definitions of critical terms such as digital trade and digital service. Also we suggest how to clarify and improve the scope of digital product and their relationship with the relevant WTO agreements, primarily GATS. Finally, we conclude with future issues such as the role of APEC, the interconnection between digital trade and trade in services, Korea’s strategies for future digital trade agreements, and the multilateral negotiations on digital trade at several international organizations such as WTO and OECD.

Biosensors for the Rapid Detection of Cardiovascular Biomarkers of Vital Interest: Needs, Analysis and Perspectives.

We have previously surveyed a panel of 508 physicians from around the world about which biomarkers would be relevant if obtained in a very short time frame, corresponding to emergency situations (life-threatening or not). The biomarkers that emerged from this study were markers of cardiovascular disease: troponin, D-dimers, and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Cardiovascular disease is a group of disorders affecting the heart and blood vessels. At the intersection of medicine, basic research and engineering, biosensors that address the need for rapid biological analysis could find a place of choice in the hospital or primary care ecosystem. Rapid, reliable, and inexpensive analysis with a multi-marker approach, including machine learning analysis for patient risk analysis, could meet the demand of medical teams. The objective of this opinion review, proposed by a multidisciplinary team of experts (physicians, biologists, market access experts, and engineers), is to present cases where a rapid biological response is indeed valuable, to provide a short overview of current biosensor technologies for cardiac biomarkers designed for a short result time, and to discuss existing market access issues.

Liberalising the Chinese Market: State-Owned Enterprise Disciplines in CAI

Abstract The newly-concluded EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), characterised by a number of market liberalisation clauses, is the black sheep in the investment agreement family. This article pins down one principal investment liberalisation discipline provided in CAI – the State-owned enterprise (SOE) rule. The article concerns the capability and problems of the new SOE rule in addressing market access issues arising from the competition and incumbency of SOEs. Dedicated SOE disciplines are not an innovation of CAI. Nor does the rule seem strikingly different from state-of-the-art treaty practice. However, delving into the nuances, the article finds that, when it comes to market liberalisation, CAI blurs out the stringent, clear-cut approach the Trans-Pacific Partnership/Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership model is intended to establish. Further, because both bodies of rules leave plenty of room for interpretation, the effectiveness of the new SOE rule, in general, remains uncertain and susceptible to politicization.

Equivalence Decisions in the EU and UK Financial Services Sectors Post-Brexit

Financial services are largely left out of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement that was reached at the end of December 2020. The issue of cross-border market access for financial services firms based in the EU and in the UK could be resolved by the adoption of mutual equivalence decisions. The UK made a number of equivalence decisions pre-Brexit to allow EU-based financial services firms access to the UK market. The EU has not reciprocated. Consequently, UK-based financial services firms have moved business into the EU to maintain client access. The article discusses advantages and disadvantages of the EU and the UK’s different strategies as regards market access and whether equivalence decisions in the area of financial services can be used to build up a trustful relationship between the EU and the UK post-Brexit. Equivalence decisions, Brexit, pre-Brexit regulation, post-Brexit regulation, financial services regulation, Joint UK-EU Financial Regulatory Forum, market efficiency, market relocation, Singapore-on-Thames, systemic risks

Propelling Healthcare with Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products: A Policy Discussion

Recent advances in biomedicine are opening the door to new approaches, and treatment and prevention are being transformed by novel medicines based on genetic engineering, innovative cell-based therapies and tissue-engineered products, and combinations of a medical device with embedded cell or tissue components. These advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) hold one of the keys to making a reality of genuinely personalised medicine. There are an estimated 450 companies across the globe working on the development of gene therapies and more than 1,000 clinical trials underway worldwide, and some 20–30 new ATMPs filings are expected in Europe annually over the next 5 years. But challenges confront the sector, complicating the translation from research into patient access. Scientific, clinical development and regulatory issues are compounded by limited experience with clinical and commercial use, limited manufacturing know-how, high costs, and difficulties in accessing development funding and investment. Pricing and reimbursement and market access issues are an additional challenge, particularly in Europe, where unfamiliarity with the technology and uncertainty over the use of real-world evidence induce caution among clinicians, health technology assessment bodies and payers. There is a need for a review of the suitability of the regulatory and market access framework for these products, focused development of data, public/private partnerships, and fuller collaboration governments, doctors, insurers, patients, and pharmaceutical companies. This paper makes specific recommendations for all stakeholders, ranging from early dialogue on potential products, linking of clinical data and patient registries or standardisation of control frameworks, to a comprehensive approach to evidence generation, assessment, pricing, and payment for ATMPs.

The impacts of Acacia decurrens plantations on livelihoods in rural Ethiopia

This study was undertaken to examine local perceptions of the impacts of small-scale tree plantations, notably of Acacia decurrens (J.C. Wendl.) Willd., in Ethiopia’s Upper Blue Nile Basin. A particular focus of our study was on the different dimensions of livelihood sustainability centering on economic, social, human, physical, and natural capital. The unprecedented expansion of small-scale tree plantations in degraded agricultural land can be attributed to farmers’ efforts to overcome the problems of limited income options and land degradation. However, these initiatives may have differential effects in terms of maintaining the sustainability of the natural environment and rural livelihoods. Interviews conducted with farmers revealed that the plantation system has yielded rich benefits by increasing their incomes, providing them with employment and improving their social lives. The plantations have also significantly improved degraded soils, thereby increasing natural capital. However, associated risks have also been found related to rising food prices, caused by a shift from annual to perennial crops and growing inequalities, with small farmers or those with limited financial resources having fewer options to invest in plantations. Moreover, in the face of such a positive overall impact of the plantation systems, the regulation of child labor, a potential issue, could become difficult. Apart from measures to address the issue of child labor, improved infrastructure and market access are required to help balance food security and plantation systems through functioning markets and financial systems that enable economically impoverished farmers to participate in this business. These findings offer important insights for research and policies seeking to sustain small-scale farmers’ tree plantation systems, land use, and rural livelihoods.

ASEAN and the EU: an assessment of interregional trade potentials

Though negotiations on an Association of Southeast Asian Nations – European Union (ASEAN-EU) trade agreement began in 2007, the region-wide agreement stalled, and the EU has since pursued bilateral agreements with individual ASEAN member states (AMS). Nevertheless, the goal to form an interregional agreement remains as the European Commission and the AMS are currently undertaking a stocktaking exercise to explore the prospects towards the resumption of region-to-region negotiations. In this paper, a stochastic frontier specification of the gravity model is employed to identify and compare the performance (efficiency) of exports relative to the maximum export levels for the ASEAN-EU partnership. The findings, based on a panel dataset of two-way bilateral exports between the ASEAN-10 and the EU-28 over the 2000–2016 period, indicate a low-level of export efficiency. The low efficiency scores of below 0.2 suggest a high degree of trade resistances in the ASEAN-EU partnership. The low interregional trade potentials relate to market access issues, which in turn depend on the trade policy of both regions.

Hidden Market Access Barriers in China: India’s Exports in Electrical Machinery

India and China have significant bilateral trade flows leading to trade specialization in different product categories. The bilateral trade between these countries is clearly dominated by the Chinese exports. The trade figures show that the value of India’s import from China stood at USD 71.9 billion against its exports to China USD 12.4 billion. This paper evaluates the trade barriers faced by India in China’s market focusing mainly on electrical machinery sector. The empirical analysis shows that China has hidden trade barriers in electrical machinery sector by replacing the use of ad-valorem tariff with non-ad valorem tariff (AVE’s). This study will help India to address the issue of market access and demand removal of trade barriers in the electrical machinery sector while negotiating at the RCEP with China to address the issue of trade imbalance.

Conditions for the functioning of regulated competition on the public urban transport market in Poland

The public urban transport market takes the form of a natural monopoly. In some cases, especially in the situation of supply of a relatively large volume of operation work, the implementation of competitive solutions may result in: improving the quality of services or reducing the cost of vehicle-kilometers. The purpose of the article is to present the determinants of functioning of regulated competition on the public urban transport market in Poland. The conducted analysis focuses on the issue of market openness and access to participation in competitive procedures of private operators. The research covered urban transport markets in cities over 200.000 inhabitants and their characteristics in the scope of: the model of public transport organization (with particular emphasis on the level of opening of markets), the level of competition on the operator market and the method of selecting operators. On the basis of the conducted research, the scope of applying pro-competitive solutions in the scope of contracting services by the largest organizers of public urban transport in Poland was characterized.

ASEAN and the EU: An Assessment of Interregional Trade Potentials

Though negotiations on an Association of Southeast Asian Nations – European Union (ASEAN-EU) trade agreement began in 2007, the region-wide agreement stalled, and the EU has since pursued bilateral agreements with individual ASEAN member states (AMS). Nevertheless, the goal to form an interregional agreement remains as the European Commission and the AMS are currently undertaking a stocktaking exercise to explore the prospects towards the resumption of region-to-region negotiations. In this paper, a stochastic frontier specification of the gravity model is employed to identify and compare the performance (efficiency) of exports relative to the maximum export levels for the ASEAN-EU partnership. The findings, based on a panel dataset of two-way bilateral exports between the ASEAN-10 and the EU-28 over the 2000-2016 period, indicate a low-level of export efficiency. The low efficiency scores of below 0.2 suggest a high degree of trade resistances in the ASEAN-EU partnership. The low interregional trade potentials relate to market access issues, which in turn depend on the trade policy of both regions.

Unification Proposal on Market Access for Freight Forwarding in the European Union

Abstract The paper deals with the issue of different market access for the transport procurement in the EU in context of open market of providing forwarding services. It highlights different requirements of market access in freight forwarding. The article proposes conditions of market access unification in freight forwarding based on analysis of the existing situation. It also refers to the different responsibility of freight forwarder depending on membership in the national associations of freight forwarders. The contribution analyses the limitation of liability in freight forwarding and shows differences in contract of freight forwarding for particular shipments by model examples. There is also pointed to the need for the development of uniform freight forwarding conditions in the EU.

Les coûts du cancer du poumon

The medical-economic evaluation of lung cancer management, in recent years, unavoidable. The burden of disease constantly increases, with values doubling almost every 10 years. The financial impact will be even greater with the new molecules put on the market (target therapies and check points inhibitors). The methodology of medicoeconomics studies must be adapted to these therapeutic innovations.This work presents the global costs of lung cancer management, the costs by stages (localized, locally advanced and metastatic) and the cost of innovations, especially targeted therapeutics and immunotherapies. A better knowledge of medico-economic studies allows to better understand the market access issues of these new molecules and helps in selecting the most appropriate strategy according to populations managed.