Importers Perspective of Market Access in Peanuts : Analysis of National Tolerance Limits (MRLs) Across Five Markets

Concerns over food safety have prompted the application of non-tariff standards such as sanitary and phytosanitary measures by countries throughout the world. These regulatory standards are formulated to protect humans, plants and animals from toxic contamination in imported food and agricultural products. Implementation of these standards impacts trade flows of commodities worldwide. The commodity that has been selected for the study is peanut as it is one of the crucial commodities worldwide that provide livelihood opportunities to people in many countries and help them to meet food, nutrition, and income security. The paper seems to support the argument that imposition of tolerance limits, in parts per million (PPMs), by developed and emerging markets. This study assesses the impact of SPS-based MRLs standards from importers’ perspective on peanut imports of the world’s top five peanut importers. A gravity model with a novel method has been devised in this study where the pesticide tolerance limits (residual limits) have been divided into five categories based on the severity. The weighted average of these categories has been used as a variable in the gravity model. This study concludes that there is a positive impact of MRLs standards on the import value and quantity by top importers of peanut. The plausible explanations can be a competitive repositioning of the international trade, geopolitics between the countries, and annual trade data availability