I provide a stocktaking on the profile of regional trade agreements in the global trading system over the last decade focusing heavily on the period since the 2008 financial crisis and relying heavily on WTO notifications. Regional agreements cover both regional trade agreements and broader...

The appearance of BSE in the Canadian beef herd brought immediate financial hardship to the industry due to the immediate closure of export outlets to Canadian beef, live animals and by-products. Nobody knew how long the border would stay closed and many worried that the Canadian beef industry...

Different standards in pesticides and pest protection have often been used as trade barriers, whether real or manufactured. While harmonization is often touted as a means to limit the ability of domestic (protectionist) interests to use standards as a barrier to trade, the process of...

In January 2011, the US passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) which represents a major legislative initiative to revise and strengthen the regulatory regime pertaining to foodborne illness and contamination. The tightening of the regulatory regime was justified on the basis of a number...

High food prices in 2008 and 2010 generated concern about food security in developing countries. The number of food insecure people was estimated to have jumped significantly and food assistance donors were faced with unexpectedly high procurement bills. This paper discusses how high food prices...

A number of major agricultural exporting countries responded to high food prices from 2007 to 2010 by imposing export restrictions on agricultural commodities in efforts to constrain domestic food-price inflation. These restrictions reduced the volume of internationally traded food, and...

Current trade policy pursued by the Sri Lankan government on rice can best be described as adhoc as it is characterized by protecting farmers during glut seasons and consumers during deficit seasons. This study examines the economy-wide impacts of various policy packages on rice and related...

Food safety regulations limit trade in bioproducts. Every country, however, has a duty to protect its citizens from food safety hazards. If risks are increasing under an existing food safety system then a strengthening of the regulatory regime can be justified, with the inevitable negative...

Canada is currently negotiating a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union; the issue of Geographic Indications (GIs) is on the negotiating agenda and is expected to be one of the most contentious issues in the negotiations. While the exact nature of protection...