Maximum residue limits (MRLs) on pesticides and veterinary drugs in plant and animal products are established to promote food safety and animal and plant health. In practice, however, they are often accused of creating unnecessary trade barriers. The controversy is more prominent when a given...

We propose aggregation indices of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) to quantify their protectionism relative to international standards of stringency. We apply the indices to national Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) regulations on pesticides and veterinary drugs affecting agricultural and food trade and...