The paper considers the implications of recent changes in the EC relationship with the Central & Eastern European Countries (CEECs) for the EC's traditional links with ACP countries. After reviewing some important aspects of the trade regime implemented by the Lomé Convention, the paper...

Building on earlier work by Estevadeordal, we construct a synthetic index (R-index) intending to capture the restrictiveness on market access due to product specific rules of origin (PSRO) that apply at the tariff-line level. The R-index is constructed for rules of origins under NAFTA and under...

The paper reviews the likely economic effects of the Regional Economic Partnership Agreements (REPAs) proposed by the EU to the ACP countries to succeed to the Lomé IV agreements. We argue that, in spite of some likely positive effects because of reciprocity and because of the North-South...

Using the influence-driven approach to endogenous trade-policy determination, we show how a free-trade agreement (FTA) with rules of origin can work as a device to compensate losers from trade liberalization. The FTA constructed in this paper is characterized by external tariff structures that...

With FTAs under negotiation between Japan and AFTA members and between Korea and AFTA members, preferential market access will become more important in Asian regionalism. Protectionist pressures will likely rise with Rules of Origin (RoO), the natural outlet for these pressures. Based on the...

This paper estimates the effective market access granted under NAFTA in textiles and apparel by combining two approaches. First, we estimate the effect of tariff preferences and rules of origin on the border prices of Mexican final goods exported to the US and of US intermediates exported to...

In a political-economy setting where tariffs and duty drawbacks are endogenously chosen through industry lobbying, it is shown that full duty-drawbacks are granted to exporters who use imported intermediates in their production. This in turn decreases their incentives to counter-lobby against...

The paper considers the effects of trade expansion between the EU and the Central and East European Countries (CEECs) on France. Taking a political-economy perspective, we attempt to detect potential demand for protection at the sectoral and regional level. Recent aggregate figures for trade and...

With preferential trading Agreements (PTAs) on the rise worldwide with multiple memberships, rules of origin-- which are necessary to prevent trade deflection --are attracting increasing attention. At the same time, preference erosion for GSP recipients is threatening the viability of the...

This paper explores how political-economy forces shape quantitative barriers against the rest of the world in a FTA. We show that whereas the dilution of lobbying power in a FTA typically leads to a relaxation of external quotas, this result is likely to be overturned as integration deepens. In...