This study estimates the effect of trade facilitation measures implementation on trade costs in Asia and the Pacific using data from the United Nations Global Survey on Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade Implementation. Impact of different sets of measures are considered, from a basic set of...

This study suggests that the WTO may need to establish a long-term institutional mechanism to deal with evolving trade facilitation measures and issues. Countries may also agree on a subset of well-defined TFMs to be implemented by all, as well as on a complementary list of possibly more...

This paper presents the findings and results of an exploratory ARTNeT study on the needs for and costs of implementation of selected trade facilitation measures (TFMs) related to GATT Articles V, VIII and X. This summary paper is based on six ARTNeT working papers issued between January and...

This paper succinctly explores three emerging (in the case of customs valuation, re-emerging) issues, drawing from recent ARTNeT working papers as well as other relevant literature: (a) trade facilitation and regional trade agreements and initiatives; (b) trade facilitation and customs...

Digital trade facilitation refers to the application of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) to simplify and automate international trade procedures. It is rapidly becoming essential to maintaining trade competitiveness and enabling effective participation in cross-border...

This paper examines optimal cooperative and non-cooperative environmental taxes for the case in which a polluting input is used to produce an internationally-traded finished product. The model allows for terms-of-trade effects under oligopoly and employs a general specification of the...

In this paper, we review the sustainable development content of regional trade agreements (RTAs) globally using a new ESCAP RTA Text Analysis tool, followed by a comparative analysis of sustainable development related provisions in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and two...

Trade misinvoicing occurs when price, quantity or description of internationally traded goods is purposefully misrepresented for pecuniary gain. It is one type of illicit financial flows (IFFs), and combating IFFs has been explicitly included in the Sustainable Development Goals. Most literature...

Rules on digital trade are rapidly taking shape as countries in Asia-Pacific and beyond strive to secure the benefits associated with e-commerce and the digitalization of trade in goods and services. At the multilateral level, the WTO holds promise to reach a plurilateral agreement on core...

We use newly collected data on trade and production in 178 countries to infer estimates of trade costs in agriculture and manufactured goods for the 1995-2010 period. The data show that trade costs are strongly declining in per capita income. Moreover, the rate of change of trade costs is...