Harmonisation of technical standards is often suggested as a means to eliminate technical barriers that reduce the welfare gains available from the International Trade. Organic standards are not currently harmonised internationally. If domestic organic standards reflect consumer tastes, and...

The relationship between labour standards in developing countries and trade flows has become a major trade policy issue with efforts in some developed countries to have labour standards provisions included in multilateral and regional trade agreements. This has been fiercely resisted by...

On July 25, 1986 the Canadian Import Tribunal issued the Finding for its investigation of imports of beef from Denmark and Ireland. The Tribunal found that subsidised Danish beef exported to Canada: has not caused, is not causing, but is likely to cause material injury to the production of like...

Public and private policy responses to the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops have differed across countries and regions, resulting in market fragmentation that is in conflict with the entry mode strategy of standardisation that has dominated the food distribution system for a...

Biotechnology involves the use of modern biological procedures to enhance economically desirable traits exhibited by plants, animals and micro‐organisms. These new technologies are currently reaching the stage of commercial application in agriculture. Developing countries will face a major...

At the end of 2010 there are more than 100 new preferential trade agreements being contemplated. At the same time there are approximately 200 existing trade agreements whose provisions leave large additional potential gains from trade on the table. Despite these potential benefits, there appears...

One of the last major undertakings of Justice Willard Z. Estey was a comprehensive review of the grain handling and transportation system in Western Canada, undertaken for the federal government. Commissioned in December 1997, it was completed in two phases – May and December 1998....

In mid-December 2011 it was announced that the accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO had been agreed. The accession negotiations had taken 18 years. Russia is the last major economy whose international trade is not governed by WTO disciplines, and with its accession 97 percent of global...

New institutional economics suggests that the development of institutions and the existence of transaction costs are important determinants of the speed and success of the transition from command to market systems. Investigates the development of hog marketing channels in Poland during...