We provide an ex-post econometric examination of the harmonization and tightening of the EU Maximum Residues Limit (MRL) on aflatoxins in 2002, and its impact on African exports of groundnut products. We show that the MRL set by the EU has no significant trade impact on groundnut exports from...

Food safety standards have proliferated as multilateral and bilateral trade agreements constrain traditional barriers to agricultural trade. Stringent food standards can be driven by rising consumer and public concern about food safety and other social objectives, or by the lobbying efforts from...

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...

Abstract: Maximum residue levels (MRLs) regulations in plant products can createunnecessary trade barriers on one hand and enhance demand via risk mitigation or qualityassurance on the other. We stipulate a generalized gravity equation model to disentanglethe effects of MRLs on the import demand...

Domestic technical measures such as SPS and TBTs can enhance import demand viainformation disclosure and quality improvement, or hamper foreign export supply via imposingsizeable compliance costs, or both. The traditional gravity equation model estimates the neteffect of these measures on...