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Utility of Regional Trade Agreements: Experience from India’s Regionalism

This paper formulated in the context of the Indian experience in regionalism. In the past decade, India’s trade policy has seen a marked shift towards regionalism with the signing of many regional trade agreements (RTAs). As of May 2011, 13 RTAs were in force, with at least eight more under negotiations. This paper explores whether these RTAs were ultimately of use to Indian traders. To assess the usefulness of an RTA to traders, percentage ratios, like utilization, product-coverage and utility ratios, are generally calculated.


Utilization of Trade Agreements in Sri Lanka: Perceptions of Exporters vs. Statistical Measurements

Sri Lanka’s economy which followed an inward-looking policy regime in the 1960s and the 1970’s witnessed a marked shift towards the liberalization of the economy since 1977. This was followed by structural transformations, with the economy changing its course from being primarily an agricultural economy to one driven by the services and industrial sectors. Furthermore, with the liberalization of the economy, Sri Lanka became increasingly dependent on trade, with the trade to GDP ratio being 41 per cent as of 2008.


Features of post-crisis protectionism in Asia and the Pacific

This paper provides an overview of developments in implementation of protectionist measures relevant for Asia-Pacific economies in the period associated with recovery after the Global Economic Crisis of 2008/2009. At the very start of the Global Economic Crisis, there was a real fear that the sharp collapse in exports and production in many countries would lead to repeat of the damaging trade wars from the 1930s.


Trade Facilitation in India: An Analysis of Trade Processes and Procedures

Moving goods across borders requires meeting a vast number of commercial, transport and regulatory requirements. Inefficiencies in complying with these requirements often create unnecessary delays and costs. A source of tremendous inefficiencies is associated with the preparation of transport and regulatory documents, unclear border procedures, and overzealous cargo inspection. We need to understand how much these add to the costs of doing business across border and which way they affect the growth in trade.


Improving Import-Export Procedures and Processes in Sri Lanka

An in-depth understanding of trading processes is required in order to identify areas that create bottlenecks in trade and to take measures to remove such bottlenecks. Towards this end, this study examines the trading procedures and processes for two export and two import products of Sri Lanka. The study involves mapping the processes involved in the export of tea to Japan and tyres to India, and the processes involved in the import of motor vehicles from Japan and textiles from India, through a business process analysis.


Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and the Agriculture Sector in Sri Lanka

One of the main objectives of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is to facilitate the world’s trade and production. It enforces legally binding multilateral agreements on trade in goods, services, and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights to manage global trade efficiently. At the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994, the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement was implemented to regulate standards of Intellectual Property (IP) regulations in WTO member countries.


Facilitating Trade through Simplification of Trade Processes and Procedures in Bangladesh

The push for simplification of trade processes and procedures in the context of trade facilitation is nothing new. For decades, countries around the globe have been adopting strategies and spending resources to minimize cumbersome trade processes and garner maximum benefits from bilateral, multilateral and regional trading agreements. As a member of the international trading system, and more as a least developed country (LDC), Bangladesh has been focusing on the issue of trade facilitation for several decades now.


Trade Facilitation in Asia and the Pacific: Which Policies and Measures affect Trade Costs the Most?

How much of international trade costs can be mitigated through implementation of trade facilitation measures and policies? What measures and policies affect trade costs the most? This paper presents findings from an initial analysis of new non-tariff trade cost estimates and their determinants, based on a bilateral database of comprehensive trade cost maintained by ESCAP. Although trade costs consist for the most part of non-tariff trade costs, tariff cuts accounted for a very significant portion of trade costs reduction between 1996-99 and 2004-07.


Usable Data for Economic Policymaking and Research? The Case of Lao PDR’s Trade Statistics

This report assesses the quality of Lao PDR’s trade statistics by comparing Lao PDR’s export/import data with its trade partners’ import/export data (mirror data). While the mirror technique is constrained by the fact that partners’ data also can have some problems, it is a useful method to obtain a snapshot of the quality of trade data. First of all, it should be recognized that publicly available Lao PDR statistics compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC) is not consistent with the Harmonized System (HS) classification.


An Analysis of Import-Export Procedures and Processes in China

Recent research by various international organizations including the World Bank, OECD, ADB and UNCTAD suggest that customs and administrative procedures have substantial effects on trade flows between countries. These procedures and practices can act as significant barriers to international trade and it is not surprising that these have become the focus of attention, now that tariff and other quantitative barriers have and continue to be reduced. Since becoming a full fledge member of the WTO, China has made significant progress in the trade liberalization process.