Articles
THE IMPACT ON THE BANANA MARKET OF THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS AND OF THE POSSIBLE CONCLUSION OF BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL WTO TRADE NEGOTIATIONS
Article number
879_13
Pages
151 – 159
Language
English
Abstract
This study offers a quantitative assessment of the impact on the banana (Musa spp.) market of the expansion of trade preferences the European Union (EU) granted the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries with the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and of the possible erosion of these preferences as a result of different possible endings, if any, of on-going World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.
The results of the simulations performed suggest that the impact of the EPAs on the production and consumption of bananas in the EU will be limited, while benefits for ACP countries will be significant, at the expense of Latin American exporters.
However, a multilateral agreement (the conclusion of the WTO Doha Development Agenda round), or a bilateral agreement between the EU and Latin American banana exporters, may bring an erosion of the preferential margins currently enjoyed by ACP countries of such an order of magnitude as to cancel out most of these benefits.
The results of the simulations performed suggest that the impact of the EPAs on the production and consumption of bananas in the EU will be limited, while benefits for ACP countries will be significant, at the expense of Latin American exporters.
However, a multilateral agreement (the conclusion of the WTO Doha Development Agenda round), or a bilateral agreement between the EU and Latin American banana exporters, may bring an erosion of the preferential margins currently enjoyed by ACP countries of such an order of magnitude as to cancel out most of these benefits.
Authors
G. Anania
Keywords
Economic Partnership Agreements, partial equilibrium spatial model, preference erosion, trade preferences, World Trade Organization
Online Articles (95)