Suchergebnisse

Since its formation the European Union (EU) has employed a rather complicated policy to ensure high prices to domestic sugar growers and trade preferences to certain sugar exporting countries, e.g. the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group. One result of this policy is that the EU has been both the second largest importer and second largest exporter in the world market. Under pressure from the World Trade Organization (WTO), the EU agreed to reform its policies toward sugar in 2001, with the full effect of the reforms being fully implemented in 2006. In this paper, the impact of the sugar reform on EU production, consumption, imports, and exports is examined especially with regard to how it all affects the ACP countries who receive preferential treatment regarding access to EU sugar markets. Preliminary analysis indicates that lowering domestic EU prices, while quotas requirements for ACP countries remain intact might have negative revenue implications for poor sugar producers.

Product labeling is an important dimension in food retailing. The evolution of Protected Geographic Indicators (PGI) and Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in the European Union are used to identify products grown in a specific region or food products produced using a specific technology. The United States has followed a different path with the use of certifyca-tion/trademarks to identify either product origin or other differentiable characteristics. The divergence of the two approaches has led to trade disputes and WTO lawsuits. In this paper, the main attributes of the two approaches are identified and highlighted with a brief case study comparing Wisconsin Real Cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy.

The debate over the European Union (EU) banana trade regime has raged for more than a decade. The focus of the debate has been the preferences offered by the European Union to banana producing ACP countries located in Africa and the Caribbean. In 2001, an agreement was reached in which the European Union agreed to a tariff-only import system to be fully implemented by 2006. In this paper, a spatial equilibrium model of the world banana market is developed and validated using trade data from the FAO. The model is used to project the likely impact of the new EU banana trade regime on both ACP and non-ACP banana exporters. The results suggest that the level of exports from the ACP producers will not be adversely affected by adoption of a tariff-only scheme in the European Union. Small reductions in the tariff advantage afforded to the ACP suppliers would result in little effect on their exports. The imposition of a flat tariff of 75 ECU on all exporters would result in a major decline in ACP exports.

FE669, a 6-page fact sheet by Ronald P. Muraro, Fritz M. Roka, Thomas H. Spreen, and Marcus Timpner, describes a survey developed and implemented by a working group of growers and UF/IFAS personnel to determine the total costs of governmental regulatory compliance for citrus growers in Florida. Includes references and tables with example data and summaries of results. Published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, January 2007.

FE812, a 5-page fact sheet by Thomas H. Spreen, Ronald P. Muraro, Fritz M. Roka, and R. Allen Morris, identifies the major organizations that work for the benefit of the Florida citrus industry and provides a brief introduction to their activities. Published by the UF Department of Food and Resource Economics, October 2009.