Revista de Economia Mackenzie (Nov 2019)
Technical measures to trade and their impacts on Brazilian agricultural imports
Abstract
International trade is beneficial to countries due to the diverse benefits conveyed such as being a source of financial resources and promoting a broad variety and availability of products to consumers. Despite this, some nations aim at protecting their producers through tariff and non-tariff measures. Brazil, despite being competitive in the agricultural sector, may be doing as such. To evaluate the effect of technical barriers to trade (TBT) on Brazilian agricultural imports, a gravity equation was estimated. Results showed that measures that alter the products features contituted trade barriers, so they had a negative impact on trade. Although these measures constitute barriers, they also bring benefits: products with higher quality, safety and standardization for consumers. Therefore, the TBT agreement is important to avoid unnecessary constraints to trade, besides providing more transparency