Tag Archives: Trade Agreement

New Database on Trade Facilitation

The World Trade Organization (WTO) promoted the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) in order to foster international trade by simplifying cross-border trade procedures, which reduced not only transit time but also costs.  When fully implemented, the TFA is expected to substantially reduce trade costs by 10%-18% (OECD, 2018 ) and at the same time to increase exports by more than 3 trillion dollars per year (WTO, 2015).

UNCTAD just released a real-time database that comprises standardized data from national trade facilitation committees (NTFCs). This allows scholars and practitioners to follow and study the implementation of the commitments made by each country  under the TFA agreement. The video below provides more details on this interesting and promising database.

Labor Provisions in Trade Agreements

A very important question for those concerned with job precarization is whether and how this phenomenon is impacted by globalization and more specifically by international trade. A key hurdle has been the absence of a well organized dataset of the labor provisions included in trade agreements. This would allow not only for a cleaner identification of the effects of trade but also for an estimation of the impact of the labor provisions. Fortunately, the International Labour Organization recently made available a dataset of this type.  It covers more than 100 trade agreements and 140 countries! You can find more about the typology used here, about the dataset here,  and in the video below.

EU and Brexit

The bulk of the negotiations regarding the United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union were concluded on December 24, 2020. The details are available here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2531 .At a first glance, this seems to be a reasonable agreement that avoids most of the doomsday scenarios portrayed by many observers. Although there are several details to be worked on, the most important aspect of this agreement, in my opinion, is the creation of a Free Trade Area between the UK and the EU. This FTA should pose little friction on trade flows, unless significant red tape is created. An interesting question is whether this FTA agreement with the EU will facilitate or hamper the other trade agreements that are being negotiated by the UK.

The infancy of Mercosul (or Mercosur)

There are two very interesting books in pdf format about Mercosur by Paulo Roberto Almeida that can be downloaded for free.

The first book is titled “O Mercosul no Contexto Regional e Internacional ” (Edições Aduaneiras, 1993).  It provides some background information about the foreign affairs in the Southern Cone of South America. And it goes over the fundamentals of the Mercosur. This book was written between the conclusion of the main negotiations of Mercosur and the implementation of the Mercosur. Thus, it provides an interesting perspective on the crucial issues and expected impacts of Mercosur, see for instance chapter 10.

The second book was published in 1998, three years after the the implementation of Mercosur. It is titled “Mercosul: Fundamentos e Perspectivas” (São Paulo: Editora LTr, 1998, 160 p.; ISBN: 85-7322-548-3). This book puts the Mercosur in the context of the century-old idea of Latin American Integration. Also, it goes over the implementation of the Mercosur and the first issues experienced by the member countries. Finally, in chapter 9, the author discusses the relationship between Mercosur and the (now defunct) FTAA-Free Trade Area of the Americas.

I strongly recommend these two books for scholars interested in learning more about the ambitious albeit problematic integration agreement that is the Mercosur (or Mercosul…).

The past of Mercosur (or Mercosul)

The recent presidential elections in South America have raised concerns about the future of Mercosur, or Mercosul for Portuguese speakers. Although it is too early to make any reasonable prediction, it is interesting to note that Mercosur since its inception has been always more than just a trade agreement. This point has been overlooked by many analysts. And perhaps, this is the reason behind the survival of this agreement. An excellent starting point for those interested in learning more about Mercosur is a paper by Paulo Roberto Almeida titled “Regional Integration in Latin America: Historical Developments, Current Challenges, Especially in Mercosur”. This nice paper examines the evolution of the Southern Cone countries’ foreign policies since the early eighties. It goes over the foundation of the Mercosur in 1991 and the conflicts between member countries that that have taken place after 1999.

New Trade Agreement between Brazil and Chile

On November 21, 2018 Brazil and Chile signed a new trade agreement in Santiago, Chile.  This new treaty expands the original agreement of 1996 that focused solely on the reduction of tariff barriers. Chile is the second largest trade partner of Brazil in South America, and in 2017 Brazil and Chile traded approximately 8.5 billion dollars in goods and services.

The new agreement is about 24 topics related to non-tariff barriers to trade in goods and services including electronic commerce, and intellectual property rights. Both countries agreed to exchange electronic customs paperwork and to recognize each other’s Operadores Economicos Autorizados. These measures will considerably expedite the customs procedures and reduce the customs clearing time. Another interesting item of the new treaty is the commitment to eliminate roaming charges for cell phone and data transmission. Additional information about this initiative can be found at Brazil’s MDIC webpage.