Journal of African Trade

Volume 8, Issue 1, December 2021, Pages 51 - 64

Trade Costs and Demand-Enhancing Effects of Agrifood Standards: Consequences for Sub-Saharan Africa

Authors
Aristide Djimgou Tchakounte1, Dela-Dem Doe Fiankor2, *
1Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Germany
2Centre for Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use (CBL), University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
*Corresponding author. Email: dfianko@agr.uni-goettingen.de
Corresponding Author
Dela-Dem Doe Fiankor
Received 14 April 2021, Accepted 27 August 2021, Available Online 21 September 2021.
DOI
10.2991/jat.k.210907.001How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Non-tariff measures; sanitary and phytosanitary measures; technical barriers to trade; sub-Saharan Africa; ad valorem equivalent; gravity model
Abstract

Agrifood standards impede trade by increasing compliance costs, but they can also enhance trade by signalling quality. This paper disentangles the trade costs and demand-enhancing effects of two important standards—technical barriers to trade, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures—on (i) global agricultural trade flows and (ii) fruit, nut, and vegetable trade between sub-Saharan Africa and high-income OECD countries. Combining estimates fromunit value and trade value regressions set within structural gravity frameworks, we show that trading standards increase trade costs—which exporters pass on to consumers in the form of higher prices—but they also increase trade volume. For agrifood exports from sub-Saharan Africa, compliance with standards guarantees market access at higher prices to high-value OECD markets.

Copyright
© 2021 African Export-Import Bank. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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Journal
Journal of African Trade
Volume-Issue
8 - 1
Pages
51 - 64
Publication Date
2021/09/21
ISSN (Online)
2214-8523
ISSN (Print)
2214-8515
DOI
10.2991/jat.k.210907.001How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2021 African Export-Import Bank. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Aristide Djimgou Tchakounte
AU  - Dela-Dem Doe Fiankor
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/09/21
TI  - Trade Costs and Demand-Enhancing Effects of Agrifood Standards: Consequences for Sub-Saharan Africa
JO  - Journal of African Trade
SP  - 51
EP  - 64
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
SN  - 2214-8523
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/jat.k.210907.001
DO  - 10.2991/jat.k.210907.001
ID  - Tchakounte2021
ER  -