| The successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round has reduced tariff rates significantly. However, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), such as food safety regulations, rules of origin, and environmental regulations, have become a major concern to exporters in developing countries. Among non-tariff barriers, food and agricultural standards and technical regulations (STRs) are critical to developing countries since food and agriculture products are one of their most important export items. However, due to the lack of institutional capacity of developing countries, the producers and exporters of developing countries face obstacles in complying with food and agricultural STRs in the markets of developed countries. In this dissertation, I develop the four dimensions of STR-related institutional capacity: information, conformity, enforcement, and international standard setting. Then, those four institutional aspects are incorporated into a gravity model framework to investigate whether or not the institutional capacity of developing countries matters in their efforts to minimize or eradicate the negative influence of STRs imposed on their food and agricultural exports. The gravity model results show that informational capacity and conformity capacity of exporting countries has positive impact on trade after controlling for economic size, distance, and STRs. Attention must be given to technical assistance to enhance informational and conformity capacity. However, the result shows that developing countries still face significant obstacles of STRs on their exports even after controlling for informational and conformity capacity.; For the food and agricultural STR-related WTO dispute settlement cases analysis, I focus on the dispute cases that involve developing countries either as a complainant or a respondent. Among these dispute cases, the two dispute cases that resulted in dispute settlement panel and Appellate Body reports are highlighted in this dissertation. The two dispute cases involved exports of certain shrimp and shrimp products from four Asian countries, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Thailand, to the United States; and sardines from Peru to the EC. The results of both cases indicate that developing countries can benefit from the WTO dispute settlement mechanism if proper assistances and strategies are provided. |
