Suchergebnisse

The aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness on climate change mitigation of the climate-related commitments contained in PTAs. Because of a lack of availability of detailed data on PTAs, the academic literature on the role of PTAs with environmental provisions (PTAwEP) in global climate governance remains limited. A novel and detailed database identifying nearly 300 different types of environmental provisions from more than 680 PTAs since 1947 allows us to establish per country and per year the number of PTAs by distinguishing PTAs with climate-related provisions (PTAwCP) and PTAs with provisions related to other environmental issues. Using panel data covering 165 countries over the period 1995 to 2012, controlling for endogeneity issues, our main result shows that PTAwCP statistically reduce the level of CO2, CH4 and N2O. This suggests that governments seem to comply with the climate-related commitments they made in the PTAs, what potentially helps tackling global warming. Moreover, findings show that to be effective in terms of mitigating climate change, a PTAwEP should contain climate-related commitments.

Abstract
All WTO members participate in the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), a rules-based bottom-up approach built on monitorable provisions (e.g., the publication of information, advance rulings, appeal or review of decisions, transparency and border agency cooperation) aimed at reducing time in customs. The paper draws on the OECD indicators of the state of implementation of provisions in the TFA summarised in a TFI (Trade Facilitation Index) to estimate the reduction in waiting time at customs for a large sample of 160 countries.
Implementing the TFA could be a significant complement to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)'s objectives. The paper's estimates suggest that a realistic implementation of TFA measures could reduce time in customs for imports by 3.7 days and by 1.9 days for exports. Using extraneous estimates from customs-level transactions, this translates to a reduction tariff Ad-Valorem Equivalent (AVE) in the range 3.5%–7% for imports and 8% extra growth for exports.
The large differences in interests across AfCFTA participants—landlocked-coastal, resource-rich and resource-poor, large-small—suggest large gains from reducing tariffs on intra-African trade. However, tariff reductions face the zero-sum hurdle of negotiations involving rent transfers across and within countries. By avoiding rent-transfer issues, this paper suggests that taking seriously the TFA provisions would be a powerful complement to the AfCFTA's tariff-reduction agenda.