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The Critical Mass Approach to Achieve a Deal on Green Goods and Services: What is on the Table? How Much to Expect?

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Listed:
  • Jaime DE MELO

    () (Ferdi)

  • Mariana VIJIL

    (World Bank Group)

Abstract

At the Davos forum of January 2014, a group of 14 countries pledged to launch negotiations on liberalising trade in ‘green goods’ (also known as`environmental goods’(EGs)), focussing on the elimination of tariffs for an ‘APEC list’ of 54 products. The paper shows that the ‘Davos group’, with an average tariff of 1.8%, has little to offer as countries have avoided submitting products with tariffs peaks for tariff reductions. Even if the list were extended to the 411 products on the ‘WTO list’, taking into account tariff dispersion, their tariff structure on EGs would be equivalent to a uniform tariff of 3.4%, about half the uniform tariff-equivalent for non EG products. Enlarging the number of participants to low-income countries might be possible as, on average, their imports would not increase by more than 8 percent. However, because of the strong complementarities between trade in Environmental Goods and trade in Environmental Services, these should also be brought to the negotiation table even though difficulties in reaching agreement on their scope are likely to be great.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaime DE MELO & Mariana VIJIL, 2014. "The Critical Mass Approach to Achieve a Deal on Green Goods and Services: What is on the Table? How Much to Expect?," Working Papers P107, FERDI.
    • Handle: RePEc:fdi:wpaper:1637
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hiau LooiKee & Alessandro Nicita & Marcelo Olarreaga, 2009. "Estimating Trade Restrictiveness Indices," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(534), pages 172-199, January.
    2. de Melo, Jaime & Vijil, Mariana, 2014. "Barriers to Trade in Environmental Goods and Environmental Services: How Important Are They? How Much Progress at Reducing Them?," Climate Change and Sustainable Development 172425, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    3. Joseph Francois & Bernard Hoekman, 2010. "Services Trade and Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 642-692, September.
    4. Ronald Steenblik, 2005. "Liberalising Trade in 'Environmental Goods': Some Practical Considerations," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2005/5, OECD Publishing.
    5. Gaëlle BALINEAU & Jaime DE MELO, 2011. "Stalemate at the Negotiations on Environmental Goods and Services at the Doha Round," Working Papers P28, FERDI.
    6. Sébastien Miroudot & Ben Shepherd, 2015. "Regional Trade Agreements and Trade Costs in Services," RSCAS Working Papers 2015/85, European University Institute.
    7. Marchetti, Juan A. & Roy, Martin, 2013. "The Tisa initiative: An overview of market access issues," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2013-11, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lili Yan Ing & Ralf Peters & Olivier Cadot, 2019. "Regional Integration and NTM in ASEAN," Books, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), number 2019-regional_integration, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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