Efecto comercial sobre las exportaciones de las medidas sanitarias y fitosanitarias: el caso de la carne bovina y los productos agrícolas genéticamente modificados (GMO)

This article uses a gravity model estimated by Poisson PML to quantify the trade impact of certain sanitary and phytosanitary standards applied to bovine meat and agricultural products. In the case of bovine meat, we study the impact of the Foot-and-Mouse-Disease status (FMD), the status of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the European Union´s decision to ban meat produced with animals treated with growth promotants over Mercosur´s exports. We found a negative and significant association between FMD and exports. In addition and counterintuitively, given that MERCOSUR´s countries have never produced meat with animals treated with growth promotants, we found a negative and significant impact of this new standard. However, when the impact is measured only for the boneless meat, proxy of high-quality meat, we found a positive impact. The second case deals with the impact on exports of the measures taken by the European Union referred to agricultural genetically modified products (GMO), in particular the impact on Argentine , Brazilian and Mexican exports of corn , cotton and canola . We found that the Community measures on cotton and canola have a negative association with exports, while those taken on maize have a positive association with the exports. In the case of national measures, we find a negative association with the exports of Argentina and a positive association with Brazil´s exports.