The Challenges to EU Trade Policy in a Changing World Order

Alvstam, Claes G.; Lindberg, Lena

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-18001-0_4

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The FTAs have been a means to extend the EU's normative power in trade policy preferences (e.g. Alvstam and Lindberg 2019, Poletti and Sicurelli 2018, Sampson and Theuns 2023, Sicurelli 2015, Zurek 2019, such as non-tariff barriers, the primary example being technical barriers to trade (TBT). They include standards, testing and certifications covered by the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade from 1994 (Hanson 2010: 40) and the related conformity assessment procedures that are relevant in the case of Japan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Eu-Japan Epa and the Question of Formal and Informal Trade Barriers for European Businesses in Japan

Kettunen,

Alvstam

2023

TRAMES

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This study focuses on how technical barriers to trade (TBT) are addressed in recent EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). We analyze the pre-and post-EPA trade policies and the contested issues in Japan from the viewpoint of European businesses. An eclectic theoretical approach is adopted to study the economic, political and social aspects of trade barriers. Whereas formal trade barriers, such as tariffs and codified non-tariff barriers are easily discernible, the subtler informal trade barriers derive from social norms that guide administrative practices and are hard to measure, and largely neglected in recent research. Based on expert interviews, policy documents, and European business surveys, we observe that the enforcement of EPA in Japan lags behind concerning certain TBTs such as standards, approvals and testing. The findings suggest that informal trade barriers, often linked with investment barriers, have a bearing in the theorization on trade policies and free trade agreements.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%