2001. “Quantifying Regulatory Barriers to Asian-U.S. Food Trade

Data on U.S. Food and Drug Administration import detentions and alerts are used to quantify regulatory barriers experienced by Asian food products entering the United States. These data offer the only comprehensive means of assessing regulatory barriers without relying on expert opinion, although they fall short of placing a dollar value on the volume of trade affected. The data show that meeting food regulations is a significant barrier to Asian food products entering the United States, especially for products originating in developing and newly industrialized countries. Key Words: Asia, food products, regulatory standards, trade In recent years, several efforts have been made to quantify nontariff barriers to the international trade of agricultural and food products (e.g., Roberts and DeRemer, 1997). Interest in these types of nontariff barriers is high for several reasons. First, as traditional tariff barriers fall, there is concern that regulations will replace them as a means of controlling importers ’ access to markets. Second, trade in processed food products has been increasing, making a higher volume of sales vulnerable t