Environmental Compliance Costs in Developed Country Agricultures: Implications for Trade and Competitiveness

This chapter reflects on the costs of compliance with environmental regulations and standards in agriculture in developed countries, and its implications for trade and competitiveness. It highlights the importance of enforcement mechanisms and implementation, subjects which often have been undervalued in research on environmental policies. The authors highlight some of the achievements from this volume: (1) clarification of the relevant reference standards for environmental performance in agriculture; (2) documentation of the increasing importance of voluntary private standards; (3) explanation of the importance of functional equivalence in the comparative analysis of environmental regulation; and (4) examination of the relationship between historical trends in input intensity and demands for environmental regulatory response. This concluding chapter also compares market and non-market failures as contributing causes of environmental degradation. It is argued that important legal and institutional dimensions often are overlooked, when examining externalities. Attention is drawn to Coase's concept of legalized nuisance and its connection to "right to farm" policies