Ag-ERPs database: a novel repository of environment-related provisions for agriculture, fisheries and forestry in regional trade agreements

Book excerpt: The relationship between trade and the environment is intricate. Trade can improve the allocation of production among countries, with an efficiency-enhancing role in natural resources use. Likewise, open markets can improve access to new technologies that make domestic production processes more cost-efficient and reduce the use of inputs as well as other environmentally harmful substances. However, economic growth due to trade expansion can have a direct impact on the environment by increasing pollution and contributing to natural resource degradation. Trade liberalization may also lead to specialization in pollution-intensive activities in some countries, especially when environmental policies are not stringent. In recent years, there has been a significant shift in how trade policies are being approached, with a renewed emphasis on balancing sustainable development and market liberalization to ensure that trade policies and environmental protection are coherent and mutually supportive. Since the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, regional trade agreements (RTAs) have become a common option to further liberalize trade, growing significantly in number. RTAs have also expanded rapidly in terms of regulatory coverage and have evolved to directly referencing sustainable development and including provisions linking the environment to the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. Based on novel dataset, this research looks into the trends in inclusion of environmental provisions related to the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors (“Ag-ERPs”) in RTAs and provides policy recommendations.