The Imperialism of Standards : An Empirical Strategy for Measuring the Effects of GMO Regulations on International Trade Flow

This paper deals with the quantification of GMO regulations on bilateral trade flows. A composite index of the ‘complexity’ of such regulations for sixty countries as well as an ‘objective’ score for six GMO regulatory sub-dimensions has been developed. Using a gravity model, we show how bilateral similarity / dissimilarity in GMO regulations, affect trade flows for the composite index and its components. The results show that bilateral distance in GMO regulations negatively affect trade flows. Across GMO regulatory sub-dimensions, those that are more detrimental to trade are labeling policies, the approval process, and traceability requirements. Finally, we support the notion that GMO regulations is endogenous to trade flows.