Different quantitative impact studies have recently come to the conclusion that sanitary and phytosanitary measures as well as technical regulations may have a restrictive effect on trade in agricultural products, coinciding with the claims made by developing countries in different international forums.
This paper focuses on the study of the impact this type of measures have on Argentine exports of fresh lemon, using two complementary approaches: the inventory method and a gravity model. The inventory method confirms the increase in the amount of sanitary and technical measures that affect the Argentine market for lemons, and reveals that most Argentine exports have been affected by at least one measure notified in the period under analysis (1996–2010).
The gravity method let us conclude that, due to the sanitary, phytosanitary and technical measures, the value of Argentine exports of fresh lemon to destinations imposing this type of measures would have been 14% lower than to those countries which did not implement them. This confirms the restrictive effect of this type of measures. (Full text only available in Spanish).