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Central America and the International Trade of Poultry Products. (agosto, 2001) (183k PDF)
In this document we describe the sometimes protectionist guidelines that rule international trade of poultry products and have therefore affected in one way or another Central America's insertion into this market. We study animal health measures required for trading in poultry products and carry out a comparative analysis of customs duties in several countries and according to trade agreements for these products. Especially, we would like to draw attention to the route Central American poultry products must follow in order to have access to extra-regional markets and, at the same time, draw attention to some compatibility problems between animal health measures and the WTO's Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). This document is a reduced version (34 pages) of the study titled "Centroamérica y el Comercio Internacional de Productos Avícolas", which is also available in this web page.
Centroamérica
y el Comercio Internacional de Productos Avícolas (agosto, 2001)
(278k PDF)
(version larga - 60 páginas)
En este documento se exponen los lineamientos, muchas veces proteccionistas, que rigen el comercio internacional de productos avícolas, y que por tanto han afectado de una u otra forma la inserción internacional de Centroamérica en ese mercado. Se estudian las medidas zoosanitarias requeridas para el comercio de productos avícolas, y se hace un análisis comparativo de los derechos arancelarios de importación en diferentes países y por acuerdos comerciales, para estos productos. Interesa llamar la atención sobre algunos problemas de compatibilidad de las medidas zoosanitarias con el Acuerdo sobre la aplicación de medidas sanitarias y fitosanitarias.
El
Futuro de las Negociaciones sobre Inversiones y Ambiente (abril,
2001) (181k PDF)
Las políticas para la atracción de la inversión extranjera forman parte de las estrategias de las economías latinoamericanas. No obstante, la pregunta central es ¿hasta dónde se requiere marcos internacionales (multilaterales o regionales) relativos a las inversiones y cuales debieran ser sus características? ¿Hasta dónde son enteramente nuevas las circunstancias que se introducen con las consideraciones ambientales? Dentro de las respuestas a estas preguntas este documento aporta a la "agenda positiva", basada en propuestas lo suficientemente fundamentadas como para ser exitosas.
Organic agriculture might be a feasible solution to many of Central America's agriculture problems: excessive use of pesticides, health disorders, migration to cities and the essential issue of insufficient incomes for rural producers. Most organic farmers argue ideological motives for their techniques. While these are very important indeed, the economic factor is important as well: The concept of sustainability includes a positive income. The export market is essential for the success of organic agriculture as a broad program. Many producers strive to reach international markets to take advantage of the division of labor, as in the case conventional food products. In this article strengths and weaknesses of this sector are examined, as a preview of the elements that should be included in an exporting strategy.
La
importancia relativa de los tipos de exportaciones en el contexto centroamericano.
(enero, 2001) (177k PDF)
The relative importance of different kind of Exports in the Central American
Context. (January, 2001)
The authors present the main kinds of exports of the Central American countries, measure according with the national value added, instead of measuring them at final value. It permits to show the relative importance of this activities within the domestic economies. Some of the findings reflect that the traditional products are still important for this countries, as well as that the intrarregional market has been increasing its relative importance. Also, Maquila has been the most dynamic sector, but not in the same magnitude as it is showed in the conventional statistics. This document is available only in Spanish.
In this paper we study the productive activity of the
big manufacturing Mexican firms in foreign countries, specially in Central
America, and in Costa Rica in particular. The purpose of this study is
to know the main features of these investments, their impact in the regional
business and economies, and the possibilities of favoring political actions,
which would allow the development of the positive effects of this relationship
on the economic growth of the region. These companies have the tendency
to regionalize and specialize their investments in the zone, because of
their multinational character as much as because of the limited dimensions
of each national market in Central America. For these reasons they would
work as a complementary factor to economic integration, after the efforts
done by the Central American countries as well as Mexico through the free
trade agreements signed over these last years.
Mexican investments in Central America have grown in recent
years. Since 1995 the countries of the region have been signing free trade
agreements with Mexico. Though there is not a clearly established connection
between these agreements and the growth of investments, we can assume
that being these South-South activities, they would command a special
interest. There are specific behavior patterns of the Mexican FDI, specially
on technological transference, which are worth to be studied. We have
to consider that the core of the agreements from the developing countries
point of view, are investments instead of trade promotion. While Mexico
is increasing its investments in developing countries, we have to evaluate
them trough individual cases . That is why we analyze in depth the Maseca
Group.
Maquila's development in the Caribbean Basin Countries
has been founded in: a) the industrial policy implemented for the United
States, that has assigned some phases of the productive process to this
countries, and b) the incentives that such countries have given to this
activities. But this panorama is changing in a fast way, because of several
elements, among them: the possible admission of China into the WTO, the
NAFTA, some WTO arrangement related with the garment industry and the
fiscal incentives and the possible FTAA. Therefore, this article review
the impact that this elements could have on the institutional framework
of the Caribbean Basin countries. Also, analyze the necessity of improving
the international economic insertion of this countries. This document
is available only in Spanish.
There is no doubt about the importance of the garment
sector for the economies of the Caribbean Basin. Since 1994 there has
been growing concern about the negative effects that approval of the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could have had and might continue
to have on the sector, as well as the impact of the devaluation of the
Mexican currency at the end of that same year. This is because of the
possibility that Mexico's trade competitiveness might increase as a result
of such factors. The discussion has prompted a controversy, evident in
official complaints by the region's governments, entrepreneurs and newspapers,
and even in some academic studies. This article seeks to measure such
effects and to further understanding of the growth-stagnation contradiction
apparent in the dilemmas faced by the countries of the Caribbean Basin. Starting October 1, 2000 the Caribbean Basin countries
will receive enhanced benefits form the U.S. in the framework of the Caribbean
Basin Initiativew (CBI). These new incnetives are part of a broader package
which includes the African countries and mainland China (and partially
Vietnam). This review concludes that while being significant, the benefits
are short of what Caribbean countries (including Central America) expected.
But this new law brings hopes of new negotiations towards a free trade
agreement between the U.S. and the Caribbean countries. This alone may
have a greater impact that the actual increase of benefits. This article
was published on September 2000 in Capítulos del SELA. The possible admission of China into the World Trade Organization
will have strong implication for many nations. In particular, the authors
analyze the impact on trade flows between the United States and the Caribbean
Countries. For these nations the North American Free Trade Agreement and
Mexico's devaluation at the end of 1994 had a negative impact. The entrance
of China could worsen this situation. But the recent improvement in the
benefits received by the Caribbean countries starting in October 2000
brings forth a three to five year period in which their market position
should be strengthened. Essay elaborated for the Central
American Institute for Public Administration (September 1998) This paper stems from the widely held, although seldom
applied, view of trade negotiations as means rather than ends. The proliferation
of international agreements is in many cases so intense that negotiating
instances are simply unable to follow them up. This paper holds that the
main axis of discussion for Central American Countries consists on designing
an investment attraction policy. It is here that the problem arises. How
can investments be promoted, when the main factor of attraction (protected
imports substitution) no longer exists? The answer to this question poses
new challenges to the nations' institutional capability. Industrial policy
refers to those measures governments undertake in order to promote economic
activities beyond those achieved by markets alone (understanding "industry"
as the sustainable production of goods and services). The question here
is what can the negotiator do? In principle, if it is he who has direct
political access to some of the requisites of the globalization process,
he should function more as a warning than as a passive spectator of a
process often beyond his full grasp. It is important to rebuild - adapting
it to modern world realities - an institutional system that has been lost
to several years of public budget reductions. This implies the strengthening
of those instances in charge of determining why should we negotiate and
what should our aims be. The negotiation process must become a part of
a national strategy of strong entrepreneurial basis and political consensus
with civil society. Agricultural systems are at the same time agents and victims
of environmental change. Crops can harm the environment, and at the same
time they are affected by the different ways in which environmental degradation,
such as soil erosion, can decrease the competitiveness of agricultural
production. On the other hand, adequate crop systems may benefit the environment
and soil fertility, promoting overall competitiveness. Therefore, we are
not so interested in assessing the environmental damages as to look into
feasible alternatives and their impact on competitiveness. This is one
of the first attempts into measuring the impacts through the comparative
analysis of production techniques, and we chose three agricultural non-traditional
products, from which we got relevant information. We started by defining the problem and the market situation
of the products we are going to analyze as specific cases. In the Chapter
II we deal with the overall Central America situation concerning the agricultural
sector and the environment. In Chapter 3 we come to the Costa Rican case
to describe policies in support of non-traditional exports. In Chapter
4 we analyze the specific situation of Costa Rica and the agricultural-environmental
problem. In Chapter 5 we explore examples of agricultural products with
cost differences between conventional, organic and transitional cases.
The main surprise of our inquiry is that competitiveness
improves in the case of organic products in the three cases analyzed:
Broccoli, Cassava and Hearts of Palm. We used profits per hectare as a
proxy for competitiveness and we determined that in the organic/transition
cases profits were higher. The main point in our research is that we found enough
grounds to believe that there is an economic justification, besides the
environmental one, to use organic techniques, at least for the products
we could look into. We are careful not to generalize our results, but
to indicate such a possibility. It is important to promote this kind of
studies in order to compare the results and formulate adequate policies
and regulations. Upon all, they must make (micro)economic sense, besides
the environmental reasons. This report describes in Spanish only (34 pages) the concepts
which make the basis of the relationship between economic and environmental
policies. It includes the ALIDES framework (the Alliance for Sustainable
Development in Central America), and the handling of environmental problems
associated with trade in the World Trade Organization. This paper was
elaborated for the Permanent Secretary of Economic Integration in Central
America (SIECA). This report summarizes in English (30 pages) the main
results of a national study (230 pages in Spanish only) analyzing the
status of knowledge regarding the relationship between trade and the environment
in Costa Rica. The research was carried out in the framework of the initiative
of the UNCTAD to develop national
studies in different countries with the objective of detecting possible
environmental effects caused by the expansion of trade, along with trade
problems originating from the establishment of stricter environmental
regulations. The study was conducted by the International Center on Economic
Policy of the National University of Costa Rica (Universidad
Nacional), with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa
Rica. There is a The complete study can be obtained through CINPE
only. La
industria maquiladora en Centroamérica .June 1997 (ILO
site) This book (in Spanish only, c. 300 pages) is the first
comprehensive study on the maquiladora industry in Central America, as
seen from the point of view of the investment process and its impact on
the national economies. It is the result of a research conducted during
1996 and the beginning of 1997, promoted and financed by the International
Labor Organization, through its division in charge of relations with employers.
It was introduced in the first Central American meeting of representatives
of the maquiladora industry in the International Organization of Employers.
The chapters are: I. General Overview of the maquiladora industry in Central
America; II. Market access regimes: Caribbean Basin Initiative, Uruguay
Round and the impact of NAFTA; III. Trade and labor policies; IV. Reallocation
of apparel production among Central American countries and Mexico; V.
Diversification in the maquiladora industry (high-tech in Costa Rica).
Appendix : Legal Systems and Tables. The study can be requested to Gerardina
González Marroquin, officer in charge of relations with employers,
ILO, Costa Rica, or through local offices
of the ILO. Or it can be downloaded from
http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/255acterm/papers/1998/maquila
at the ILO site. Análisis que sustenta el otorgamiento de preferencias
arancelarias especiales al sector industrial de Centroamérica por parte
de la Unión Europea. January 1997 This is a study conducted during the second half of 1996
for the Chambers and Exports Associations of Central America Federation
(FECAEXCA). It contains an analysis of manufacturing exports from Central
American Countries to the EU and the use of the Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP). In January 1995 a new GSP started for developing countries
which worsened market access conditions for Central American countries.
This study served as a base for the Central American request for an improved
GSP, with conditions equivalent to the Andean countries. The study has
approximately 250 pages, but the condensed version presented to the European
Union is availabe. Click here to download
the condensed version of this document (47.2k
MSWord) Rules of origin: new implications (August
1995). This article deals with the rules of origin as a new form
of protectionism, which is already important in the negotiations concluded
in Latin America, and it is going to be more important in further negotiations.
The trade schemes negotiated under the terms of the new treaties make
it possible to extend the protection to intermediate inputs form one signatory
country to another. The smaller the country engaged in negotiations is,
the more severely constrained it will be if it accepts restrictive rules
of origin. It will be meaningful then to work on a concept of asymmetry
that allows for recognition that the relative size of the countries involved
is also a factor and that this element gives rise to striking differences
in the web of production linkages. This article was published in CEPAL
Review, No. 56, August 1995 (English version), and in Revista de la CEPAL,
No. 56. They can be reached through the mentioned journal only. (506) 222 35 10 | correo electrónico
Productive Investments
of the Big Mexican Firms in Central America and their Technological Impact
on the Region (November, 2000) (188k PDF)
Direct Investment in Central
America. Productive Linkages And Technological Transference (November,
2000) (168k PDF)
El
marco institucional local de la industria maquiladora en la Cuenca del
Caribe frente a los cambios en el entorno mundial. (noviembre,
2000) (156k PDF)
The Domestic Institutional Framework for the Maquiladora Industry in The
Caribbean Basin in face of the Changes in the International Environment
(November, 2000)
Los
desbalances de los países de la Cuenca del Caribe frente al TLCAN:
la industria de la confección. (septiembre, 2000) (250k,
PDF)
The
imbalances of the Caribbean Basin Countries With Respect to NAFTA:
The Garment Industry. (September, 2000) (264k,
PDF)
¿Qué
significa la ampliación de beneficios para los países de la Cuenca
del Caribe? (Mayo, 2000) (112k PDF)
What
does the expansion of USA trade benefits mean for Caribbean basin
countries? (Mayo, 2000) (143k PDF)El
Ingreso de China a la OMC y su Impacto Sobre los Paises de la Cuenca del
Caribe. (septiembre, 2000) (180k PDF)
The admission of China in the WTO and
its Impact on Caribbean Countries.
Development
Policies and Trade Negotiations (36k
MSWord)
Políticas para el Desarrollo y Negociaciones Comerciales
(55k MSWord)
Horticultural
Products and the Environment. Impact on Trade and Competitiveness
in Costa Rica (Organic products). By Pedro Cussianovich and
Eduardo Gitli. Study conducted for FAO. December 1997 (155k
MSWord)
La
Producción Hortícola y el Impacto Ambiental en el Comercio y Competitividad
en Costa Rica (Productos Orgánicos) (157k
MSWord)La
interrelación de las políticas económicas y ambientales. Efectos sobre
el comercio. June 1997. (37k MSWord)
Trade
and Environment. The Case of Costa Rica (Executive Summary)
April 1997. (28k MSWord)
Comercio
y medio ambiente. El caso de Costa Rica (28k
MSWord)