Title: Effects of non-tariff barriers on Thai exports of key vegetables to ASEAN countries

Authors: Jirawat Jaroensathapornkul

Addresses: School of Economics and Public Policy, Srinakharinwirot University, 114 Sukhumvit 23, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

Abstract: In the context of the ASEAN Free Trade Area, Thai exports of key vegetables have been affected by non-tariff barriers (NTBs) since 2010. This has led to the concern as to what extent such measures adopted by ASEAN countries have impacted the export of Thai vegetables. This study applied a gravity model under panel data where the estimates of a random effect model revealed that NTBs have caused damage to the export of root crops with a statistical significance of 0.01. On the other hand, a fixed effect model implied that NTBs were not the key trade barrier decreasing the export of Thai mushrooms to other ASEAN countries. Therefore, ASEAN should carefully reconsider NTB issues for the real benefit of farmers and consumers in the region in response to the Asian Economic Community (AEC) which was established in December 2015.

Keywords: non-tariff barriers; ASEAN countries; onion exports; onions; shallots; garlic; mushrooms; gravity model; free trade areas; vegetables; Thailand; root crops; trade barriers; Asian Economic Community; AEC.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTGM.2017.082364

International Journal of Trade and Global Markets, 2017 Vol.10 No.1, pp.3 - 12

Received: 12 Dec 2015
Accepted: 12 Apr 2016
Published online: 21 Feb 2017 *

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