Venue : CGSP, 18 rue de Martignac, 75007 Paris

The significant reduction in the level of tariffs over the several rounds of WTO negotiations, proliferation of regional trade agreements and unilateral liberalization has increasingly highlighted the importance of non-tariff measures as barriers to trade. There has been ample discussion of two related issues. Firstly, while Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) are not designed in the first place to hamper trade – but e.g. to address problems of incomplete information on traded products in presence or risks for human health – they may ultimately constitute unnecessary barriers to trade. Secondly, measuring the restrictiveness of NTMs is challenging as data and methods are respectively incomplete and subject to improvement. The purpose of this workshop jointly organized by the CEPII and Paris School of Economics is firstly to examine how to best tackle measurement issues related to NTMs on goods and services, and to investigate how trade patterns are affected. Emphasis will be put on micro-economic evidence, based either on surveys or firm level administrative data. Based on this assessment of what are the detailed effects of the measures, the workshop will address how to best tackle regulatory issues in trade negotiations, be it at the multilateral or regional level. A policy panel will confront academic and policy perspectives regarding the best way of tackling regulatory convergence in an international framework.