The World Trade Organization: enlargement, tariffs and global seafood trade

Abstract

The document shows that there has been a major success in the World Trade Organization (WTO) with the addition of 31 new members. This has contributed to lower tariffs for seafood trade. Among the founding members of the WTO, many have considerable “water in the tariffs” and the legal option of raising their most-favoured nation (MFN) applied tariffs. The analysis shows that most countries have not used this option; there has been no protectionist backlash for fisheries tariffs but, on average, a trend towards more liberal trade. The econometric analysis investigated whether WTO membership affected trade, for whatever tariff or non-tariff reason. The results are in line with recent contributions showing that WTO membership leads to increased trade. According to the results, WTO membership stimulates trade particularly at the “extensive margin”, by promoting new entry into seafood markets. This result is driven particularly by trade in crustaceans and processed seafood.