Trade agreements, trade facilitation and mutual recognition arrangements
(2026) In Economics Letters 268.- Abstract
Governments use preferential trade agreements (PTAs), the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) to reduce bilateral trade costs. Using data for 2010-2022 and a structural gravity framework, we assess the trade impact of a country-pair using all three policy instruments simultaneously. Our analysis considers MRAs for Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programs that expedite customs clearance for certified actors in the supply chain. These are not product-specific, permitting comparative analysis of the trade impacts of the three types of international agreements. We find significant sectoral heterogeneity across the three instruments. The TFA has large effects on bilateral trade in non-food... (More)
Governments use preferential trade agreements (PTAs), the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) to reduce bilateral trade costs. Using data for 2010-2022 and a structural gravity framework, we assess the trade impact of a country-pair using all three policy instruments simultaneously. Our analysis considers MRAs for Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programs that expedite customs clearance for certified actors in the supply chain. These are not product-specific, permitting comparative analysis of the trade impacts of the three types of international agreements. We find significant sectoral heterogeneity across the three instruments. The TFA has large effects on bilateral trade in non-food manufacturing products, while MRAs do more to boost the value of trade in agricultural and food-related products. Overall, international cooperation to reduce the costs of regulatory heterogeneity increases bilateral trade more than PTAs.
(Less)
- author
- Hoekman, Bernard and Shingal, Anirudh LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-09
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Authorized economic operator programs, International cooperation, Mutual recognition, Trade agreements, Trade facilitation
- in
- Economics Letters
- volume
- 268
- article number
- 113169
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105046545014
- ISSN
- 0165-1765
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.econlet.2026.113169
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 06839488-4f98-4b32-860b-9285f053c580
- date added to LUP
- 2026-09-28 12:09:42
- date last changed
- 2026-09-28 12:09:42
@article{06839488-4f98-4b32-860b-9285f053c580,
abstract = {{<p>Governments use preferential trade agreements (PTAs), the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) to reduce bilateral trade costs. Using data for 2010-2022 and a structural gravity framework, we assess the trade impact of a country-pair using all three policy instruments simultaneously. Our analysis considers MRAs for Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programs that expedite customs clearance for certified actors in the supply chain. These are not product-specific, permitting comparative analysis of the trade impacts of the three types of international agreements. We find significant sectoral heterogeneity across the three instruments. The TFA has large effects on bilateral trade in non-food manufacturing products, while MRAs do more to boost the value of trade in agricultural and food-related products. Overall, international cooperation to reduce the costs of regulatory heterogeneity increases bilateral trade more than PTAs.</p>}},
author = {{Hoekman, Bernard and Shingal, Anirudh}},
issn = {{0165-1765}},
keywords = {{Authorized economic operator programs; International cooperation; Mutual recognition; Trade agreements; Trade facilitation}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Economics Letters}},
title = {{Trade agreements, trade facilitation and mutual recognition arrangements}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2026.113169}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.econlet.2026.113169}},
volume = {{268}},
year = {{2026}},
}