Harmonisation of food regulations and trade in the Single Market: evidence from disaggregated data

Abstract

A structural gravity model is used to quantify the effect of harmonisation of EU food regulations on intra-EU trade during 1990–2001. We construct a database that identifies food products covered by harmonised regulations at a very detailed level. We find, at different levels of aggregation, that harmonisation of food regulations has led to more intra-EU trade, and that the tariff equivalents of the cost of not harmonising food regulations, subject to the sub-sector elasticity of substitution, vary significantly across some food sub-sectors.