Standards are a critical element of the trade landscape. Standards are regulations set by either public or private bodies (including firms) to ensure that products are fit for consumption, that…

“Ask anyone you meet on the street whether political risk has risen in the last few years, and you’d likely get a convincing yes, ” a high official from Canada’s Export Development Center recently…

International trade has a critical role to play in environmental protection and the effort to mitigate climate change. While it certainly isn’t always framed this way, it is important to realize…

When economists think about price shocks, they consider how a change in price will affect the supply and demand of a product. But when that product is human – i.e., a worker – interpreting the…

Trade issues can seem quite complex. Sometimes it's nice to boil concepts down to simpler terms-- terms more familiar, more beloved by many of us. So, let's talk futbol. The latest…

For those of our readers who were anxious to learn more about how "Non-Tariff Measures Raise Food Prices and Hinder Regional Integration in Central America", the working paper has now…

It is July 2012 and cattle farmers in Nicaragua are worried because Guatemala has enacted a series of laws that restrict beef trade. These so-called “non-tariff measures, ” or NTMs, require that…

Diversification of a country’s exports – increasing both the number of products it produces and the destinations of those products – is considered part of the path to development. Many economists…

About "Notes From the Field": With this occasional feature, we let World Bank professionals who are conducting interesting trade-related projects around the globe explain some of the …

A troubling phenomenon is occurring in large, emerging economies: the gates are closing. Governments, skittish about global economic trends, are introducing new policies to limit imports and…