Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:51:28.341Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Illicit Agricultural Trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Peyton Ferrier
Peyton Ferrier*
Affiliation:
Economic Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, in Washington, D. C.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Agricultural and wildlife trade is subject to sudden, disruptive import restrictions arising from concerns over sanitary and phytosanitary safety and the conservation of natural resources. These restrictions can create significant international price differences that encourage the smuggling of goods across borders. This article presents an equilibrium model of smuggling where the supply and demand for smuggled goods depend on interregional price disparities in the presence of a trade ban. In this model, smuggling is more prevalent when demand and supply among trade partners is more inelastic or when there are fewer total trade partners at the time a trade ban is enacted. Applications are presented for regionalization, destruction of goods in government eradication programs, price support, stockpiling, and the development of substitutes. Regionalization may increase smuggling under certain production and consumption patterns.

Keywords

illicit tradeinvasive speciessmugglingSPS AgreementCITESEndangered Species Actregionalization
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , October 2008 , pp. 273 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbas, M. 2006. “Poor Egyptians Refuse to Sign Up to Bird Flu Cull.” Daily Star (Nawa, Egypt). Available at http://www.dailystaregypt.com (March 30).Google Scholar
Ameden, H. A., Cash, S., and Zilberman, D. 2007. “Invasive Species Management: Importers, Border Enforcement and Risk.” Selected paper prepared for the annual meetings of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Portland, Oregon (July 29-August 1).Google Scholar
Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). 2006. Personal communication with USDA's Inspection Enforcement Service, APHIS, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. (November 27). Available upon request.Google Scholar
APHIS [see Animal Plant Health Inspection Service].Google Scholar
Bar-Gill, O., and Harel, A. 2001. “Crime Rates and Expected Sanctions: The Economics of Deterrence Revisited.” Journal of Legal Studies 30(2): 485–501.Google Scholar
Becker, G. 1968. “Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach.” Journal of Political Economy 76(2): 169–217.Google Scholar
Bhagwati, J., and Hensen, B. 1973. “A Theoretical Analysis of Smuggling.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 87(2): 172187.Google Scholar
Costello, C., and McAusland, C. 2003. “Protectionism, Trade, and Measures of Damage from Exotic Species Introductions.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 85(4): 964–975.Google Scholar
Costello, C., Springborn, M., McAusland, C., and Solow, A. 2007. “Unintended Biological Invasions: Does Risk Vary by Trading Partner?” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 54(3): 262–276.Google Scholar
Deflem, M., and Henry-Turner, K. 2001. “Smuggling.” In Luckenbill, D. and Peck, D. L., eds., Encyclopedia of Criminology and Deviant Behavior: Crime and Juvenile Delinquency (Vol. 2). Philadelphia, PA: Brunner-Routledge.Google Scholar
Eide, E. 1999. “Economics of Criminal Behavior.” In Bouckaert, B. and de Geest, G., eds., Encyclopedia of Law and Economics (Vol. 5). Cheltenham, UK: Edgar Elgar Publishing Ltd.Google Scholar
Fischer, C. 2003. “Trading in Endangered Species: Legal Sales Versus Total Bans.” Resources 150(1): 12–14.Google Scholar
Fischer, C. 2004. “The Complex Interactions of Markets for Endangered Species Products.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 48(2): 926–953.Google Scholar
Fisman, R., and Wei, S. 2004. “Tax Rates and Tax Evasion: Evidence from ‘Missing Imports’ in China.” Journal of Political Economy 112(2): 471–496.Google Scholar
Franklin, J. 1997. “Aviculture under Fire.” Canadian Parrot Symposium, Victoria, BC, Canada (May 17-19). Available at http://www.silvio-co.com/cps/articles/1997/index.htm.Google Scholar
Goel, R. K. 2004. “Cigarette Demand in Canada and the U. S.: Canadian Cigarette Smuggling.” Applied Economic Letters 11(9): 537–540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heltberg, R. 2001. “Impact of the Ivory Trade Ban on Poaching Incentives: A Numerical Example.” Ecological Economics 36(2): 189–195.Google Scholar
Henry, L.A. 2004. A Tale of Two Cities: A Comparative Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine Markets in San Francisco and New York City. TRAFFIC North America. Washington, D. C.: World Wildlife Fund.Google Scholar
Interpol. 2006. Personal communication with a specialist officer for wildlife crime (September 21). Available upon request.Google Scholar
Kattoulas, V. 2002. “Crime: The Death of Sushi?” Far Eastern Economic Review 165(32): 48–51.Google Scholar
Kremer, M., and Morcom, C. 2000. “Elephants.” American Economic Review 90(1): 212–234.Google Scholar
Kurlansky, M. 1997. Cod: A Biography of a Fish That Changed the World. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Lawrence, M., and Panagariya, A. 1984. “Smuggling, Trade, and Price Disparity: A Crime-Theoretic Approach.” Journal of International Economics 17(3): 201–218.Google Scholar
Lynch, L., and Lichtenberg, E. 2006. “Foreword: Special Issue on Invasive Species.” Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 35(1): iii–v.Google Scholar
Martin, L., and Panagariya, A. 1984. “Smuggling, Trade and Price Disparity.” Journal of International Economics 17(3): 201–217.Google Scholar
Meichtry, S. 2006. “Swell or Swill: Top Vineyards Fend Off Bogus Bottle.” Wall Street Journal, Section B1, August 10.Google Scholar
Naim, M. 2005. Illicit. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Norton, D.A.G. 1988. “On the Economic Theory of Smuggling.” Economica 55(217): 107–118.Google Scholar
Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). 1993. “Harmful Non-Indigenous Species in the United States.” Report No. OTAF-F-565, OTA, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
OTA [see Office of Technology Assessment].Google Scholar
Paarlberg, P. L., and Lee, J. G. 1998. “Import Restrictions in the Presence of a Health Risk: An Illustration Using FMD.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 80(1): 175–183.Google Scholar
Peterson, E., and Orden, D. 2006. “Linking Risk and Economic Assessments in the Analysis of Plant Pest Regulations: The Case of U. S. Imports of Avocadoes from Mexico.” Contractor and Cooperator Report No. 25, Economic Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Pimentel, D., Lach, L., Zuniga, R., and Morrison, D. 2000. “Environmental and Economic Costs of Nonindigenous Species in the United States.” BioScience 50(1): 53–65.Google Scholar
Pimentel, D., Zuniga, R., and Morrison, D. 2005. “Update on the Environmental and Economic Costs Associated with Alien Invasive Species in the United States.” Ecological Economics 52(3): 273–288.Google Scholar
Pitt, M. 1981. “Smuggling and Price Disparity.” Journal of International Economics 11(5): 447–458.Google Scholar
Reed, R. N. 2005. “An Ecological Assessment of Risk Analysis of Non-native Boas and Pythons as Potentially Invasive Species in the United States.” Risk Analysis 25(3): 753–766.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, E. 2008. “Europe's Appetite for Seafood Propels Illegal Trade.” The New York Times, Section A, January 15.Google Scholar
Saba, R. P., Beard, T. R., and Ekelund, R. B. 1995. “The Demand for Cigarette Smuggling.” Economic Inquiry 33(2): 189–202.Google Scholar
Sheikh, M.A. 1974. “Smuggling, Production and Welfare.” Journal of International Economics 4(4): 355–364.Google Scholar
Sipress, A. 2006. “In Vietnam, a Gateway for Bird Flu.” Washington Post, Section A23, July 30.Google Scholar
Smith, A. 1776. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: Strahan and Cadell.Google Scholar
Thursby, M., Jensen, R., and Thursby, J. 1991. “Smuggling, Camouflaging, and Market Structure.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 106(3): 789–814.Google Scholar
U. S. Customs and Border Patrol. 2005. “U. S. Customs and Border Patrol Interception of Illegal Citrus Cuttings Becomes First Felony Conviction in Violations of the Plant Protection Act of 2005.” Press release dated September 9, available at http://www.cbp.gov.Google Scholar
von Hippel, F. A., and von Hippel, W. 2002. “Sex Drugs and Animal Parts: Will Viagra Save Threatened Species?” Environmental Conservation 29(3): 277–281.Google Scholar
van Kooten, G. C. 2006. “A Dynamic Bioeconomic Model of Ivory Trade: Details and Extended Results.” Working Paper No. 2006-03, Department of Economics, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.Google Scholar
Williamson, M. 1999. “Invasions.” Ecography 22(1): 5–12.Google Scholar
Zansler, M. L., Spreen, T. H., and Muraro, R. P. 2005. “Florida's Citrus Canker Eradication Program (CCEP): Summary of Annual Costs and Benefits.” Extension Digital Information Source (EDIS) No. FE532, Food and Resource Economics Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Available at http://edis.ifas.ufl/FE532.Google Scholar