Estimating the effects of United States food safety and agricultural health standards on agro-food exports from Latin America and the Caribbean

Food safety and agricultural health standards have become a mayor challenge for food exports from developing countries in the past few years (Jaffe & Henson, 2005; OECD, 2003; Josling, Roberts & Orden, 2004; Maskus & Wilson, 2001). As tariff rates were negotiated down in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in regional and bilateral trade agreements, international trade in agro-food products increased substantially and so did concerns over food safety and agricultural health in food importing countries. Several countries, including the U.S, started to pay closer at…

Caribbean Outlook 3: Economic recovery and repositioning in the era of COVID-19. Policy Brief

The economies of the subregion were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those dependent on tourism. As a result, the Caribbean has seen a reversal of the hard-won gains achieved in growing their economies and reducing unemployment and inequality. The inflation stemming from pandemic supply chain disruption, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has made the sustained uptick in economic performance beyond pre-pandemic levels unlikely, notwithstanding strong growth estimates for 2021 and 2022. The last two years have taught the region that continued ‘business as usual’ is…

Transnationalization and integration of production in Latin America

Trade among the ALADI countries has grown with exceptional vigour so far in the 1990s, especially in the branches of metal products, machinery and equipment, chemical products, and foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco. In order for this dynamic growth to be sustainable in the long term, these countries must develop their intra-industry trade by promoting reciprocal supply in those branches. The bulk of transnational productive capital in Latin America is concentrated in those branches, and it is in the metal products, machinery and equipment sector that the swiftest increase in intra-industry tra…

Seeking growth under financial volatility

This volume deals with macroeconomic issues and their relationship to growth in emerging economies. Lack of economic growth has been a feature of Latin American economies since the 1980s. In this book the analysis is complemented by two studies focused in East Asia and South Africa. All country cases examined have exhibited low inflation but high instability of economic activity in the 1990s and early 2000s. These cases provide relevant theoretical implications for a broader understanding of real macroeconomic policies in economies vulnerable to the globalization of financial volatility.…

Productive development in open economies

Presentation The countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region have shown a keen and lasting interest in mechanisms of economic development and public policies for its promotion. This is a process in which ECLAC has been involved ever since it was founded over half a century ago. Today, the debate on these issues continues against the backdrop of a globalization process in which the remarkable dynamism of some dimensions -especially its economic, financial and cultural aspects- contrasts with the slow formation of an institutional network capable of coping with the increased interdepend…

International trade and global poverty

In the light of the extent of global poverty and the challenge presented by the Millennium Development Goals for its reduction, this article analyzes one of the clearest and most effective ways of reducing poverty: trade liberalization -especially agricultural trade- by the industrialized countries. 75 percent of all the poor worldwide are in the rural sector of the developing countries, and the agricultural products that these countries could sell face protectionist barriers -tariffs, nontariff measures, subsidies- imposed by the industrialized countries. This article examines the topic in de…

Secretaria Ejecutiva de la CEPAL destaca importancia de la inversión y el cambio estructural para enfrentar desaceleración económica

(23 de enero, 2015) La Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), Alicia Bárcena, participó en la Reunión Anual 2015 del Foro Económico Mundial (WEF, según sus siglas en inglés) realizada en Davos, Suiza, en donde moderó una sesión de alto nivel sobre el contexto económico de América Latina y sostuvo un encuentro con autoridades y empresarios mineros de todo el mundo, entre otras actividades. Al presidir la sesión sobre el contexto de América Latina, Bárcena resaltó que tras varios años de bonanza, los países de la región se encuentran hoy en una enc…

Una década de acción para un cambio de época. Quinto informe sobre el progreso y los desafíos regionales de la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible en América Latina y el Caribe

Por quinto año, los países de la región se reúnen en el marco del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible. En cada ocasión, la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) ha presentado un informe sobre el progreso y los desafíos regionales de la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible. A partir de 2020, los esfuerzos para evaluar el avance hacia el cumplimiento de la Agenda 2030 se han debido realizar en el contexto de las limitaciones impuestas por las medidas para enfrentar la pandemia de enfermedad por coronavirus (COVID-19). En este …

Latin American South-South integration and cooperation: from a regional public goods perspective

The present level of intra-regional trade of Latin America and the Caribbean in relation to their total exports is still low when compared to the peak of 21.1% registered in 1997, despite its rebound in 2003 and continued recovery into 2004. While this trade holds a high potential for future growth, there are a series of problems to be addressed in order for regional integration to continue on the paths of recovery and deep integration. The countries in the region should keep working on the constraints that its regional integration process continues to suffer from the persistence of non-tariff…

ECLAC Executive Secretary opens High Level Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago

“There is no question that the Caribbean is shouldering an unsustainable debt burden which compromises the capacity of the economies for sustained growth and restricts the options available to governments to introduce important social and welfare programmes” the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, said via video conference in opening the 17th meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) on 26 June, during which Ministers and high-level Government representatives from the…

A summary of the ECLAC proposals

There is growing consensus that although a solid, balanced macroeconomic base is a necessary condition for development, it is not of itself enough to ensure that development is actually achieved or that its fruits will be enjoyed by the population as a whole. In a series of documents, ECLAC has been defining a coherent agenda of public policy reforms designed to ensure a change in production patterns accompanied by greater social equity. This article seeks to present a summary of this proposal, leaving aside for this reason the underlying diagnosis of the regional situation and the general fra…

COVID-19 Pandemic Will Lead to the Biggest Contraction in Economic Activity in the Region’s History: A -5.3% Drop in 2020

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean through external and domestic factors, the combined effect of which will lead to the worst contraction that the region has ever undergone, exceeding those seen in 1914 and 1930. According to the latest estimates, an average regional contraction of -5.3% is forecast for 2020, ECLAC indicated today while launching a new report. The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, presented on this Tuesday, April 21, the COVID-19 Special Rep…

Report of the twenty-ninth session of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Towards an information society measurement instrument for Latin America and the Caribbean: getting started with census, household and business surveys

This document is part of an effort to take inventory of the current state of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) statistics in Latin American and Caribbean countries, particularly in National Statistic Offices (NSOs). In this study fifteen countries are investigated regarding three sources of information: Internet research, e-mails and phone calls and through the meta-data questionnaire Status of information society statistics in National Statistic Offices, applied to NSOs of Latin America and the Caribbean during August 2004 in the frame of OSILAC. The effort concluded with a wo…

Regional integration and public policy. Evaluation of the European experience and possible implications for Latin American integration

Latin America and the Caribbean in the transition to a knowledge-based society: an agenda for public policy

Document prepared by the secretariat of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) for the Regional Meeting on Information Technology for Development (Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil, 20-21 June 2000).…

Proposals for the liberalization of trade and investment in the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)

Summary Presents an overview of the status of trade liberalization in the countries of the ACS and concludes that most countries have implemented substantial trade and investment reforms which have resulted in more liberalized trading regimes and a more welcoming environment for foreign investment. Obstacles to trade and investment are examined and recommendations made in respect of the ACS Secretariat. , 19970324 , Len Ishmael , Publications 1997 Port of Spain …

Opportunities for convergence and regional cooperation: Unity Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean

En comparación con el período 2003-2007, que fue el más favorable de la economía mundial y regional en 40 años, el futuro presenta mayores desafíos. A principios de la próxima década, tanto la economía como el comercio internacional serán menos dinámicos, habrá mayores tensiones competitivas y presiones proteccionistas, así como más dificultades de acceso al financiamiento. El contexto global posterior a la crisis estará marcado por la desaceleración del crecimiento, las elevadas tasas de desempleo en las economías industrializadas y la necesidad de restaurar la sostenibilidad de las cuentas p…

Comprehensive Development Plan for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and south-southeast Mexico, vol. 1

El Plan de Desarrollo Integral tiene el propósito de crear un espacio de desarrollo sostenible y generar oportunidades para mejorar la calidad de vida de la población de El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y el sur-sureste de México, y así permitir que la migración sea una opción y no una obligación. Esta es una respuesta articulada del sistema de las Naciones Unidas, que busca generar sinergias y coordinar acciones, con los países en el centro, y con el acompañamiento de las instituciones de integración subregional.…

Comprehensive Development Plan for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and south-southeast Mexico, vol. 2

El Plan de Desarrollo Integral tiene el propósito de crear un espacio de desarrollo sostenible y generar oportunidades para mejorar la calidad de vida de la población de El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y el sur-sureste de México, y así permitir que la migración sea una opción y no una obligación. Esta es una respuesta articulada del sistema de las Naciones Unidas, que busca generar sinergias y coordinar acciones, con los países en el centro, y con el acompañamiento de las instituciones de integración subregional.…