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Many different approaches and databases have been developed for the evaluation of nontariff measures (NTMs) and free trade agreements (FTAs). This paper is devoted to the EUSouth Korea agreement, which is the first ‘second-generation’ FTA of the EU, addressing a wide array of non-tariff policies. We review the evolution of NTM types applicable to the EU-South Korea trade relationship and the role of NTMs in ex-ante and ex-post analyses of the agreement. Subsequently a structural gravity model is employed to assess the value added of information on different aspects of FTAs and types of NTMs by evaluating their ability to predict the trade effects of the EU-South Korea FTA. Our results show that, when accounting for information on the components common in modern deep trade agreements, no additional trade effect is attributable to the EU-South Korea FTA. The evolution of NTMs differs considerably across indicators used, but trade predictions are hardly affected. Most specifications point towards a negative effect of bilateral differences in the number of technical barriers to trade (TBT) applied and sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) against which trading partners issued complaints at the WTO.

The global trade slowdown and the public resistance against attempts to stimulate trade through mega-regional trade deals are placing the role of non-tariff measures (NTMs) in the limelight of public discussions. In this paper, we examine the question how different types of non-tariff measures affected global trade during the period 1995-2014. We use information on NTMs notified to the WTO from the Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I-TIP), which allows us to differentiate between various NTM types, including technical barriers to trade (TBTs) and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. The two main contributions of this work are the amendment of the I-TIP database to suit econometric analysis and the estimation of trade effects of NTMs at the HS 6-digit product level for more than 100 countries with a gravity approach. Roughly 60% of all estimates point towards a trade-impeding effect of NTMs. Aggregates by NTM-imposing countries and targeted products suggest that the positive effect on the demand side compensates the negative impact on the surging costs of the supply side for SPS measures. TBTs overall appear to be trade-impeding, in particular for high-income countries in Europe and Central Asia.