농약 PLS 도입이 한국의 농산물 수입에 미친 영향 분석

The Estimated Effects of Positive List System for Pesticides Maximum Residue Limits on Agricultural Import in Korea

This study investigates the impact of positive list system (PLS) adoption on agricultural imports of nuts and tropical fruits in Korea. The government recently adopts the positive list system on pesticides maximum residue limits to improve food safety regulation. Korean farmers concern that the PLS adoption might decline their incomes due to increased production costs. However, the adoption of the PLS may increase prices of agricultural products because of the reduced total supply that is driven by the non-tariff barrier role of the PLS. Utilizing the Heckman’s two-step approach to estimate the gravity model with import data of nuts and tropical fruits, we find that the PLS adoption has a negative effect on imports as well as a probability of imports. These results provide implications to farmers and policy makers. The PLS adoption might improve the income of farmers from a rise of agricultural products’ prices. Considering the PLS adoption implies an improvement of food safety regulation, policy makers can use the PLS adoption as an advantage on promoting exports.