Imports of fresh fruits and vegetables to the United States have grown by more than 350 percent since 1989. Factors such as rising consumer incomes, the desire for greater variety and availability of fresh produce throughout the year, and a reduction in trade barriers through multi-lateral and bi-lateral trade agreements have contributed to this growth in imports. In addition, since the implementation of the Agreement on Agriculture and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures from the Uruguay Round of the World Trade Organization negotiations, there have been numerous requests to export fresh fruits and vegetables to the United States. From 1996 to 2008, the United States has granted new market access to 204 exporter/commodity combinations. Given this large increase in new market access, this thesis assesses the success of the new entrants in terms of contributing to the increase in fresh fruit and vegetable imports and whether they exported on a continual basis after gaining import eligibility. In addition, this thesis estimates a gravity model to assess the differences in fresh fruit and vegetable exports from new entrants subject to phytosanitary measures relative to those with no such restrictions in place and to determine whether these effects vary by commodity sector and exporter's size. The major finding of this thesis is that in general, new entrants have contributed little to the growth in U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable imports. For most commodities, new entrants do not provide a significant proportion of imports potentially because new entrants are not able to compete with existing suppliers. This study finds differences in fresh fruit and vegetable exports from new entrants subject to specific phytosanitary treatments relative to entrants with no such restrictions in place. / Master of Science

Wood products all require treatment to mitigate phytosanitary risk prior to exportation. The most common phytosanitary treatment applied to Pinus radiata logs is Methyl Bromide (MeBr). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2010 stated that MeBr must not be release into the atmosphere past 2020. This poses a problem for New Zealand log exports. Radiation has been identified as a possible alternative phytosanitary treatment for export wood products. This study aimed to quantify the effective dose of radiation necessary to sterilise two forest pest species; Arhopalus ferus and Hylurgus ligniperda. These species are representative of two different types of forestry pests; bark beetles (H. ligniperda) and wood borers (A. ferus). All applicable life stages for both species were tested. Arhopalus ferus adults were the most susceptible life stage identified with an LD99 of 30.2Gy ± 13.5 Gy (95% confidence interval). Arhopalus ferus eggs were less susceptible with a LD99 of 750Gy ± 776Gy observed; however there is low confidence in this result due to a methodological issue in one treatment replicate. Hylurgus ligniperda eggs were observed to be less susceptible than A. ferus eggs with a LD99 of 289Gy ± 92Gy. Results for the other life stages were inconclusive due to poor control survival, however the information gained was used to develop improved methods for further experimentation, which is on-going and showing positive results so far. The results of this experiment have indicated that radiation can be an effective method of sterilising forestry pests. To date radiation has not been used as phytosanitary risk mitigation for wood exports; however it is widely used for risk mitigation in agricultural products. Currently there remains a large amount of unknown information regarding, the effectiveness for irradiation of logs, the effective dose require for sterilisation of the most tolerant forestry pest and public acceptability of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment. These knowledge gaps and an economic assessment must be completed before irradiation can be used as a phytosanitary risk mitigation technique for forestry products.

U.S. imports of fresh fruits and vegetables have increased sharply since the late 1980's. With increased imports come increased concerns that pests and diseases may infest shipments of fresh agricultural products. To address this concern, USDA's APHIS implements phytosanitary measures that mitigate pest and disease risks. These regulations vary from documentation requirements, inspection, or requiring that shipments receive a phytosanitary treatment. A growing body of literature attempts to assess the generic trade flow effects of SPS measures. Still, little evidence is available to shed light on the nature, size, and scope of SPS standards and their role as "trade barriers" versus "trade catalysts." This thesis fills the void in the literature in two respects. First, a novel database on phytosanitary measures pertaining to U.S. imports of 47 fresh fruit and vegetable products from 95 countries is developed for the period 1996-2007. This disaggregated approach allows for the effects of specific phytosanitary treatments to be identified. Second, following recent literature, the issue of "zeros" is addressed while estimating a gravity model of international trade. The findings suggest that phytosanitary treatments initially inhibit fresh fruit and vegetable imports. However, their trade reducing effects are uneven across product sectors, development status categories and treatment types. Finally, globally large exporters facing a treatment requirement ship more fresh fruits and vegetable relative to small exporters facing the same regulation, suggesting the role of SPS measures as "trade barriers" versus "trade catalysts" depends on the relative size of the exporter in the global market. / Master of Science