ABSTRACT
Since the introduction of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)1 and the consequential reduction in government tariff barriers, international trade has increased substantially.2 There is widespread economic support for the notion that it must continue to expand.3 However, as tariffs fall, the incentive to erect and exploit other forms of protection rises. Private trade barriers, whether newly erected or pre-existing, are a form of protection. They impede the liberalising effect of trade commitments.
