Effects of a Unilateral Tariff Liberalisation on Forestry Products and Trade in Australia: An Economic Analysis Using the GTAP Model
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
Australia has 147.4 million hectares of native forest areas which includes 48.4 million hectares of closed forest and open forest (Bureau of Rural Sciences [BRS], 2010). Some 103 million hectares of native forest areas are either privately owned or leasehold while the balance is multiple use forest (9.4 million hectares), conservation reserves (22.4 million hectares) or other categories of public ownership (12.4 million hectares).
Negotiations on trade liberalisation and bilateral agreements between countries and regions suggest that further tariff reductions are inevitable. With the current trade negotiations under the Doha round, the global forestry sector as well as Australia’s could be affected by the outcomes of the negotiations. Moreover, the increasing recognition of the importance of the forestry sector in terms of addressing climate change issues suggests that any policy affecting this sector can be significant in terms of its economic as well as environmental impact. Forest conservation and carbon emissions are two issues linked to a possible carbon trading scheme in Australia.
Recommended Citation
Stenberg, L. C., & Siriwardana, M. (2012). Effects of a unilateral tariff liberalisation on forestry products and trade in Australia: An economic analysis using the GTAP model. In O. C. Akais (ed.) Global perspectives on sustainable forest management (pp. 107-120). InTech Open Publishing. doi:10.5772/34245
Comments
Global Perspectives on Sustainable Forest Management is an Open Access publication and this chapter may be accessed from the publisher here