On The Solutions To Overcome Technical Barriers To Trade In Fujian Agricultural Exports

Since China's entry into the WTO, Chinese agricultural products have been frequently confronted with foreign technical barriers to trade (TBT) under the pretence of quality, sanitation and technology, which results in the reduction in export volume and causes great losses. The products negatively affected range from vegetables, fruits, tea, and honey to livestock and fishery products. Of all the agricultural and food export businesses, 90% are affected by TBT. Labor-intensive agricultural products, which are of international competitiveness, are greatly influenced by TBT, leading to a loss of 9 billions dollars per year. Fujian province is also one of the greatly-affected areas.Scholars from both home and abroad have implemented many researches on TBT and TBT related to agricultural products from different perspectives. There are creative researches and some foreign researches have achieved significant break-troughs in measuring TBT. However, because of the difficulty in defining and measuring, qualitative research remains to be the main analyzing pattern in this field. There are still some problems in the depth and angels of research.Based on the existent research, the paper applies oligarch theory, public selection theory and scale economy theory as the research basis. The paper employs data from survey, yearbooks and government database as important sources. The paper applies qualitative researches and field researches. Based on the development of Fujian agricultural trade and TBT faced by agricultural products, the paper analyzes the causes underlying the confrontation of TBT by Fujian agricultural products, the strategic adjustments needed to cope with TBT, and the choices and solutions taken by major stakeholders.As the research shows, among the export of Fujian agricultural products, labor-intensive products have more international competitiveness while capital-intensive products are of no international competitiveness. In addition, due to inner and outer factors, Fujian agricultural export encounters more severe barriers. The outer factors lie mainly in the international discrimination against China. The inner factors can be found from the level of government, businesses and trade. Farmers are not directly related to TBT. By studying certain businesses in depth, the paper finds out that both government and businesses have their own orientation and roles to play. The interaction between government and businesses is the key to cope with TBT. Based on present investment foundation in Fujian, agricultural export businesses should attach more importance to independent development and participate actively in direct foreign investment. This could be an important strategy and effective way to successfully cope with TBT.