The Effects Of SPS Measures On The Duration Of China’s Agroproduct Exports

China,a large agricultural exporter of products,does not sustain its agricultural exports,and the median survival period is only two years.Product trade with partner countries usually only lasts for a short period of time before being suspended.Compared with the establishment of a new trade relationship,maintaining the established trade relationship can maintain the stable and continuous export of Chinese agricultural products,and the long-term impact will be more far-reaching.Therefore,exploring the reasons for the short duration of China’s agricultural exports and conducting targeted responses are essential to promote the development of agricultural trade.There are many factors that may affect the duration of agricultural trade relations,such as traditional gravitational variables,national characteristics,enterprise characteristics,and product characteristics.It is worth noting that the more obvious obstacle to Chinese agricultural products in the international market is the SPS measures notified by importing countries,especially those with a higher degree of development.And because of the large number of notified countries and the strict product standards,the scope of Chinese agricultural products is extremely wide.this has greatly restricted the good development of China’s agricultural export trade.It is very likely that the implementation of product standard restrictions will directly lead to the suspension of China’s agricultural exports,making the duration of China’s agricultural exports short.Studying the impact of SPS measures on the duration of agricultural exports has important practical significance for effectively ensuring the stable and continuous exports of China’s agricultural products.However,for this influence,there are few empirical tests in the literature.Using trade data for 6-digit HS code agroproducts of China’s exports for 2002 and 2017,we investigate how SPS measures set by importing countries impact the duration of Chinese agricultural exports via discrete time survival analysis.It is worth mentioning that this article innovatively subdivides SPS measures according to the notification reasons and types of notifications,and studies the effect of the difference of SPS measures on the duration of agricultural exports.Further,this article explores the extent to which differences in national heterogeneity,and product heterogeneity affect the duration of exports.The results show that SPS measures imposed by importing countries have a significant negative impact on the export duration of China’s agroproducts,which increases the survival risks of agricultural exports.In addition,different SPS measures have different impacts.SPS measures adopted for reasons of food safety,plant protection,and humans protections from animal and plant pests and diseases have a more significantly negative impact on export duration,and regular notification is more likely to interrupt China’s agricultural exports than emergency notification.Divided by product category,the SPS measures notified by the importing country will significantly reduce the duration of the export of plant products and food,and the negative impact on the duration of the export of primary agricultural products is slightly greater than that of processed agricultural products;Divided by importing countries,the SPS measures set by importing countries with higher income levels have a more significant negative impact on the duration of China’s agricultural exports.SPS measures,as technical trade barriers,have had a considerable impact on China’s agricultural export for a long time.To ensure the sustained export of agroproducts,China should first improve product technology laws and regulations as well as standard systems and enhance quality standards of Chinese agroproducts in responding to standard barriers imposed by importing countries.Over the long run,China should upgrade export structures of agroproducts,develop intensive processing systems for primary agroproducts,increase the value added of agroproducts,and avoid possible risks.In addition,China should distinguish between different types of SPS measures and leverage the role of industrial associations to track SPS measures of trade partners.The country can then show initiative in addressing SPS measures while avoiding the shock of importing countries’ stringent technical barriers to exported agroproducts.Finally,due to the greater impact of SPS measures imposed by highincome countries on China’s export duration,China should pay more attention and quickly respond to the standards of high-income countries to minimize the adverse impacts of changed standards on China’s exports while maintaining exports to low-income countries.