摘要：In New Zealand the Resource Management Act 1991 has put standards in place regarding surface and ground water quality. Nitrogen leaching from dairy effluent compromises these standards; consequently the nation-wide aim is to have all dairy farms operating land-based effluent disposal. An estimate has been made of the cost of this to the New Zealand dairy sector. An Applied General Equilibrium approach (GTAP) is used to look at the possible impact of these additional production costs on New Zealand’s dairy export trade. This analysis is conducted under two scenarios, the first being that New Zealand acts unilaterally in imposing water quality regulations. The second scenario assumes that New Zealand’s three main dairy export competitors, the EU, Australia, and the US also enforce their own water quality regulations and internalise the cost of such regulations.
