Does Green Food Certification promote agri-food export quality? Evidence from China

The construction of a food certification system plays a vital role in upgrading export quality, which previous studies have largely overlooked. We match China's industry -level data of Green Food Certification with its HS6-digit export data of agri-food products to quantify the impact of Green Food Certification on export quality. We identify the significant and positive effect of Green Food Certification on export quality. The 2SLS estimation based on instrumental variables and a range of robustness checks confirm the validity and robustness of the benchmark conclusions. Further analysis discloses that Green Food Certification improves export quality by raising agricultural production efficiency and brand premiums. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of Green Food Certification varies across regions, notably improving the quality of agri-food products exported to developed regions and regions with high levels of import supervision. Furthermore, among various product types, Green Food Certification significantly improves the export quality of primary products and products vulnerable to non -tariff measures. The above findings could guide the future development of agri-food quality certification systems, potentially leading to a transformation and promotion of the agri-food trade.