Global Public Policy and the World Trade Organization after Shrimp/Turtle and Asbestos

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 253-352
Author(s):  
Maureen Irish
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Technical Barriers To Trade ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Phytosanitary Measures ◽  
Global Public Policy

SummaryRecent decisions of the Appellate Body of the WTO deal with the interpretation of GATT Article XX, which provides exemptions from trade obligations for important non-trade policies such as the protection of health and the environment. The article discusses those decisions, as well as the balance between trade and non-trade interests in the provisions of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

scholarly journals The WTO Seal Products Case: Doctrinal and Normative Confusion

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 323-327
Author(s):  
Joel Trachtman
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Uruguay Round ◽  
Technical Barriers To Trade ◽  
National Treatment ◽  
The World ◽  
Phytosanitary Measures ◽  
Basic Ideas ◽  
Domestic Regulation

The negotiators and drafters of the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization(WTO), which includes the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947(GATT) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade(TBT), as well as other subagreements dealing with domestic regulation, such as the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures(SPS), did not do a great job of doctrinal integration among the different documents that comprise the WTO Agreement. To be fair, at the end of the Uruguay Round, the hour was late and they may have felt that the basic ideas were sufficiently clear that it could all be sorted out in litigation. But in several contexts, including within the original GATT, the text of which dates from 1947, they covered the same ground in multiple places, without stating clearly how the different norms relate to one another,and without articulating plausible reasons for different treatment. For example, why is different language used for national treatment in three different places within Article III of GATT, and why is that language different from the language that appearsto have the same purpose in the TBT Agreement or in the SPS Agreement?

scholarly journals Technical barriers to trade notifications and dispute settlement within the WTO

Equilibrium ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Ghodsi Ghodsi ◽  
Jan Jakub Michałek
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Technical Barriers To Trade ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this paper is to verify empirically whether the Specific Trade Concerns (STCs) regarding Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs) notifications by WTO members can serve as an early warning system for past and future disputes (DS) covering allegedly trade restricting TBTs. WTO members, in order to increase transparency of trade policies, have made efforts to compile data on notified TBTs. For several years the WTO provides a TBT dataset, used in our paper, which covers the STCs raised by its members (“reverse” notifications). From 1995-2011, there have been 45 requests for consultation under the Dispute Settlement (DS) Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to identify possible violations of the technical barriers to trade (TBT) agreement. This paper attempts to find the linkages between DS cases citing the TBT agreement and the STC data regarding TBTs. The DS Body’s decisions regarding possible violations of the TBT agreement are discussed in detail. Afterwards, we analyze, descriptively and econometrically, the relationship between notified STCs and DS consultations regarding TBTs.

Is the ISO/IEC OOXML Standard an International Standard under the TBT Agreement?

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Barrios Villarreal
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Technical Barriers To Trade ◽  
International Standard ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Standardization Process

The Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement requires that national regulations and standards are based on international standards; however, it fails to define the terms international standard and international standardizing body (ISB). As of today, the panels and the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have put more emphasis on the requirement that a standard is adopted by an ISB than the process through which it is adopted to be considered as ‘international' for the TBT Agreement. This article shows, using the standardization process of the OOXML in the ISO/IEC JTC1 as an example, that an ISB may adopt standards that are not necessarily international for the Agreement purposes. Hence, the importance that in future disputes the panels and the Appellate Body follow the path opened in the US-Tuna II case in which the Appellate Body stated that there may be additional procedural conditions that must be met for a standard to be considered international for the TBT Agreement.

The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement of the World Trade Organization: Debunking Its Reliance on Scientific Evidence and Reluctance to Endorse Potential Biotechnology Risks

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Muhammad ISLAM
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Scientific Uncertainty ◽  
The World ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
Phytosanitary Measures ◽  
Biotech Products

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) relies on scientific evidence as a conclusive risk assessment criterion, which ignores the inherent limitations of science. This article highlights certain trade-restrictive effects of scientific evidence and comments on the Agreement’s aversions to precautionary measures and the consumer concern of the harmful effects of biotech products that may be necessary to protect public health and biosecurity in many WTO Member States. These measures and concerns have become pressing issues due to surging consumer awareness and vigilance concerning environmental protection and food safety. The Agreement is yet to overcome the weaknesses of its endorsed international standardising bodies, the problematic definition of scientific evidence and treatment of justification for scientific risk assessment methods and the implementation difficulties faced by most developing states. This article analyses these issues under the provisions of the Agreement and the interpretations of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body in disputes involving SPS matters, which fall short of addressing scientific uncertainty surrounding biotech products and their associated risks.

Diversity and Legitimacy of the World Trade Organization’s Bench

2020 ◽  
pp. 427-445
Author(s):  
Cosette D Creamer ◽  
Zuzanna Godzimirska
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Academic Experience ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter sheds light on the relationship between the composition of the bench and the sociological legitimacy of the judicial branch of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Two identity characteristics are consistently part of the criticism of the WTO’s bench: the lack of female adjudicators as well as individuals with academic experience. Overall, however, the identity of the bench does not appear to matter greatly for how WTO Members evaluate its exercise of authority. We suggest that the role of the WTO’s Legal Affairs Division and the Appellate Body Secretariat in streamlining outcomes and procedures may best explain this, as it helps prevent such diversity from manifesting in dispute rulings. Alternatively, it tells us that judicial diversity matters more for the bench’s normative legitimacy—and for scholars—than it does for governments.

Adjudicating International Trade Cases in the World Trade Organization

2020 ◽  
pp. 330-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Hughes
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Institutional Legitimacy ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
Limited Experience ◽  
The World ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Perspective

The presence of women on WTO panels and the Appellate Body makes a difference from the perspective of institutional legitimacy. However, given the limited experience with women adjudicators on the WTO bench and the fact that WTO dispute reports are not signed individually but by all three adjudicators, it is impossible to prove whether women have made a difference by bringing a unique perspective to WTO adjudication. Nevertheless, it is possible to suppose that they would do so for two reasons. First, WTO Members believe that the individual perspective of an adjudicator can inform her or his decision-making, at least in the case of developing country adjudicators. Second, trade policy makers have come to realize that trade policies can affect women and men differently, and hence that developing trade policies requires a gender-based analysis. With this in mind, it is suggested that there is a gender-based approach to WTO adjudication.

scholarly journals The Future of Amicus Participation at the WTO: Implications of the Sardines Decision and Suggestions for Further Developments

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Keller
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Global Society ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future

In today's increasingly interdependent global society, international institutions formerly committed to operating as insular systems recognizing only states as legitimate participants have come under pressure to open their processes to public view and participation. The World Trade Organization (WTO) in particular has been widely criticized for its lack of transparency and democratic participation. Nowhere has this criticism been more prevalent than in the arena of dispute settlement. The controversy over the acceptance of amicus briefs at the WTO reflects the tensions among WTO members and non-members concerning greater public access to dispute settlement proceedings. This battle has been fought primarily through the Appellate Body and its important series of decisions on amicus briefs.

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