Meta-Regulation of Private Standards: The Role of Regional and International Organizations in Comparison with the WTO

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Yoshiko Naiki
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Regulatory Function ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Private Standards ◽  
The World ◽  
One Step

Abstract The rise and proliferation of private standards have been recognized in international trade law, and various concerns have been raised. Existing literature analyses how the World Trade Organization (WTO), particularly the SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) Committee and the TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade) Committee, have responded (or cannot respond) to the proliferation of private standards. This paper goes one step further by focusing specifically on the meta-regulatory function performed by regional and international organizations other than the WTO. This paper sheds light on three types of governance techniques that can serve as meta-regulatory activities in relation to private standards by regional and international organizations: (1) governance by delegation; (2) governance by information; and (3) governance by soft law. This paper analyses features of these governance techniques and considers the relation between these governance techniques and the WTO's approach.

Lawful Remedy or Illegal Response? Resolving the Issue of Foreign Subsidization Under WTO Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Victor Crochet ◽  
Marcus Gustafsson
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Fair Competition ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
The World ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Do So

Abstract Discontentment is growing such that governments, and notably that of China, are increasingly providing subsidies to companies outside their jurisdiction, ‘buying their way’ into other countries’ markets and undermining fair competition therein as they do so. In response, the European Union recently published a proposal to tackle such foreign subsidization in its own market. This article asks whether foreign subsidies can instead be addressed under the existing rules of the World Trade Organization, and, if not, whether those rules allow States to take matters into their own hands and act unilaterally. The authors shed light on these issues and provide preliminary guidance on how to design a response to foreign subsidization which is consistent with international trade law.

scholarly journals China’s ‘Going Global’ Policy: Transnational Production Subsidies Under the WTO SCM Agreement

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 841-863
Author(s):  
Victor Crochet ◽  
Vineet Hegde
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
The World ◽  
World Trade Organization Agreement ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Production Subsidies ◽  
Shed Light

ABSTRACT As China is increasingly ‘going global’, foreign direct investment under its Belt and Road Initiative is becoming heavily scrutinized. One of the concerns is that Chinese companies establishing themselves in third countries would be unfairly advantaged by the financing they receive under China’s expansionist strategy. This financing gives rise to a situation that had long been described as ‘unrealistic’, in which a government subsidizes a firm outside of its territory. When such a firm’s products are exported to third countries, could such financing be disciplined under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures? Should such financing, which enhances development in the receiving countries, be disciplined at all? The authors shed light on these issues and provide a preliminary guidance on how to structure this problem under international trade law.

John Jackson and the GATT's Transformation

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-403
Author(s):  
STEVE CHARNOVITZ
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Law Students ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
The World ◽  
Ann Arbor

John Jackson's long, fruitful association with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was unique in the annals of international organizations. His 1969 book, World Trade and the Law of GATT, became the Baedeker for government officials, practitioners, and academics seeking an overall understanding of the trading system or an explanation of a particular GATT provision. Yet the uniqueness of Jackson's relationship to the GATT was not just his foundational scholarship; every international organization in the twentieth century spawned a scholarly community. The uniqueness came from his role as a teacher attracting graduate law students from around the world who traveled to Ann Arbor to study with him and then returned to their countries to take on leadership roles in international trade. These decades of students inspired by Jackson and educated by his synoptic understanding of trade law enhanced Jackson's influence on the GATT in a way that has no parallel in other agencies.

John Jackson and WTO Dispute Settlement

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-406
Author(s):  
WILLIAM J. DAVEY
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Law School ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
The Bible ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Wto Dispute Settlement ◽  
The World

John Jackson bestrode the world of international trade law like a Colossus. His 1969 treatise on World Trade and the Law of GATT was called the bible of GATT law. His 1977 casebook on Legal Problems of International Economic Relations created a new law school course and introduced thousands of students around the globe to international trade law. It was the leading international trade law casebook for decades, and his students went on to positions of responsibility throughout the world in governments, international organizations, and private practice. His analysis of GATT infirmities convinced certain influential governments to push for a new international trade organization, which eventually saw life as the World Trade Organization. It was a great honor for me to have been associated with John for over thirty years. Indeed, his 1985 invitation to join as a co-author of the casebook after my first year in law teaching undoubtedly saved me many years of drudgery as a corporate/securities law scholar. Thus, I am pleased to offer some thoughts on John's influence on dispute settlement under GATT and the WTO.

scholarly journals Globalization and the Animal Turn: How International Trade Law Contributes to Global Norms of Animal Protection

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Sykes
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
World Trade ◽  
International Tribunal ◽  
Animal Conservation ◽  
Animal Protection ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Norms

AbstractMany animal and environmental activists think of international trade law as a block to the achievement of their goals and perceive the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a threat to animals. Yet, the first legal decision of an international tribunal to devote careful, sustained attention to animal welfare issues comes from the WTO, in the EC – Seal Products decision. This article argues that international trade law is currently an important, although under-acknowledged, locus for the development of global norms concerning the protection of animals, and that animal conservation and animal welfare can be seen as aspects of a single overarching principle of animal protection. International trade law contributes to animal protection in two ways. Firstly, WTO jurisprudence has recognized animal protection as a legitimate basis for invoking exceptions to trade rules (as in EC – Seal Products). Secondly, international trade negotiations enhance cooperation on the implementation and enforcement of existing conservation obligations (as in the new Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Environment Chapter).

scholarly journals The Nature of Remedies in International Trade Law

2004 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungjoon Cho
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
The World ◽  
The U.S

On August 30, 2002, the World Trade Organization (WTO) authorized the European Communities (EC) to suspend its tariff concessions and other obligations toward the United States to the extent of U.S. $4 billion for the latter’s failure to comply with the Appellate Body’s decision that the United States had violated the WTO rules, in particular, the WTO Subsidy Code by providing the prohibited subsidies to foreign sales corporations (FSCs) in the form of tax breaks (the FSC Article 22.6 Report). The sheer scale of the EC’s suspension in response to the U.S. violation is unprecedented, far surpassing the suspensions authorized in two previous cases that invoked the WTO enforcement mechanism, Banana III and Hormones. At first glance, this dramatic finale for such a high-profile case might be welcomed as an impressive revelation of the real achievement of the WTO system equipped with teeth, unlike its predecessor the old GATT.

scholarly journals The World Trade Organization (WTO) Rules and Regulation

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Arfin Sudirman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Demographic Diversity ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Economic Method ◽  
The World

The WTO is a formally structured organization whose rules are legally binding on its member states. The organization provides a framework for international trade law. Indonesia has been part of WTO membership since 1995. However, the agreement does not always compatible with domestic economic policy particularly on agricultural sector. This article aims to understand the possibility of Indonesia’s economic development particularly on agriculture follow WTO’s policy track into greater prosperity. By using qualitative method, this article concluded that in a broad economic securitization, agricultural products actually have been neglected by securitizing actors (Indonesian government) to fulfill their basic needs in balancing the inequalities between rich and poor. Furthermore, Indonesia’s traditionalist economic method is incompatible with neoliberalist’s economic principle due to social and demographic diversity.

Sources of International Trade Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost Pauwelyn
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Trade ◽  
General Rule ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Limited Role ◽  
The World ◽  
Legal Positivist

This chapter argues that the World Trade Organization (WTO) approach to sources of law is legal-positivist, non-teleological, and focused predominantly on the text of WTO covered agreements as explicitly agreed to by WTO members. This approach places heavy reliance on a de facto rule of precedent and an increasing role for non-binding instruments, with little or no reference to academic writings and a limited role for non-WTO rules of international law other than mainly procedural rules of general international law. Moreover, the WTO’s sources doctrine remains relatively traditional or mainstream. It is difficult to speak of a WTO- or trade-specific ‘deviation’ from the general rule of recognition regarding the establishment of sources. At the same time, the WTO experience does have specific features, with a more prominent role for some sources over others and some pushing of the boundaries when it comes to certain less traditional sources of international law.

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