Independence of Experts and Standards for Evaluation of Scientific Evidence under the SPS Agreement – New Directions in the SPS Case Law

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Arcuri ◽  
Lukasz Gruszczynski ◽  
Alexia Herwig

Under Section II of the Rules of Conduct for the DSU, the institutional affiliation of experts may be considered as an element that casts doubts on their impartiality and independence. Under Articles 5.1 and 5.7 of the SPS Agreement, the level of protection that a particular country is ready to tolerate may inform risk assessment and have an impact on the determination of insufficiency of scientific evidence. In a situation in which there is sufficient scientific evidence for performance of risk assessment in one of the international standard setting-organizations, one may still find insufficiency as provided by Article 5.7 if new data puts into question the relationship between the relevant scientific evidence and the conclusions in relation to risk, thereby not permitting the performance of a sufficiently objective assessment of risk (authors’ headnote).

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAMAL SAGGI ◽  
MARK WU

AbstractTrade in agricultural products raises sensitivities, particularly when imports originate from a trading partner experiencing an outbreak of some type of agricultural disease. In this article, we explain why despite the negative externalities associated with diseased imports, an importing country is generally not permitted to ban such imports outright under WTO law. Rather, it is allowed to do so only under specific circumstances. We also highlight how the recent India–Agricultural Products ruling contributes to the jurisprudence of two issues concerning the SPS Agreement: the interpretation of international standards, and the relationship between the risk assessment and scientific evidence requirements.


Author(s):  
John R. Krebs

This paper reviews the relationship between scientific evidence, uncertainty, risk and regulation. Risk has many different meanings. Furthermore, if risk is defined as the likelihood of an event happening multiplied by its impact, subjective perceptions of risk often diverge from the objective assessment. Scientific evidence may be ambiguous. Scientific experts are called upon to assess risks, but there is often uncertainty in their assessment, or disagreement about the magnitude of the risk. The translation of risk assessments into policy is a political judgement that includes consideration of the acceptability of the risk and the costs and benefits of legislation to reduce the risk. These general points are illustrated with reference to three examples: regulation of risk from pesticides, control of bovine tuberculosis and pricing of alcohol as a means to discourage excessive drinking.


2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukasz Gruszczynski

This article attempts to present a comprehensive and coherent picture of the position occupied by science under the SPS Agreement and in the SPS case law. It claims that the approach adopted by the Appellate Body reflects the explicit language of the SPS Agreement and is predominantly based on a technical paradigm. In consequence, science plays a critical role in distinguishing between legal and illegal SPS measures.The article argues that such an approach is generally compatible with the text of the SPS Agreement and provides a coherent SPS system. However, it also identifies certain areas, which lack coherence, as certain standards seem to violate the right of the Member States to establish an appropriate level of protection. These are: ascertainability of the risk as a precondition for valid risk assessment; strict specifity of the risk assessment in low-risk situations; the proportionality between the risk identified and the SPS measure; the notion of negligible risks; and the concept of likelihood in the quarantine risk assessments. The article claims that these standards cannot be generally applied in SPS disputes as, in certain situations, they will result in the violation of the right of the Member States to establish an appropriate level of SPS protection. Finally, a number of specific issues, which require resolution, are highlighted, namely the quality of minority scientific opinions, the relationship between the insufficiency of scientific evidence and scientific uncertainty. The article suggests that the ultimate role ascribed to science under the SPS Agreement can be assessed only after an interpretation of those issues is provided by future case law.


2021 ◽  
pp. 123-169
Author(s):  
Magdalena El-Hagin

Dyrektywa 2005/29/WE o nieuczciwych praktykach handlowych obowiązuje od ponad 15 lat. W tym czasie interpretowana była w literaturze przedmiotu, wytycznych Komisji Europejskiej oraz orzecznictwie Trybunału Sprawiedliwości UE. W niniejszym opracowaniu przeanalizowano 12 orzeczeń TSUE z ostatnich pięciu lat (2016–2021). W pierwszej kolejności omówiono stanowisko TSUE w przedmiocie relacji dyrektywy 2005/29/WE do innych instrumentów unijnych i krajowych. Następnie przedstawiono dorobek TSUE w kwestii podmiotowego zakresu stosowania dyrektywy 2005/29/WE. Z uwagi na fakt, że dyrektywa zmierza do ochrony zarówno konsumentów, jak i profesjonalistów funkcjonujących zgodnie z prawem, ma ona znaczenie dla – bez mała – ogółu obywateli UE. W tym kontekście precyzyjne określenie zakresu jej stosowania jest niezwykle istotne dla przedsiębiorców, konsumentów oraz wszystkich praktyków interpretujących prawo krajowe w świetle przepisów dyrektywy (zwłaszcza sądów), a także – choć w mniejszym zakresie – dla ustawodawców krajowych.   During the fifteen years since its adoption, Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices has been interpreted in the subject literature, the guidelines of the European Commision and in the case-law of the Court of Justice. The paper analyses 12 judgements of the CJEU imposed in the last five years (2016–2020) in the context of the scope of Directive 2005/29/EC. First, the CJEU’s take on the relationship between Directive 2005/29/EC and other union and national regulations is discussed. Then the CJEU’s acquis regarding the subjective scope of the Directive is presented. In light of the fact that the Directive leads to the protection both consumers and traders operating legally, it is of importance for almost all UE citizens. Thus the precise determination of the scope of Directive 2005/29/EC is tremendously important for traders, consumers and all practitioners interpreting national law in the light of the Directive’s provisions (especially courts), but – also although to a lesser extent – for Member States’ legislators.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (03) ◽  
pp. 426-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Kitchen ◽  
I D Walker ◽  
T A L Woods ◽  
F E Preston

SummaryWhen the International Normalised Ratio (INR) is used for control of oral anticoagulant therapy the same result should be obtained irrespective of the laboratory reagent used. However, in the UK National External Quality Assessment Scheme (NEQAS) for Blood Coagulation INRs determined using different reagents have been significantly different.For 18 NEQAS samples Manchester Reagent (MR) was associated with significantly lower INRs than those obtained using Diagen Activated (DA, p = 0.0004) or Instrumentation Laboratory PT-Fib HS (IL, p = 0.0001). Mean INRs for this group were 3.15, 3.61, and 3.65 for MR, DA, and IL respectively. For 61 fresh samples from warfarin-ised patients with INRs of greater than 3.0 the relationship between thromboplastins in respect of INR was similar to that observed for NEQAS data. Thus INRs obtained with MR were significantly lower than with DA or IL (p <0.0001). Mean INRs for this group were 4.01, 4.40, and 4.59 for MR, DA, and IL respectively.We conclude that the differences between INRs measured with the thromboplastins studied here are sufficiently great to influence patient management through warfarin dosage schedules, particularly in the upper therapeutic range of INR. There is clearly a need to address the issues responsible for the observed discrepancies.


2016 ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
V.O. Benyuk ◽  
◽  
V.M. Goncharenko ◽  
T.R. Nykoniuk ◽  
◽  
...  

The objective: to еxplore the relationship between the activity of endometrial proliferation and the state of the local immune response in the uterus in the conditions berprestasi process. Patients and methods. Examined 228 women of reproductive and perimenopausal age with endometrial pathology using ultrasound and then performing hysteroresectoscopy. Determination of the concentrations of the cytokines IL-1, IL-2, IL-6 and TNF was performed by solid phase ELISA. Results. Found a trend that confirms the loss of sensitivity to hormones at the stage of malignancy of the endometrium and can be used as diagnostic determinants in determining the nature of intrauterine pathology and criterion of the effectiveness of conservative therapy. Conclusion. Improving etiopatogenetice approach to the therapy of hyperplastic proce.sses of endometrium with determination of receptor phenotype of the endometrium is a research direction in modern gynecology, which will help to improve the results of treatment and prevention of intrauterine pathology. Key words: endometrial hyperplasia,the receptors for progesterone and estrogen, immunohistochemical method.


2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc

Vertical axis wind turbine technology has been applied last years, very long after horizontal axis wind turbine technology. Aerodynamic problems of vertical axis wind machines are discussible. An important problem is the determination of the incidence law in the interaction between wind and rotor blades. The focus of the work is to establish equations of the incidence depending on the blade azimuth, and to solve them. From these results, aerodynamic torques and power can be calculated. The incidence angle is a parameter of velocity triangle, and both the factors depend not only on the blade azimuth but also on the ratio of rotational speed and horizontal speed. The built computational program allows theoretically selecting the relationship of geometric parameters of wind turbine in accordance with requirements on power, wind speed and installation conditions.


1986 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Veith

Abstract This four-part series of papers addresses the problem of systematic determination of the influence of several tire factors on tire treadwear. Both the main effect of each factor and some of their interactive effects are included. The program was also structured to evaluate the influence of some external-to-tire conditions on the relationship of tire factors to treadwear. Part I describes the experimental design used to evaluate the effects on treadwear of generic tire type, aspect ratio, tread pattern (groove or void level), type of pattern (straight rib or block), and tread compound. Construction procedures and precautions used to obtain a valid and functional test method are included. Two guiding principles to be used in the data analyses of Parts II and III are discussed. These are the fractional groove and void concept, to characterize tread pattern geometry, and a demonstration of the equivalence of wear rate for identical compounds on whole tread or multi-section tread tires.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Roshanira Che Mohd Noor ◽  
Nur Atiqah Rochin Demong

Providing a safe and healthy workplace is one of the most effective strategies in for holding down the cost of doing construction business. It was a part of the overall management system to facilitate themanagement of the occupational health and safety risk that are associated with the business of the organization. Factors affected the awareness level inclusive of safety and health conditions, dangerous working area, long wait care and services and lack of emergency communication werethe contributed factors to the awareness level for the operational level. Total of 122 incidents happened at Telekom Malaysia Berhad as compared to year 2015 only 86 cases. Thus, the main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between safety and health factors and the awareness level among operational workers.The determination of this research was to increase the awareness level among the operational level workerswho committing to safety and health environment.


Author(s):  
Vladislav N. Slepnev ◽  
◽  
Alexander F. Maksimenko ◽  
Elena V. Glebova ◽  
Alla Т. Volokhina ◽  
...  

The choice of risk assessment procedure is one of the essential stages of efficient structuring of processes on prevention, localization and elimination of the consequences of accidents at main pipeline transport facilities. The authors analyzed themed publications and regulatory documents, governing procedures of risk assessment and forecasting of the consequences of possible accidents, and defined main problems in this area. Procedure for the risk assessment of accidents at main pipeline facilities was developed, the basis of which is the expert evaluation method. The procedure includes the determination of the main criteria for the assessment the probability of accident initiation and development and the evaluation of the severity of its consequences, an expert evaluation of criteria significance, their classification, and creation of a rating for hazardous pipeline sections. The application of the procedure application allows to specify the list of facilities that require high priority forecasting of accidents consequences, thus to optimize the distribution of resources and the overall increase of efficiency in planning while defining forces and special technical devices, necessary for containment and rectification of emergencies. Expert evaluation method application allows considering the specifics of certain enterprises, their technical and technological peculiarities, thereby increasing forecasting accuracy.


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