Mobility of Persons

2021 ◽  
pp. 134-154
Author(s):  
Catherine Barnard ◽  
Emilija Leinarte

This chapter stresses that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) only envisions a most basic form of mobility, under Mode 4 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. It mentions businesspersons offering services in the jurisdiction of the other parties, and a bland commitment to maintain visa-free travel for short-term stays. It also reveals the end of passporting for financial services and the end of free movement of persons that constitute some of the most visible, and dramatic changes in the new EU-UK relations. The chapter looks at mobility rules under the WTO regime and various free trade agreements (FTAs) and association agreements (AAs) as the baseline for international commitments to trade-related mobility. It compares the WTO regime with the framework under the TCA in order to determine the extent of liberalization in the new UK-EU relationship.

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Jose L. Tongzon

The World Trade Organization (WTO) (formerly GATT) was established primarily to achieve free trade across the globe based on the principle of non-discrimination and the process of multilateral trade negotiations. The fact that most countries are members of WTO reflects the worldwide belief in the benefits of a global free trade. Despite its achievements since the first round of multilateral trade negotiations was held, the effectiveness of the process has been called into question. Most WTO members are now proposing new regional trading arrangements (RTAs), such as free trade agreements (FTAs). What implication does these RTAs have for the WTO and ASEAN countries? Should ASEAN countries give regionalism priority over the WTO-based multilateral approach? To answer this questions, this paper will first summarize the motivations behind the formation of RTAs before presenting the merits and demerits of RTAs as an approach to achieve universal free trade and maximize developing countries' welfare. It is argued that despite its inherent limitations it is important for ASEAN countries to remain primarily committed to the principles of WTO and the process of multilateral trade negotiations.


Author(s):  
James Munro

Chapter 4 examines whether carbon units qualify as ‘goods’/‘products’ under GATT 1994 and free trade agreements covering goods. Despite complexities, the analysis of Chapter 4 concludes that, on balance, the better view is that ‘carbon units’ do qualify as ‘products’ and ‘goods’ under GATT 1994 and free trade agreements covering goods. This is because they can be possessed, stored, traded across borders, and hold economic value. The most challenging aspect is the lack of obvious ‘production’ involved in some classes of units. However, since some units are clearly ‘produced’, and since all units are fungible and are, to some degree, in a competitive market relationship with one another, regardless of how they are created, it would be anomalous if only some classes of carbon units were covered. If, however, the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization were to determine—contrary to existing case law—that tangibility is a threshold requirement of ‘goods’/‘products’, it is clear that no carbon units would qualify.


2021 ◽  
pp. jech-2020-215105
Author(s):  
Courtney L McNamara ◽  
Ronald Labonte ◽  
Ashley Schram ◽  
Belinda Townsend

Part 1 of this glossary provided a brief background on the rise of regional/bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) and described the health implications of new trade obligations that figure prominently in current and recent trade negotiations, focusing on those provisions that build on previous agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This approach continues into part 2 of the glossary, which also considers components of FTAs that have no precedent within WTO treaties. Following a broader discussion of how the current political context and the COVID-19 pandemic shape the contemporary trade environment, part 2 considers the main areas of trade and health policy incoherence as well as recommendations to address them.


Asian Survey ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1058-1081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidetaka Yoshimatsu ◽  
Patrick Ziltener

This article analyzes Japan's motivations in opening negotiations on free trade agreements with Australia and Switzerland, highlighting intersections between domestic and international factors. While Australia is a security ally of Japan and a main source of natural resources, Switzerland is a traditional ally in World Trade Organization negotiations and considered a gateway to the European market.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Mohammed I. M. Hamdan ◽  
Mohamed Shawky Abd El-Aal ◽  
Abidin Abdul Hamid Kandil

The current study attempts to highlight the stages of Palestine’s joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) and steps that should be followed by Palestine to join the World Trade Organization from the observer to the member. It also clarifies how Palestine joins the World Trade Organization as a state and then as a customs territory. The problem of this study lies in determining the legal effects of Palestine's joining the World Trade Organization as a state on the one hand and as a customs territory on the other. The study aims at clarifying the stages that Palestine will go through in case of joining the World Trade Organization, the steps that Palestine should take to join the World Trade Organization, and the mechanism that should be followed when Palestine joins the World Trade Organization as a state, and then as a customs territory. The study concluded that Palestine must join the World Trade Organization as a customs territory as soon as possible in order to avoid any discussion about the final legal status of its territories according to the Oslo Accords. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 495-518
Author(s):  
Nicolas de Sadeleer

This chapter focuses on the conflict between the precautionary principle and free trade within the World Trade Organization (WTO). It explains that the said conflict illustrates the role that environmental principles can play in modifying a debate with major legal as well as societal implications. It stresses the odd twists and tangled hierarchies characteristic of post-modern law which may be encountered in disputes involving trade and the environment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-185
Author(s):  
Jong Bum Kim

ABSTRACT A cross-cumulation arrangement helps manufacturers meet the demands of the global value chain economy by facilitating the sourcing of intermediate products within the territories of participants in the arrangement. It is a de facto free-trade area formed by a network of bilateral free-trade areas underpinning the arrangement. However, a cross-cumulation clause provided in a bilateral free-trade area that underpins a cross-cumulation arrangement is inconsistent with General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Articles I and III because the intermediate products from the participants in the arrangement are more favorably treated than products from non-participants in the arrangement. The GATT inconsistencies of a cross-cumulation clause cannot be justified by the GATT Article XXIV exception, because a cross-cumulation clause of a bilateral free-trade area derogates from the free-trade area’s aim by facilitating trade in intermediate products between the free-trade area parties and non-parties to the free-trade area that are participants in the arrangement. In contrast, a cumulation clause provided in a free-trade area contributes to the free-trade area’s aim by facilitating trade in intermediate products between the parties to the free-trade area. To bring a cross-cumulation arrangement such as the Regional Convention on Pan-Euro-Med Preferential Rules of Origin into conformity with World Trade Organization law, the arrangement and its underlying free-trade areas should be recognized as a de jure free-trade area under GATT Article XXIV and notified to the World Trade Organization as such. A large cross-cumulation arrangement as a mega-free-trade area is likely to contribute to the world trading system by harmonizing divergent free-trade area rules of origin and providing an efficient mechanism for the formation of a mega-free-trade area.


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