Sustainable Development Provisions in the 1994 GATT/WTO Agreements

2021 ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
World Summit ◽  
Trade Disputes ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Wto Agreements

This chapter argues that, while the World Trade Organization (WTO) may have accepted sustainable development as an objective of its members, it is not clear that the WTO has successfully integrated either environment or social development concerns into trade policy-making, to date. It considers the three opportunities for integration discussed in Chapter 3, and the implications of attempts to respond to them within the WTO, in two phases. First, it considers the WTO Agreements after the conclusion of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), and the 1994 Uruguay Round, and how they are interpreted by the WTO Panel and Appellate Body in trade disputes, as well as any progress in WTO negotiations with respect to the tensions identified earlier during that period. Second, it considers developments in the WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations that were launched in 2001, directly before the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and how subsequent WTO disputes have addressed these tensions.

Special and Differential Treatment, Trade and Sustainable Development

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Irish
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Differential Treatment ◽  
Common But Differentiated Responsibilities ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Wto Agreements

This article examines the objective of sustainable development, listed in the preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. It discusses the relationship between rights to special and differential treatment included in various WTO agreements and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities that is part of sustainable development.

scholarly journals The Appellate Body’s Power to Interpret the WTO Agreements and WTO Members’ Power to Disagree with the Appellate Body

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 792-819
Author(s):  
Yuka Fukunaga
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
The United States ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
Multilateral Trading System ◽  
The World ◽  
Erroneous Interpretation ◽  
Wto Agreements

Abstract The United States criticizes the Appellate Body for ‘making law’ by interpreting and applying the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements in disregard of the intention of WTO members. The criticism of the United States is not without legitimate basis in that Members have few tools with which they may weigh in on the interpretation of the WTO agreements, even if the Appellate Body makes an erroneous interpretation. As much as the Appellate Body’s contribution to the security and predictability of the multilateral trading system warrants praise, the dysfunction of legislative and political mechanisms to counterbalance the growing de facto ‘authority’ of the Appellate Body should be a cause for concern. Against this background, this article proposes a new mechanism that would allow Members to disagree with interpretations by the Appellate Body and pronounce their own interpretations of the WTO agreements. The mechanism would be built upon ‘interpretative declarations.’

scholarly journals Australia—Anti-Dumping Measures on A4 Copy Paper

2021 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-101
Author(s):  
Weihuan Zhou ◽  
Delei Peng
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
Injurious Effect ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
Private Action ◽  
The World ◽  
Market Situation ◽  
Wto Agreements

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel Report in Australia – Anti-Dumping Measures on A4 Copy Paper (Australia – A4 Copy Paper) marks a significant development of the multilateral rules on anti-dumping. Under certain circumstances, WTO agreements permit members to impose anti-dumping measures to counteract the injurious effect of dumping on domestic industries, typically through import duties. The Report is the first to examine in detail when an anti-dumping authority may determine that a “particular market situation” exists in the country of exportation under Article 2.2 of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement, potentially justifying the imposition of elevated remedial duties. The Report also develops the jurisprudence on how such remedies may be calculated, expounding the use of benchmark costs for the calculation of a constructed normal value (CNV) under Article 2.2.1.1. These doctrinal questions are central to the longstanding debate over how far the Anti-Dumping Agreement allows anti-dumping measures against state intervention and market distortions. On both fronts, the Australia – A4 Copy Paper panel created flexibilities for WTO members to respond to government-induced distortions. In doing so, the Report deviates considerably from the course set by the Appellate Body in the landmark EU – Biodiesel decision, which seemed to confine anti-dumping measures to responding to private action. At the same time, the panel left open several important issues relating to the adoption of CNVs and the use of benchmarks for their calculation, leaving wide latitude for investigating authorities to inflate dumping margins in practice.

A Decade of the World Trade Organization and the Trade Performance of Muslim Countries

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
Ruzita Mohd. Amin
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
The Developed Countries ◽  
Merchandise Trade ◽  
Wto Agreements

The World Trade Organization (WTO), established on 1 January 1995 as a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has played an important role in promoting global free trade. The implementation of its agreements, however, has not been smooth and easy. In fact this has been particularly difficult for developing countries, since they are expected to be on a level playing field with the developed countries. After more than a decade of existence, it is worth looking at the WTO’s impact on developing countries, particularly Muslim countries. This paper focuses mainly on the performance of merchandise trade of Muslim countries after they joined the WTO. I first analyze their participation in world merchandise trade and highlight their trade characteristics in general. This is then followed by a short discussion on the implications of WTO agreements on Muslim countries and some recommendations on how to face this challenge.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE WTO TOBACCO PLAIN PACKAGING DISPUTES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 1011-1027
Author(s):  
Andrew David Mitchell ◽  
Theodore Samlidis
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Plain Packaging ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
Wto Agreements

AbstractAustralia became the first country to introduce standardised or plain packaging laws for tobacco products in 2011. However, they immediately came under direct and indirect challenge from the tobacco industry in various domestic and international fora, including at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO-consistency of Australia's measures was not settled until June 2020, when the Appellate Body upheld two WTO panels’ earlier findings that Australia had acted consistently with its obligations under certain WTO agreements. This article critically analyses the Appellate Body's key findings and their implications for implementing other public health measures. It is shown that these implications are multifaceted, have political, practical and legal dimensions and are likely to reach beyond the WTO dispute resolution system's bounds into other international trade and investment law contexts.

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.

A WTO Ruling Matters: Citizens’ Support for the Government’s Compliance with Trade Agreements

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Matsumura
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Trade Dispute ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Wto Agreements

AbstractAn international court’s ruling is expected to influence public opinion because of the perception of its legality and the subsequent costs of noncompliance. However, there has been little direct empirical evidence to support this claim. To close this lacuna, I conducted a survey experiment to examine the power of a court’s ruling in the context of a trade dispute. The experiment shows that citizens become less supportive of their government’s noncompliance with GATT/WTO agreements when the World Trade Organization issues an adverse ruling, compared to when their government is verbally accused of a violation of the same agreements by a foreign country. However, the experiment also finds that the impact of a ruling is conditional upon the level of compliance of the winner of the dispute.

Common but Differentiated Debates: Environment, Labour and the World Trade Organization

1996 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 592-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Halina Ward
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Development ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
World Conference ◽  
World Summit ◽  
International Conference ◽  
The World ◽  
Environment And Development

In June 1992 the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) took place in Rio de Janeiro; 1993 was the year of the World Conference on Human Rights, 1994 the year of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, and in March 1995 it was the turn of the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document