Sustainable Development in the WTO Institutions and Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM)

This chapter begins with discussions on the state of sustainable development in the World Trade Organization (WTO), noting that progress on integrating social and environmental considerations into WTO law and policy remains poor. It then discusses the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM), and how its role has evolved from being a WTO review mechanism focused on economic policies alone, to providing a platform for discussions on trade and sustainable development. These discussions have revealed that WTO member States belong to one of three main schools of thought; First, some WTO members remain adamant that sustainable development is purely a domestic policy issue, or argue that all social and environmental considerations, including the potential impacts of trade, should remain only in the domestic law and policy arena; Second, several WTO members such as Canada and the US recognize openly that sustainable development is an objective of the WTO Agreements, and note that as such, it is relevant to the interpretation of the treaties; Third, further WTO members such as the European Commission also recognize that trade will not automatically deliver on a sustainable development objective, and link their commitment to the objective with the need for better integration of environmental and social considerations into trade and development policy.