The Big Chill: The WTO and Multilateral Environmental Agreements

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Eckersley
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Trade And Environment ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
International Trading

The increasing scope and disciplinary force of international trading rules have generated concern in the international environmental community concerning how far different types of trade restrictions in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Environmental Nongovernment Organizations (ENGOs) have argued that the WTO exerts a form of disciplinary neoliberalism that has a ‘chilling effect’ on both the implementation and negotiation of MEAs. This paper assesses this claim, particularly in the light of the stalled deliberations of the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment and recent WTO jurisprudence, and concludes that the WTO's trade agreements do serve to limit the scope and operation of MEAs, albeit mostly in subtle rather than direct ways. After exploring a range of options for reform it is concluded that the prospects for greening the WTO from both within and without are by no means bright.

The Reasoning Structure in Legal Disputes on the International Trade of Biotechnology: From a Judicial Balance by Chance to a Judicial Balance by Design

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Alessandra GUIDA
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Technology Innovation ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
The World ◽  
National Economies ◽  
Biotech Products

The international trade in biotech products boosts national economies and advances scientific as well as technology innovation. However, while trading these products increases the spread of benefits on a global scale, it also increases risks to human health and the environment (ie biosafety). This is because the effects of this technology on biosafety are still highly uncertain. Against this background, the judicial bodies under the World Trade Organization (WTO) find themselves in the middle of an intricate and polarised debate in which a proper judicial balance between free trade and biosafety becomes fundamental in order to determine whether requests for ensuring human and environmental health justify trade restrictions. This paper aims to highlight that the WTO is institutionally unready for balancing economic and non-economic values. In suggesting how to rationalise the judicial balance between the competing interests in the context of biotechnology, this paper demonstrates that the judicial adoption of a well-structured proportionality analysis can turn the current balance by chance into a balance by structure.

Regulating Cross-Border Data Flows in a Data-Driven World: How WTO Law Can Contribute

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-416
Author(s):  
Andrew D Mitchell ◽  
Neha Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
The World

Abstract While the free cross-border movement of data is essential to many aspects of international trade, several countries have imposed restrictions on these data flows. The pre-internet rules of the World Trade Organization (`WTO') discipline some of these restrictions, but they are insufficient. Unfortunately, so are the electronic commerce chapters in modern preferential trade agreements. This article argues that reformed WTO rules, which take account of the policy challenges of the data-driven economy, are required. These reforms would facilitate internet openness while ensuring consumer and business trust, promoting digital inclusion of developing countries, and incorporating clear exceptions for legitimate domestic policies.

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.

Trade and Environment in the World Trading System: A Decade of Stalemate?

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Williams
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Trade And Environment ◽  
Trading System ◽  
The Past ◽  
System A ◽  
The World ◽  
World Trading System

This article assesses the first decade of the trade-environment debate, and explores the possibilities for reconciliation of competing positions on trade-environment issues. It explores three aspects of the continuing conflict over trade and environment in the World Trade Organization. Rejecting both optimistic and pessimistic accounts of the past and future of the trade-environment debate it argues that important changes have occurred that have transformed the debate. But, despite the normalization of the trade-environment debate around the concept of sustainable development significant points of contention remain among the various participants.

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