scholarly journals Picking the Wrong Fight: Why Attacks on the World Trade Organization Pose the Real Threat to National Environmental and Public Health Protection

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 47-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alasdair R. Young
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Market Access ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
The World ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Public Health Protection ◽  
Health Regulations ◽  
Consumer Advocates

A principal reason for popular concern about the World Trade Organisation is that national rules—especially those for environmental and public health pro-tection—may be overturned because they are incompatible with the WTO's rules. This article argues that while these concerns are not totally unfounded, they are exaggerated. A central reason for this exaggeration is that environmental and consumer advocates discount the pivotal role of governments in the dispute resolution process. Governments agree to the multilateral rules in the first place. Governments decide which market access barriers to pursue and how aggressively. Governments determine how to comply with a WTO judgment that goes against them. Furthermore, this article contends that by exaggerating the constraint imposed upon national governments by the WTO, consumer and environmental advocates run the risk of actually discouraging the very environmental and public health regulations they favor.

The Role of Risk Assessment in Precautionary Intervention: A Comparison of Judicial Trends in the EC and WTO

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 455-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elen Stokes
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
European Community ◽  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Case Law ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
The Precautionary Principle ◽  
The World ◽  
Phytosanitary Measures

AbstractThis paper focuses on the meanings attached to the "precautionary principle" in judgments passed down by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the European Community (EC) courts. It speaks to claims that, in response to WTO litigation, the EC courts are beginning to construe the precautionary principle in a manner that more closely resembles obligations arising from the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement). It illustrates that although disparities between interpretations in EC and WTO case law of legitimate precautionary intervention are growing to be less obvious, inconsistencies continue to exist.

s.Four New Challenges, 16 International Trade, Public Health, and Human Rights

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wu Chuang-Feng ◽  
Wu Chien-Huei
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Health And Human Rights ◽  
Globalizing World ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Related ◽  
New Challenges

This chapter explores how to navigate health-related human rights in the trade and public health complex by tracing the intersection of international trade and public health and examining the role of international trade in global health law. An intrinsic tension exists between international trade, public health, and human rights in this globalizing world. Even though growing global interconnectedness has generated economic growth and information sharing, it is also characterized by threats—to access to medicine, commercialization of health care, and widening health inequality. Although this tension was well recognized in the development of the World Trade Organization, it has become much more complicated in recent decades. By addressing critical questions surrounding trade and public health, examining the transformation of risks into opportunities through global efforts, it will be possible to investigate possible venues to resolve trade and public health tensions in light of human rights.

scholarly journals The world trade organisation and Human Rights: The role of principles of Good Governance

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Jeroen Denkers ◽  
Nicola Jägers
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

The present article attempts to determine the role of principles of good governance in the discussion regarding the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its human rights accountability. It shows that the WTO as an organisation cannot be compared to other international organisations that are more autonomous such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank. This does not mean, however, that the WTO has no autonomous powers at all. This contribution attempts to make clear what these activities are and how they may affect the protection of human rights. The implementation of good governance principles in international organisations can be considered a sine qua non for the realisation of human rights. Therefore, it will be examined what role the principles of good governance plays within the WTO. More specifically, the focus will be on how the good governance principles of transparency and participation can contribute to sensitising the organisation for human rights considerations.

scholarly journals Barriers against Agricultural Exports from Pakistan: The Role of WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement

2003 ◽  
Vol 42 (4II) ◽  
pp. 487-510
Author(s):  
Khalid Mustafa
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Agricultural Exports ◽  
The World ◽  
Sanitary And Phytosanitary Agreement ◽  
The Impact

There has been growing recognition that Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement can impede trade in agricultural and food products. Pakistan, in particular experiences problems in meeting the SPS requirements of developed countries and, it is claimed, this can seriously impede its ability to export agricultural and food products. Attempts have been made to reduce the trade distortive effects of SPS measures through, for example, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) SPS Agreement, although it is claimed that current initiatives fail to address many of the key problems experienced by Pakistan and other developing countries. The present paper explores implications of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement on exports of agricultural and food products from Pakistan. It identifies the problems that Pakistan faces in meeting SPS requirements and how these relate to the nature of SPS measures and the compliance resources available to Government of Pakistan and the supply chain. The paper examines the impact of SPS agreement on the extent to which SPS measures impede exports from Pakistan. It identifies the problems that limit participation of Pakistan in the SPS agreement and its concerns about the way in which it currently operates.

International Trade, Public Health, and Human Rights

2020 ◽  
pp. 351-372
Author(s):  
Chuang-Feng Wu ◽  
Chien-Huei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Health And Human Rights ◽  
Globalizing World ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Related

This chapter explores how to navigate health-related human rights in the trade and public health complex by tracing the intersection of international trade and public health and examining the role of international trade in global health law. An intrinsic tension exists between international trade, public health, and human rights in this globalizing world. Even though growing global interconnectedness has generated economic growth and information sharing, it is also characterized by threats—to access to medicine, commercialization of health care, and widening health inequality. Although this tension was well recognized in the development of the World Trade Organization, it has become much more complicated in recent decades. By addressing critical questions surrounding trade and public health, examining the transformation of risks into opportunities through global efforts, it will be possible to investigate possible venues to resolve trade and public health tensions in light of human rights.

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