WTO Rules and Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Kask
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Food Crisis ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Domestic Support ◽  
Different Parts

Abstract The 2007/08 food crisis, which revived interest in public stocks for food security purposes in different parts of the world, has sparked heated debates at every Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since the Bali Ministerial in December 2013. At the heart of these debates are the current rules of the WTO that apply to public stockholding and how they limit (or not) the ability of a government to constitute food stocks and pursue its food security objectives. This article discusses the current WTO rules that apply to food stockpiling and the rationale behind them. It describes the current WTO disciplines, notably in the area of domestic support, and examines the different types of support provided by the WTO Members under their public stockholding programs. It concludes by looking at the main arguments for and against the current rules.

The corruption of political elites in Iraq – an economic analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haithem Kareem Sawaan
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Vicious Cycle ◽  
First Order ◽  
The World ◽  
Coalition Provisional Authority ◽  
Oil Revenues

This article examines the corruption of political elites in Iraq in the wake of the 2003 American occupation – a phenomenon that has had disastrous consequences for the country as well as astronomical fiscal costs. The corruption that has now become endemic has served not only to undermine reform and reconstruction efforts – while simultaneously accomplishing the embezzlement of billions of dollars – but also has left the Iraqi people exposed to a wide array of harms from contaminated wheat imports to an infrastructure in complete disarray to foreign machinations, including those of international food conglomerates. Through the acquiescence of corrupt Iraqi elites, the country has been laid open to external interests and foreign initiatives as well as those of the World Trade Organization (WTO) through means such as the 100 ‘orders’ signed by US ‘Ambassador’ Paul Bremer III under the auspices of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Graft and kickback schemes of every stripe are rife throughout the country, and monies donated in the form of international assistances have served to line the pockets of the corrupt, never reaching the intended recipients among the average Iraqi population in many instances. The vicious cycle is further perpetuated also through a corrupt judiciary that militates against any sort of meaningful transparency or oversight. Corruption, and that of the powerful elites in particular, has not only squandered genuine development opportunities that might have benefited the country at large and done much good to facilitate reconstruction efforts, but also it has – for the foreseeable future – thrown the issues of Iraqi oil revenues and food security as well as that of national sovereignty into a peril of the first order.

Challenging Unwritten Measures in the World Trade Organization: The Need for Clear Legal Standards

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-482
Author(s):  
Cherise Valles ◽  
Vitaliy Pogoretskyy ◽  
Tatiana Yanguas
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Judicial Decision ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Legal Standard ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Managed Trade ◽  
Analytical Tools

ABSTRACT Disputes in the World Trade Organization (WTO) involving the challenge of unwritten measures have increased in recent years. This trend may have been encouraged by the successful challenge of Argentina’s ‘managed trade policy’ as an ‘overarching unwritten measure’ in Argentina—Import Measures. Advancing a claim against an unwritten measure, however, is not an easy undertaking. These measures are not embodied in any law, administrative regulation or judicial decision. Their very existence and precise contours are, therefore, uncertain and must be proven with evidence, which may not necessarily be readily available. The uncertain nature of unwritten measures makes the dispute settlement process significantly more complicated for the complainant, the respondent and the WTO adjudicators. Despite the difficulties in challenging, defending and adjudicating unwritten measures, relatively little has been written on this subject. This article discusses the types of trade concerns that could be challenged as ‘unwritten measures’, and the different legal characterizations (analytical tools) that have been used to challenge these trade concerns in the WTO. The article further explores the practical difficulties that have been encountered in challenges against unwritten measures and how these difficulties have sometimes, but not always, been overcome. The article concludes that there is a lack of clarity as to the correct legal standard that must be applied in the challenge of different types of unwritten measures. There is more work to be done to clarify the applicable legal standards and the types of evidence required to substantiate the existence of unwritten measures.

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.

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