scholarly journals World Trade and Investment Law in a Time of Crisis: Distribution, Development and Social Protection

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Trubek ◽  
Alvaro Santos ◽  
Chantal Thomas

Anthem Press, 2019, ForthcomingWorld trade and investment law is in crisis: new and progressive ideas are needed. Rules that facilitated globalization and supported global economic growth are being challenged. A system of global governance that once seemed secure is now at risk as the US ignores the rules while developing countries struggle to escape restrictions. Some want to tear global institutions and agreements down while others try desperately to maintain the status quo. Rejecting both options, we convened a group of trade and investment law experts from 10 countries South and North who have proposed ideas for a new world trade and investment law that would maintain global growth while distributing costs and benefits more fairly. This essay frames the issues and introduces the volume. We look at the impact of trade and investment law on the global distribution of resources, and pay special attention to those who have suffered from trade dislocation and to restrictions that have hampered innovative growth strategies in developing countries. This perspective shapes a progressive trade and investment law agenda that is outlined in the book and summarized here. We suggest new ways to link trade with protection for labor; measures to ensure that gains from trade are used to offset losses; new rules that can protect foreign investments without hamstringing developing governments or harming local communities; innovative procedures to allow developing countries freedom to try innovative growth strategies; and methods to cope with new products like cannabis.

Author(s):  
Joseph Sarah

This article examines the relationship among trade, investment and human rights laws. It analyses the relevant legal relationships as reflected in the salient case law and the synergies between the works of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It also considers the impact of WTO rules on specific economic, social and cultural rights, the benefits of free trade and investment for civil and political rights and the human rights protections for traders and investors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 08 (02) ◽  
pp. 1750007
Author(s):  
Vicky Chemutai ◽  
Hubert Escaith

This paper builds an index to measure the depth of accession commitments and estimate the impact of World Trade Organization (WTO) accession. We find that WTO accession has a positive and significant influence on an economy’s trade and investment. The impact of WTO accession on the ratio of trade to gross domestic product is significantly higher than in previous studies on developing countries. Trade in services also tends to increase after accession. Moreover, greater openness does not negatively affect the trade balance of Article XII members. The results on investment, be it domestic or foreign, are also encouraging, but are not fully conclusive.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65
Author(s):  
Tapiwa V. Warikandwa ◽  
Patrick C. Osode

The incorporation of a trade-labour (standards) linkage into the multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been persistently opposed by developing countries, including those in Africa, on the grounds that it has the potential to weaken their competitive advantage. For that reason, low levels of compliance with core labour standards have been viewed as acceptable by African countries. However, with the impact of WTO agreements growing increasingly broader and deeper for the weaker and vulnerable economies of developing countries, the jurisprudence developed by the WTO Panels and Appellate Body regarding a trade-environment/public health linkage has the potential to address the concerns of developing countries regarding the potential negative effects of a trade-labour linkage. This article argues that the pertinent WTO Panel and Appellate Body decisions could advance the prospects of establishing a linkage of global trade participation to labour standards without any harm befalling developing countries.


2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Glenn

AbstractRecent writings on globalization have tended to argue that such economic interconnectedness is, in one way or another, geographically delimited. Three competing views appear in the literature, regionalization, triadization and the involutionist perspective. This article challenges the portrayal of these perspectives as competing conceptions and instead argues that each perspective furnishes us with a partial view of a larger process. In so doing, this paper revisits the involutionist perspective, arguing that, in relation to the developing countries’ relative share of world trade and investment shares, the use of the term ‘globalization’ should be questioned. Rather, in relation to trade, involution is a more apt description. However, in terms of FDI, stasis better describes the contemporary international economy. The article then examines the trade and investment patterns within the triad, corroborating earlier findings that each leg of the triad is increasingly trading more with their neighbours than with each other, but that inter-triad FDI is indeed increasing. Three main factors are presented in order to explain the contemporary patterns of trade and investment associated with involution, regionalization and triadization: product differentiation, vertical specialization and the continuing concentration on primary product production in much of the developing world.


2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 1011-1027
Author(s):  
Andrew David Mitchell ◽  
Theodore Samlidis

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.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatma Muthia Kinanti

Perdagangan bebas menjadi isu yang semakin menguat dalam pergaulan global saat ini. Berbagai perjanjian baik multilateral, regional dan bilateral yang mengatur mengenai penekanan hambatan perdagangan semakin banyak. WTO sebagai peraturan induk dan merupakan sumber hukum utama dari perdagangan bebas telah berjalan selama lebih dari satu dekade. Sejak pembentukan WTO terbukti bahwa partisipas masyarakat internasional dalam perdagangan global semakin meningkat. Namun, beberapa kritik muncul terutama dari negara berkembang yang merasa belum mendapatkan manfaat dari perdagangan bebas. Isu ini kemudian muncul dalam negosiasi WTO yang menghasilkan konsep Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) yang diadopsi dalam ketentuan-ketentuan WTO. Penelitian ini mengangkat tema besar mengenai ketentuan-ketentuan dan kerjasama WTO yang mencerminkan perdagangan bebas dan kaitannya dengan negara berkembang. Beberapa hal yang disorot adalah bagaimana pengaturan dalam WTO terkait perlakuan berbeda (Special and Differentiated Treatment) yang diberikan kepada negara-negara berkembang. Selain itu penelitian ini difokuskan juga untuk menganalisis diferensiasi antara negara-negara berkembang dalam WTO. Kemudian, analisis difokuskan terhadap peran dan dampak Doha Development dan Bali Round terkait negara berkembang terutama di sektor agrikultur dan dampak adanya diferensiasi dari negara berkembang.<br /><br />Free trade is an issue that has gained strength in today’s global society. Various multilateral treaties, regional and bilateral governing the suppression of trade barriers more. WTO as a central rule and is the main legal source of free trade has been running for more than a decade. Since the establishment of the WTO proved that the participation and the international community in global trade is increasing. However, some criticism arose primarily from developing countries that have not benefited from free trade. This issue arises in WTO negotiations that resulted in the concept of Special and Differential Treatment (SDT), which was adopted in the WTO provisions. This study raised the major themes of the provisions of the WTO and cooperation that reflects the free trade and its relation to developing countries. Some of the things highlighted was how the settings related to differential treatment in the WTO granted to developing countries. In addition, research is focused also to analyze the differentiation between developing countries in the WTO. Then, the analysis focused on the role and impact of the Doha Development Round and Bali related to developing countries, particularly in the agricultural sector and the impact of the differentiation of developing countries.<br /><br />


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 120-126
Author(s):  
E. A. LUKASHIK ◽  

The world trade organization (WTO) has faced a number of challenges related to changing trends in the global trading system. In addition to the differences that have accumulated during the Doha round of trade negotiations, new issues need to be discussed, such as the regulation of e-Commerce, the revision of intellectual property rules, the need to tighten the rules on subsidies and public procurement, and improving the effectiveness of the Appeals body. Due to the rapid economic growth of a number of developing countries, it is necessary to redistribute the benefits provided and review the status of the organization's member countries. Outdated WTO rules do not meet the new challenges of the 21st century. The main problems faced by WTO members are analyzed, the positions of developed and developing countries are highlighted, and ways to resolve the organization's crisis are presented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-246
Author(s):  
Lourna El-Deeb ◽  
Ahmed Labeeb

Abstract The Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) Agreement aims to balance the interests of developed countries seeking to protect their investments as well as developing countries trying to attract more foreign investments to finance national projects. This article assesses the TRIMs Agreement and the compatibility of Egyptian economic legislation, especially the provisions of the Investment Law No. 72/2017, alongside the impact of this agreement on the Egyptian economy. We conclude that Egyptian legislation as a whole is in line with the TRIMs Agreement, with the exception of some provisions enacted under exceptional circumstances in Egypt since January 2011. As a result of these circumstances, it is impossible accurately to assess the extent to which the Egyptian economy was affected by the implementation of TRIMs during the current period, since the policies adopted by the Government of Egypt have succeeded in increasing the volume of foreign direct investment to Egypt.


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