Protection of the Marine Environment

The general obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment is contained in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Increasingly, marine issues are addressed in regional or multilateral trade agreements, including the covered agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This article examines selected legal developments, such as provisions in regional trade agreements on marine capture fisheries, marine litter and waste management infrastructure. Rules on the use of trade measures to eliminate harmful fishing practices, and the prohibition of certain subsidies, are also explored. The article calls for attention to the impact of these developments on dispute settlement between states under UNCLOS, support for marine protected areas, and the capacity for regime interaction between relevant bodies. These issues have relevance for the conservation of marine living resources as well as other issues relating to the protection of the marine environment, including marine plastics and climate change.

The BRI and AIIB: A Challenge to the Liberal International Order?

<p>First announced in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a central component of Chinese foreign policy under the presidency of Xi Jinping. Given the scope and vision of the BRI, several fundamental questions have been raised by the policy. Is the BRI threatening? Will it strengthen the system? Will it supplement it? In order to explore this puzzle, the thesis undertakes empirical analyses of the BRI and the accompanying Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). These analyses will be placed within a container of the Liberal International Order (LIO). This framework, derived from the writings of G. John Ikenberry, is based around four elements: Open Multilateral Trade, International Institutions, Liberal Democracy and Neoliberal World Economy. The findings show that the BRI and AIIB have combined to create a disorientating picture in which elements of the LIO are both strengthened and undermined. This allows China to sit benignly within the order while constructing the infrastructure needed to break from the system - if and when required.</p>

The BRI and AIIB: A Challenge to the Liberal International Order?

<p>First announced in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a central component of Chinese foreign policy under the presidency of Xi Jinping. Given the scope and vision of the BRI, several fundamental questions have been raised by the policy. Is the BRI threatening? Will it strengthen the system? Will it supplement it? In order to explore this puzzle, the thesis undertakes empirical analyses of the BRI and the accompanying Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). These analyses will be placed within a container of the Liberal International Order (LIO). This framework, derived from the writings of G. John Ikenberry, is based around four elements: Open Multilateral Trade, International Institutions, Liberal Democracy and Neoliberal World Economy. The findings show that the BRI and AIIB have combined to create a disorientating picture in which elements of the LIO are both strengthened and undermined. This allows China to sit benignly within the order while constructing the infrastructure needed to break from the system - if and when required.</p>

THE GROUNDS OF PROTECTIONISM IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN THE 21st CENTURY IN THE CONTEXT OF MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

As the importance of tariffs diminishes, to avoid underestimation, analysis of the dynamics of protectionism implies the use of more complex data. Hence, this research explores the Global Trade Alert database, which covers a wide range of measures used by countries within trade policy. Once the dynamics of protectionism in trade is presented, the analysis of its grounds might be undertaken to answer the question: what are the reasons for high levels of protectionist tendencies in the 21 st century? Is this a post-crisis repercussion only? Or is the failure of multilateral negotiations under the auspices of the WTO which, in turn, makes space for increased levels of protectionism? While many analyses highlight the indisputable impact of the crisis on the growing protectionist tendencies in the 21 st century, it has been over ten years since the crisis, which requires a search for alternate or additional premises. The hypothesis was therefore adopted that the failure of multilateral negotiations within the Doha Round may make space for increased protectionism in the 21 st century. Taking into consideration all of the negative consequences of protectionism, the analysis of its causes has a justification. Successful treatment requires a diagnosis of the sources of the problem; only once these are identified can an appropriate action be undertaken. The main conclusion from the research is that because of the diversification within the WTO, the multilateral liberalization agenda has been limited. Hence, “next generation” issues are addressed elsewhere, like within regional trade agreements, which, as a result, became very popular after 2001. However, RTAs should not be perceived as an alternative to liberalization under the auspices of the WTO, as they are not free from protectionist tendencies.

Bananas

This chapter analyzes one of the two instances in which enforcement tariffs were imposed: the EU’s banana trade regime (BTR). The analysis charts the origins of the policy through the EU’s efforts to protect it under multilateral trade rules before focusing on how the EU responded once it lost the complaint brought by the United States and Latin American banana producers. The EU responded in three acts. Only the second act has attracted much scholarly attention, which has led to some questionable conclusions about the impact of tariffs. The chapter exploits variation in conditions and outcomes over the three acts. Although adversely affected exporters lobbied for policy change during the second act, they were absent in the other two when changes were also adopted. In addition, there is no indication that their efforts affected the preferences of policy makers during the second act. Policy makers struggled to balance advancing the EU’s ambitious agenda in the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks with its obligations to domestic and African and Caribbean banana producers. The chapter argues that the EU’s policy reforms became more radical as the preferences of EU policy makers regarding the treatment of African and Caribbean producers changed for reasons unrelated to the dispute.

Effect of multilateral trade liberalization on services export diversification

PurposeThis study investigates the effect of multilateral trade liberalization on services export diversification with a view to complementing the recently published work on the effect of multilateral trade liberalization on export product diversification.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical exercise been performed using a panel dataset of 133 countries over the period 1995–2014.FindingsThe findings show that multilateral trade liberalization is associated with greater services export diversification in both developed and developing countries alike. This is particularly the case in countries with a high reliance on manufactured goods exports or those that enjoy greater export product diversification. Interestingly, multilateral trade liberalization enhances services export diversification in countries that experience higher foreign direct investment inflows.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings highlight the importance of multilateral trade liberalization for services export diversification. The study has considered explicitly supply-side factors that could affect services export diversification. This is because the indicator of multilateral trade liberalization is highly correlated with some demand-side factors, such as the world demand for services exports. Therefore, another avenue for future research could involve looking at the demand side factors that could influence services export diversification, and whether the degree of multilateral trade liberalization matters for the influence of these demand factors on services export diversification.Practical implicationsThe current study through its positive effect on both export product diversification and services export diversification, greater cooperation among World Trade Organization (WTO) Members on trade matters could help revive economic growth, particularly in the current COVID-19 pandemic that has significantly plummeted it.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is first study that has investigated this issue.

Declining hegemony and the sources of Trump’s disengagement from multilateral trade governance: the interaction between domestic politics and the international political economy

As a result of the economic and political rise of China and Trump’s decision to undermine the liberal international order, theories of hegemony have regained center stage in both policy-oriented and scholarly debates. Yet, a careful analysis of the evolution of the US foreign policy strategy in the realm of international trade politics reveals that traditional theories of hegemonic decline are ill-equipped to account for both the timing and the content of the Trump administration’s behavior in this issue area. This paper argues in favor of integrating structural theories of hegemonic transition/stability with an analysis of the domestic sources of trade policy preferences. To do so, we draw on the International Political Economy literature highlighting how the domestic political process triggered by the dynamics of international economic competition combined with structural forces in shaping the timing and content of the Trump administration’s disengagement from the existing multilateral trade governance structures.

Genomic Epidemiology of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Isolated from the Livestock-Food-Human Interface in South America

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are zoonotic pathogens responsible for causing food-borne diseases in humans. While South America has the highest incidence of human STEC infections, information about the genomic characteristics of the circulating strains is scarce. The aim of this study was to analyze genomic data of STEC strains isolated in South America from cattle, beef, and humans; predicting the antibiotic resistome, serotypes, sequence types (STs), clonal complexes (CCs) and phylogenomic backgrounds. A total of 130 whole genome sequences of STEC strains were analyzed, where 39.2% were isolated from cattle, 36.9% from beef, and 23.8% from humans. The ST11 was the most predicted (20.8%) and included O-:H7 (10.8%) and O157:H7 (10%) serotypes. The successful expansion of non-O157 clones such as ST16/CC29-O111:H8 and ST21/CC29-O26:H11 is highlighted, suggesting multilateral trade and travel. Virulome analyses showed that the predominant stx subtype was stx2a (54.6%); most strains carried ehaA (96.2%), iha (91.5%) and lpfA (77.7%) genes. We present genomic data that can be used to support the surveillance of STEC strains circulating at the livestock-food-human interface in South America, in order to control the spread of critical clones “from farm to table”.