Conflicts of Norms and Conflicts of Jurisdictions The Relationship between the WTO Agreement and MEAs and other Treaties (original) (raw)

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This article explores the complex relationship between the WTO Agreement and other international treaties, particularly Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). It emphasizes the need to differentiate between normative and jurisdictional aspects when discussing conflicts and interactions among these legal frameworks. The author argues that a deeper understanding of these relationships can aid in resolving jurisdictional disputes and ensuring compliance with international obligations, ultimately leading to more coherent interpretations and applications of international law.

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The WTO and Environmental Law: Some Issues and Ideas

Introductory This paper seeks to present a brief survey of issues relating to the complex relationship of international trade and environmental regulation in the World Trade Organization. It presents a number of ideas which may help to overcome what has long been a legacy of mutual mistrust, and to work towards shared goals of sustainable development and a sustainable multilateral trading regime. While trade regulation merely addresses a fraction of environmental concerns and problems, it is increasing setting the stage for both national and international programs. The two areas no longer can be separated. Trade regulation and liberalization has been frequently depicted as a contrast to environmental concerns. Such juxtaposition, however, does not stand up to detailed scrutiny. It is necessary to look at the relationship on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the overall context and effect of regulations 2 . There are areas of win-win situations where trade liberalization and ...

Essentials of WTO Law

2016

At a time when developments in WTO law have made this field increasingly complex, this concise and non-technical introduction provides a timely and carefully considered overview of the substantive rules and institutional arrangements of the WTO. A variety of text features enables a rich understanding of the law; illustrative examples clarify important issues of the law and demonstrate the law's practical application; boxed summaries of key rulings in WTO case law highlight the interpretation of the relevant provisions and lead readers to a deep understanding of the meaning and application of legal rules; and recommendations for further reading allow readers to engage with current debates. Online resources include links to useful sources of information for work and research within the field. Co-written by a leading authority in the field, this is essential reading for anyone who wants to get to grips with this fascinating yet challenging field of law.

The WTO Decision-Making Process: Problems and Possible Solutions

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012

The WTO has become one of the key international organisations responsible for regulating international economic relations among states. At first glance, the WTO Agreement makes very democratic provisions with respect to decision-making. All formal WTO decisionmaking organs are open to all members. Independent of population size, economic might or contribution to international trade, each member of the WTO wields a single unweighted vote-i.e. one-member-one-vote. Thus at the formal level, all appears to bode well with the WTO decision-making process. This seeming well-being however belies the true nature of the problems and challenges the decision-making process is encumbered with. The article undertakes a descriptive and analytical exegesis of the provisions on decision-making in Articles IX and X of the WTO Agreement. The article is segmented into three main sections. The first section presents a descriptive account of the WTO as an international organisation and the textual provisions on decision-making contained under Articles IX and X of the WTO Agreement. The focus here is to explore the formal provisions on 'legislative' decisionmaking by the two most important decision-making organs of the WTO-i.e. the Ministerial Conference and the General Council. The second section presents a critical analysis of the WTO decision-making process with particular emphasis on the problems, challenges and opportunities that the consensus and single undertaking principles and the Green Room process hold for the WTO. The concluding section explores possible options for reforming the WTO decision-making process. The importance of the principles of sovereign equality of states and the special and differential treatment of developing countries are used in both the second and third sections as key considerations in the discourse on the challenges and possible reform of the WTO decision-making process. General Overview of the WTO The Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation (WTO Agreement) ushered in a new multilateral trade organisation that replaced the GATT 1947, after the latter had been in operation for almost 50 years. The Uruguay Round of trade negotiations that culminated in the formation of the WTO started off in 1986 as a multilateral trade Round aimed at reforming the GATT 1947. 1 The establishment of a new trade organisation was not on the agenda at the inception of the Uruguay Round. 2 The idea of a new trade organisation was mooted by the EC and Canada in 1990 and in 1991 by the EC, Canada and Mexico. 3 The proposal for a new trade organisation initially faced opposition from the US and developing countries but by 1993, opposition to its establishment had waned and developing countries and the US had agreed to the establishment of the WTO. 4 Negotiations on the WTO were completed in December 1993 and in April 1994, the signatory states ratified the WTO

The WTO Adjudicating Bodies

The Legitimacy of International Trade Courts and Tribunals

The WTO is an intergovernmental international organization whose members are states or separate customs territories possessing autonomy in the conduct of their external economic relations. Its more than 160 members are highly heterogeneous in terms of their populations, legal and political systems and level of economic development, and they make decisions by consensus. 1 Stakeholders outside the WTO that are neither observer governments nor international intergovernmental organizations are commonly referred to as members of civil society. This no less heterogeneous group covers a wide spectrum of individuals or entities, including economic operators engaging in or affected by trade, consumers, citizens and nongovernmental public interest organizations (NGOs). WTO members (members) will be referred to in this chapter as 'insiders' and members of civil society as 'outsiders'. In considering the legitimacy of WTO adjudicating bodies and WTO adjudication, it is essential to recognize the insider-outsider dimension and bear in mind that there could be legitimacy concerns that are shared by both groups and others that are central to one group, but not shared by the other. Indeed, one and the same attribute of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) may very well be perceived as legitimacyenhancing by insiders and legitimacy-detracting by outsiders or vice versa. Any assessment of the legitimacy of WTO adjudication cannot therefore * Information contained in this chapter is up to date as of June 2015. The opinions expressed in this text are those of the authors only and do not bind the WTO Members or the WTO Secretariat.

WTO – ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

The increasing trends towards globalization threw light on the necessity of International Trade Organization who promotes multilateral trade with elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers a mong different nations of the world. The WTO came into being on January 1, 1995 and is the successor to the General Ag reement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which was created in 1947. In this paper describes WTO functions, the present issues and challenges faced by under developed countries. The WTO's headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

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