National treatment Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

2025, İstanbul Barosu Dergisi

Uluslararası yatırım anlaşmalarında yer alan “Ayrımcılık Yapmama İlkesi (Non-Discrimination Principle)”, “En Çok Gözetilen Ulus Kaydı (Most Favoured Nation Clause)” ve “Milli Muamele İlkesi (National Treatment Principle)” milletlerarası yatırım hukukundaki temel koruma standartlarındandır. Özü itibariyle En Çok Gözetilen Ulus Kaydı ve Milli Muamele İlkesi ayrımcılık yapmama esasını içinde barındırsa da aralarında hem uygulama bakımından hem de kavramsal olarak farklılıklar bulunmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, Ayrımcılık Yapmama İlkesi’nin diğer iki ilke karşısında bir şemsiye görevi gördüğü söylenebilir. Henüz uluslararası alanda bütün ülkelerce ortak bir anlaşma ile bu kurallar kabul edilmiş olmasa da, temel koruma standartları iki taraflı yatırım anlaşmalarının temel unsurlarında yer alarak yabancı yatırım akışına özendirecek bir görünüm ile bir tür garanti sunmaktadır. Bunun sebebi, ev sahibi ülkelerde çeşitli sebeplerle yabancı yatırımcıların risk altında olmasıdır. Uluslararası yatırımın sağlıklı ve güvenli bir şekilde gerçekleştirilebilmesi amacıyla bu tip uygulamalar geliştirilmekte ve koruma standartlarının tüm devletlerce kabul edilip uygulanması amaçlanmaktadır. Bu çerçevede söz konusu koruma standartlarının farklı uygulamaları olabilmekte, somut olaya göre dahi değişik uygulamalara gidilebilmektedir. Bu kapsamda çalışmamızda belirtilen üç kavramın sınırlarını belirlemek ve aralarındaki ayrımı tespit etmek amacıyla birbirleri ile ilişkisinin değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmaktadır.

2024, RePEc: Research Papers in Economics

concrete inferences. Consequently, we are forced to rely on our subjective judgment when drawing on economic theory for the interpretation of Art. III GATT. In this Chapter, we concentrate on the study of Art. III.2 GATT dealing with fiscal instruments. 1.1 The Text of Art. III GATT The full text of Art. III GATT and its Interpretative Notes are reproduced here: Article III* National Treatment on Internal Taxation and Regulation 1. The contracting parties recognize that internal taxes and other internal charges, and laws, regulations and requirements affecting the internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use of products, and internal quantitative regulations requiring the mixture, processing or use of products in specified amounts or proportions, should not be applied to imported or domestic products so as to afford protection to domestic production.* 2. The products of the territory of any contracting party imported into the territory of any other contracting party shall not be subject, directly or indirectly, to internal taxes or other internal charges of any kind in excess of those applied, directly or indirectly, to like domestic products. Moreover, no contracting party shall otherwise apply internal taxes or other internal charges to imported or domestic products in a manner contrary to the principles set forth in paragraph 1.* 3. With respect to any existing internal tax which is inconsistent with the provisions of paragraph 2, but which is specifically authorized under a trade agreement, in force on April 10, l947, in which the import duty on the taxed product is bound against increase, the contracting party imposing the tax shall be free to postpone the application of the provisions of paragraph 2 to such tax until such time as it can obtain release from the obligations of such trade agreement in order to permit the increase of such duty to the extent necessary to compensate for the elimination of the protective element of the tax. 4. The products of the territory of any contracting party imported into the territory of any other contracting party shall be accorded treatment no less favourable than that accorded to like products of national origin in respect of all laws, regulations and requirements affecting their internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use. The provisions of this paragraph shall not prevent the application 6 of differential internal transportation charges which are based exclusively on the economic operation of the means of transport and not on the nationality of the product. 5. No contracting party shall establish or maintain any internal quantitative regulation relating to the mixture, processing or use of products in specified amounts or proportions which requires, directly or indirectly, that any specified amount or proportion of any product which is the subject of the regulation must be supplied from domestic sources. Moreover, no contracting party shall otherwise apply internal quantitative regulations in a manner contrary to the principles set forth in paragraph 1.* 6. The provisions of paragraph 5 shall not apply to any internal quantitative regulation in force in the territory of any contracting party on July 1, 1939, April 10, 1947, or March 24, l948, at the option of that contracting party; Provided that any such regulation which is contrary to the provisions of paragraph 5 shall not be modified to the detriment of imports and shall be treated as a customs duty for the purpose of negotiation. 7. No internal quantitative regulation relating to the mixture, processing or use of products in specified amounts or proportions shall be applied in such a manner as to allocate any such amount or proportion among external sources of supply. 8. (a) The provisions of this Article shall not apply to laws, regulations or requirements governing the procurement by governmental agencies of products purchased for governmental purposes and not with a view to commercial resale or with a view to use in the production of goods for commercial sale. (b) The provisions of this Article shall not prevent the payment of subsidies exclusively to domestic producers, including payments to domestic producers derived from the proceeds of internal taxes or charges applied consistently with the provisions of this Article and subsidies effected through governmental purchases of domestic products. 9. The contracting parties recognize that internal maximum price control measures, even though conforming to the other provisions of this Article, can have effects prejudicial to the interests of contracting parties supplying imported products. Accordingly, contracting parties applying such measures shall take account of the interests of exporting contracting parties with a view to avoiding to the fullest practicable extent such prejudicial effects. 10. The provisions of this Article shall not prevent any contracting party from establishing or maintaining internal quantitative regulations relating to exposed cinematograph films and meeting the requirements of Article IV.

2024, Social Science Research Network

2024, American University International Law Review

International Law Review editors and staff for their efforts in preparing this piece for publication. I am especially grateful to Sheila Upadhyay and Catherine B. Harrington, for their insights, patience, and support. Special thanks to Professors Jeremy Mullem and Padideh Ala'i for their helpful suggestions. A world of thanks to my WCL friends, particularly to Section Six. Finally, I thank my family, especially my mother, Teresa, and my sister, Reyna, for their guidance, love, and encouragement.

2024, American Journal of International Law

2024, Revista de Direito Internacional

Aziz Tuffi Saliba e Alexandre Rodrigues de Souza regIme de transparênCIa fIsCal na trIbutação dos luCros auferIdos no exterIor (CfC rules): laCunas e ConflItos no dIreIto brasIleIro ..

2023, World Trade Review

When establishing whether a disputed regulation is protectionist under the WTO National Treatment Principle, there are two key elements: its effect on the market for competitive products, and its intent or policy rationale. Yet the Appellate Body has formally rejected both elements, and in the surprising 2014 outcome ofEC–Seal Products, under the key provision GATT Article III(4), the latter was simply denied. This obfuscation leads to implicit and explicit conflation of these elements. In some disputes, qualitative findings about the existence and nature of competitive relationships are presented using the language of quantitative market analysis. In others, compelling policy objectives shape the outcome of a supposedly market-based analysis. This article proposes an approach that synthesizes two strands of scholarship, advocating more rigorous use of market-based evidence and stronger analysis of policy rationale. Separating these elements will achieve the appropriate balance betw...

2023, SSRN Electronic Journal

eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide.

2023, Handbook of International Trade, Volume II

2023

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.

2023, Uzhgorod National University Scientific Review - Law Series

The article is focused on principles of international economic law, specifically on effect of non-discrimination principle in tax sphere. It critically assesses contemporary approaches to this issue in the national doctrine. An attempt is made to justify theoretically the derivative principle of tax non-discrimination, to expose its content and integral parts (MFN and national treatment), its aspects and correlations with general trade regimes.

2023, Acvitidad de escucha. Tratados internacionales y convencion de Viena

Actividad de escucha Tratados internacionales y Convencion de Viena.
Se trata de escuchar dos videos y llenar claros.
Unidad dos. Fuentes del Derecho. Derecho Internacional publico.
Universidad Católica de Cuyo sede San Luis.

2023, Classiques des sciences sociales.

Directeur du Groupe de recherche sur l'intégration continentale (GRIC/UQAM) ; auteur de Dérive globale (Boréal, 2003

2023, World Trade Review

This paper provides a legal–economic analysis of the Appellate Body decision in Philippines – Taxes on Distilled Spirits (Philippines–Spirits). In Philippines–Spirits, the Panel and the Appellate Body had an opportunity to consider again the scope of ‘like products’ and of ‘directly competitive or substitutable products’ under Article III:2 of GATT. The Panel and Appellate Body followed the Border Tax Adjustments factors in order to determine whether the products were sufficiently similar. The Appellate Body explicitly extended its jurisprudence from other areas of Article III to a like-products determination under the first sentence of Article III:2: this analysis is to be focused on the degree of competition between the imported and domestic products. We observe that the effect of different taxation on domestic products is affected by the degree of substitution between products as well as competitive conditions, whereas the Appellate Body seems to focus on the former and ignore th...

2023

International Law on Fragmentation of Norms, and application to Energy Regimes 2.1 Introduction 2.2 'Institutions' and 'Regimes': A contextual definition 2.3 Why is 'conflict of norm' important to the WTO vs energy-focused regimes? 2.4 Normative Conflict: A Definition 2.4.1 Strict Definition 2.4.2 Broad Definition 2.4.3 Balanced Definition (Conflict in Applicable Law) 2.4.4 Relevance of Conflict in Applicable Law to OPEC/WTO, OPEC/ECT, and WTO/UN Res XVII of 1962 conflicts 2.5 Normative conflict in oil and gas governance and the 'New Sovereignty' concept 2.6 Energy-focused institutions as subsystems of international law 2.7 Applying the interpretative rules on Regionalism and Conflicts to Energy norms 2.7.1 Treaty norms vs International Organisations (WTO vs UN Res. on PSNR) 2.7.2 Treaty norms vs National laws (WTO/ECT vs state energy laws) 2.7.3 Treaty norms vs Treaty norms (WTO vs OPEC/ ECT) 2.7.3.1 The Lex Specialis principle and the WTO/OPEC relationship 2.7.3.2 The Lex Specialis principle and the WTO/ECT relationship 2.7.3.3 'Subject Matter' Specificity and the WTO-OPEC-ECT relationship 2.8 Conclusion iii CHAPTER THREE Legal Characters and Regulatory Competence between WTO rules relevant to energy and the ECT, OPEC, UN Res. XVII, and National laws 4.3.1

2023, Post-NAFTA North America

2022, Handbook of International Trade, Volume II

2022

Resumen El principio comercial internacional de Trato Nacional, previene la discriminación al extranjero frente a las personas locales, por medio de la aplicación de medidas que den lugar a que este último posea una ventaja competitiva artificial. Aunque en el marco jurídico comercial multilateral la adquisición de bienes y servicios por parte del Estado no se encuentra regulada, en determinados acuerdos regionales y bilaterales, los países centroamericanos han adquirido algunas obligaciones respecto al Trato Nacional en esta área, con determinados socios comerciales, en la aplicación de normativa para casos específicos. Sin embargo, las leyes existentes en la región contienen una serie de medidas de diversas clases, que son un ejemplo muchas veces evidente de una aplicación diferenciada en contra del Derecho foráneo. Ello lleva a dificultades para competir en algunos mercados, incluso a las empresas guatemaltecas, y a la larga se genera un costo para el usuario de los medios que posee el Estado para satisfacer las necesidades sociales.

2022, Revista Criterios, Cuadernos de Ciencias Jurídicas y Política Internacional

De conformidad con los compromisos adquiridos por Colombia en tratados internacionales y los estándares de comportamiento que ello implica, la Constitución Política de 1991 y la Ley 80 de 1993 incluyeron el principio de reciprocidad, consistente en otorgar un trato semejante al que se recibe por parte de otro sujeto sin ejercer actos discriminatorios. Es así como este principio permea la función pública y, por ende, la contratación estatal, por lo que la reciprocidad se encuentra asociada al trato nacional y no discriminatorio derivado de capítulos de compras públicas en acuerdos de libre comercio suscritos por Colombia con otros Estados, los cuales han sido objeto de examen por parte de la Corte Constitucional. De otra parte, la Ley 816 de 2003 y el Decreto 1082 de 2015 establecen la aplicación de condiciones especiales o criterios diferenciadores para la participación de proponentes extranjeros en procesos de selección adelantados por entidades estatales, así como para la evaluación de ofertas presentadas por extranjeros en el marco de dichos procesos. Por lo anterior, se plantea como objetivo del presente documento analizar este conflicto normativo a través de la delimitación del concepto de reciprocidad y su tratamiento legal en Colombia, a la luz del desarrollo jurisprudencial por parte de la Corte Constitucional, tanto de este principio como de los compromisos internacionales en materia de compras públicas armonizados con la carta política. / According to the commitments acquired by Colombia in international treaties and the standards of behavior that this implies, the Political Constitution of 1991 and Law 80 of 1993 included the principle of reciprocity, consisting of granting a similar treatment to that received by another subject without exercising discriminatory acts. This is how this principle permeates the public function and, therefore, public procurement, for which reciprocity is associated with national and non-discriminatory treatment derived from public procurement chapters in free trade agreements signed by Colombia with other States, which have been subject to examination by the Constitutional Court. On the other hand, Law 816 of 2003 and Decree 1082 of 2015 establish the application of special conditions or differentiating criteria for the participation of foreign bidders in selection processes carried out by state entities, as well as for the evaluation of bids submitted by foreigners in the framework of these processes. Therefore, the objective of this document is to analyze this normative conflict through the delimitation of the concept of reciprocity and its legal treatment in Colombia, in light of the jurisprudential development by the Constitutional Court, both of this principle and of international commitments on public procurement harmonized with the political charter.

2022, Article

Створена на початку 2022 року зона вільної торгівлі в межах Всебічного регіонального економічного партнерства (далі – ВРЕП) є результатом взаємних поступок 15 Азійсько-тихоокеанських держав із метою лібералізації торгівлі товарами та послугами, стиму- лювання іноземних інвестицій, посилення захисту прав інтелектуальної власності та операцій електронної комерції між країнами-чле- нами. Автор комплексно досліджує кожен із правових аспектів економічної інтеграції в межах ВРЕП, ця стаття розкриває умови, на яких держави-члени здійснюють транскордонну інвестиційну діяльність. Автор з’ясовує обсяг гарантій, які надаються іноземним інвесторам, порівнює недискримінаційні заходи у ВРЕП із релевантними двосторонніми інвестиційними договорами, договором АСЕАН про інвес- тиції та договорами в межах СОТ. Особливу увагу приділено дослідженню застережень, які держави зробили до розділу 10 «Інвестиції» угоди ВРЕП. Зокрема, автор розкриває метод формування списку застережень та дає оцінку обсягу застережень у межах різних інвес- тиційних договорів. Отже, в додатку 3 переліку A ВРЕП містяться умови щодо інвестування, які в майбутньому не можуть бути обмежені державою, проте держави можуть їх лібералізувати. Переліком В Розділу 3 ВРЕП передбачено зобов’язання, які держава може змінити у односторонньому порядку, наприклад, через чутливість певного сектору – державної оборони і безпеки. Зважаючи на відсутність меха- нізму вирішення інвестиційних спорів у Розділі 10 ВРЕП, автором розглянуто альтернативні способи пошуку правосуддя для іноземних інвесторів. На виконання п. 45 Стратегії зовнішньополітичної діяльності України з метою сприяння зовнішнім інвестиціям автор дослідив актуальний стан та динаміку вкладення інвестицій держав-членів ВРЕП в економіку України (і навпаки). На основі даних Державної служби статистики України та Національного банку України автор сформував гіпотезу щодо перспективних секторів економіки України. Наприкінці автор висловлює чіткі пропозиції щодо розвитку інвестиційної дипломатії (складник економічної дипломатії) України з Азій- сько-тихоокеанським регіоном.

2021

To my parents, Maria and Elias, and to my sister, Iliana xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Petros C Mavroidis, the supervisor of my thesis. I am deeply indebted to him for guiding my research, inspiring my thoughts and for always making time for me. Being your student has been a pleasure, an honour and a privilege. I am also grateful to the members of my defence panel, Professor Philippe Sands QC, Professor Bernard Hoekman, and Dr Gaëtan Verhoosel, for their insightful comments and succinct suggestions for this thesis. I would further like to thank Maria Gavouneli, Photeini Pazartzis, Michael Waibel, and Markus Gehring, my Professors in Athens and Cambridge, who have encouraged me to pursue a PhD and have always been supporting me ever since. A special thanks is owed to Professor Anastasios Gourgourinis in Athens, who at various stages has taken the time to discuss my thesis at length and has taught me valuable lessons about being a legal researcher. It would be remiss not to give especial thanks to Dr Georgios Petrochilos. I have benefitted greatly from my time at Three Crowns in Paris and from working closely with him. His relentless commitment to clarity, precision and perfection has been a source of inspiration during the final stages of this thesis. I am immensely grateful to the Greek State Scholarship Foundation and the Foundation for Education and European Culture in Athens for providing me with ample financial assistance throughout the course of this degree-without their support, this thesis would not have been possible. Special thanks are owed to the Law Department and the Library of the European University Institute, for their continuous support. I am especially grateful to Professor Dennis Patterson, who offered me a great deal of support at the initial stages of this thesis. Florence, la culla del Rinascimento, could not have been a better environment for the fruition of this project. I will remember with great fondness my days at the EUI. Of course, I owe special thanks to my colleagues and friends, without whose support my time in Florence would have been much diminished. Stavros Pantazopoulos, Stavros xii Makris, Anna Pitaraki, Ríán Tuathal Derrig, Colm Booth, Theodosia Stavroulaki, Jonathan Chevry and Johann Leiß have been an indispensable part of my life in Florence. A substantial part of this project was completed in the United States, under the auspices of Harvard Law School. Professor Mark Wu, my research advisor there, offered invaluable insights into my work. Reminiscing of my days at Cambridge, MA, my time was made so much the better with the support of many colleagues, who are now my friends, and especially Utkarsh Saxena, Christof Burri, Lukas Wetzel, Zahra Aboutalebi, and Alexandros Sarris.

2021, Journal La Bisecoman

This research aims to find out whether Korea violates the provisions of International trade Article III: 2 First sentence and second sentence of GATT in 1994. Soju is a traditional alcoholic beverage that is most famous in Korea has been produced in a diluted manner so that the beverage content of 25% alcoholic soju can be said that the beverage has a content that is below 20%. But people in European countries and the United States have complaints or opinions that they do not agree with the alcohol tax policy in South Korea, especially soju is considered unfair. So Korea is trying to offer a preference for taxes on soju drinks compared to certain imported western-style drinks. The research conclusions show that Soju and Imported Liquor Spirits are not substitutive products. Soju and Imported Liquor Spirits do not compete directly, seen from the fact that although there has been a decrease in the number of Soju sales in Korea since the ILS tax was lowered, the distance between Soju a...

2021, World Trade Review

This paper provides a legal–economic analysis of the Appellate Body decision inPhilippines – Taxes on Distilled Spirits(Philippines–Spirits). InPhilippines–Spirits, the Panel and the Appellate Body had an opportunity to consider again the scope of ‘like products’ and of ‘directly competitive or substitutable products’ under Article III:2 of GATT. The Panel and Appellate Body followed the Border Tax Adjustments factors in order to determine whether the products were sufficiently similar. The Appellate Body explicitly extended its jurisprudence from other areas of Article III to a like-products determination under the first sentence of Article III:2: this analysis is to be focused on the degree of competition between the imported and domestic products. We observe that the effect of different taxation on domestic products is affected by the degree of substitution between products as well as competitive conditions, whereas the Appellate Body seems to focus on the former and ignore the l...

2021, Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Simultaneous with the rise of trade protectionism in the twenty-first century has been a resurgence in nationalist politics, most notably in the USA, the UK, and parts of the EU. These developments in international and US trade policy, including Washington's launch of a full-fledged trade war against China in March 2018, have converged disastrously with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in November 2019 and the onset of a worldwide pandemic. Given the status of the USA as the world's hegemon since 1945, what is new here is the effort of the Trump administration to abdicate US leadership, jettison longstanding alliances, and turn back the clock on the country's close integration with the world economy. Already, greatly reduced flows of goods, services, and people have translated into radically reduced global growth, widespread business disruptions, and high unemployment. Remarkably, the White House has refused to recognize the severity of the pandemic and has undermined the precautions of the US science community. We argue that these multiple shocks constitute a major critical juncture on par with what the world community faced in 1945. However, in the twenty-first century we have seen that high levels of economic uncertainty and political instability have superseded the longheld notion that international interdependence would pull the world community through tough times such as these. Could the triple whammy of a destructive trade war, deadly pandemic, and secular decline of US leadership trigger a new generation of policy innovation and institution building on par with the post-1945 era? In terms of the global trade regime, it would be difficult to imagine a buoyant recovery of the world economy in the absence of a serious reckoning with the pattern of norm erosion that we identify here.

2021, Journal La Bisecoman

2021, Georgia Journal of International Comparative Law

ENVIRONMENTAL UNILATERALISM AND THE WTO/GATT SYSTEM Ilona Cheyne* I. INTRODUCTION Unilateral trade restrictions employed for purposes of environmental protection have become an important issue in the trade-environment debate. They directly challenge the free trade principles of the WTO/GATT system and are likely to become more common as environmental concerns increase. When the first GATT panel report in the Tuna Dolphin dispute was released, 1 environmentalists were outraged at its finding that the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [hereinafter GATI'] could override environmental measures because of their trade-restricting effect. 2 That report was never adopted, but a second GATT panel has recently considered * Professor of Law, Newcastle Law School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The author would like to thank Professor Thomas J. Schoenbaum for his helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. ' Panel report on "United States-Restrictions on Import of Tuna", General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: Basic Instruments and Selected Documents [hereinafter GATr, BISD] 39S/155, reprinted in 30 I.L.M. 1594 (1991) (not yet adopted) [hereinafter Tuna Dolphin 1]. The complaint was brought by Mexico, with ten other countries and the European Community submitting arguments. Id. at 161-91. 2 One commentator suggests that "the panel seemed to go out of its way to validate the popular caricature of the GATT as an inflexible, myopic, moss-grown institution inherently indifferent, if not downright antagonistic, toward ecological protection." Steve Charnovitz,

2020, -358 -Inzinerine Ekonomika-Engineering Economics

This paper examines the negative impact of the paralysis observed in the World Trade Organization (WTO) functioning on international business. We provide an overview of the loopholes in the WTO rules and principles which became serious threats for the multilateral trading system. Our research identifies important loopholes in the MFN clause, DSB and Appellate Body. We bring clarity that the paralysis observed in the WTO functioning is a consequence of these factors. The deviations and exceptions of the WTO rules permit the WTO members to compete "unfairly". China is among the economies which are the most efficient in this respect. We term China's behaviour on the global market as "economic factitious disorder". It can be explained as permanently maintaining the status of a developing country by China and using preferences for LDCs despite a really high level of economic development. These findings indicate that the WTO lacks the mechanism to react and to prevent such abuses. They were not envisaged by the WTO creators, which suggests the need of the WTO reform. We contribute to international business research and the international organizations literature by identifying the causes of the paralysis of the WTO functioning.
Keywords: Multilateral Trading System;International Business;WTO;MFN;DSB;Appellate Body.

2018, General Principles of Law and International Investment Arbitration, Brill, Nijhoff

The national treatment obligation is generally enshrined in contemporary international investment agreements, but its arbitral application does not unveil a coherent interpretative framework. As will be demonstrated by the analysis of the relevant case-law, every arbitral tribunal gives his personal reading of any single requirement of the clause (such as the " likeness " , for instance). Moreover, contrary to other standards, such as fair and equitable treatment and full protection and security, claims made under national treatment obligation are often dismissed by arbitrators. Notwithstanding these aspects, the present contribution is aimed at investigating the reasons behind the prudent approach of the arbitral tribunals toward national treatment, and even through a comparison with the similar provisions couched in GATT and GATS.

2018

This project involves an analysis into the interpretation of ‘like products’ as it occurs under Article III of the GATT with the help of the major case laws resolved by the WTO. The objective is to understand the approach taken in different interpretations of “like products” and thereafter, examine the merits of the same in light of the purpose of Article III. The first phase of the project takes up the intricacies of the concept of “likeness” in detail. This is followed by a critical analysis into different sources that are authorities in the interpretation of the term, including the 1970 Working Party Report and different case laws resolved by GATT/WTO. The final phase involves a very brief view of the ‘cultural exception’ to national treatment obligation.

2017

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization of 164 member countries.1 These 164 countries, regardless of their different levels of economic development and political powers have agreed to be bound by trade rules of the WTO for the purpose of reducing barriers to trade and ensuring trade liberalization.2 The WTO trade rules cover a very wide range of agreements specific to trade in goods and services.3 These include but are not limited to agriculture, textiles and clothing, banking, telecommunications, government purchases, industrial standards and product safety, food sanitation regulations, intellectual property, and much more.4 The WTO agreement is a multilateral trade agreement. This means that all members of the WTO have equal voting rights and by extension play on a leveled field.5 Thus, the adoption of the principle of non-discrimination which is the most important WTO principle that permeates all WTO trade agreements. The principle of non-discrimination is to the effect that any trade concession given to one member country must equally be extended to all other WTO members who are interested in trading with that country. The principle of non-discrimination further provides as a general rule that a member country cannot give its own country favorable trade preferences over other WTO member countries. Although the above describes as a general rule, the WTO principle of non-discrimination and the obligations of all members when negotiating a trade agreement, there are exceptions to the application of the principle of non-discrimination.6

2017, Bangladesh Journal of Law

There are various constructions of the ‘Fair and Equitable Treatment’ (FET) clauses in investment treaties. Many of them have combined the FET standard with other investment protection standards in the same clause. A simplistic interpretation of these clauses might lead to an understanding that the FET standard are synonymous with other standards prescribed by the particular investment treaties largely due to the flexibility and generality of the standard. This article will closely scrutinize this interrelation between the FET standard with some other investment protection standards. The demarcation line between and among these interaction is so thin that it becomes difficult to distinguish one standard from another. This article will discuss that the FET is indeed an overarching principle and despite some conceptual similarities with other investment protection standards the FET standard is unique and distinct in its own free standing in the international investment law regime and combining the standard with other investment protection standards is simply a stylistic matter and not a matter of substance to its content.

2016, Review of European Community and International Environmental Law

2016

When establishing whether a disputed regulation is protectionist under
the WTO National Treatment Principle, there are two key elements: its effect on the market for competitive products, and its intent or policy rationale. Yet the Appellate Body has formally rejected both elements, and in the surprising 2014 outcome of EC–Seal Products, under the key provision GATT Article III(4), the latter was simply denied. This obfuscation leads to implicit and explicit conflation of these elements. In some disputes, qualitative findings about the existence and nature of competitive relationships are presented using the language of quantitative market analysis. In others, compelling policy objectives shape the outcome of a supposedly market-based analysis. This article proposes an approach that synthesizes two strands of scholarship, advocating more rigorous use of market-based evidence and stronger analysis of policy rationale. Separating these elements will achieve the appropriate balance between them and lead to greater transparency in dispute outcomes.

2016, Review of European Community and International Environmental Law

2016, Handbook of International Trade, Volume II

2015

The purpose of the study is to propose interpretations of the National Treatment (NT) provision included in Art. III GATT, unbound by case-law interpretations of this provision. To make such proposals, we need to understand the role of the provision in the agreement. To this end, we first examine in Chapter 2 the negotiating record relevant to the rationale for

2015, European Journal of International Law

This paper discusses the National Treatment (NT) obligation as applied in the GATT tax discrimination cases. The central thesis of the paper is that case-law has not clarified the interpretation of the terms in Art. III. It appears as if the reason for this failure is the lack of a conceptually coherent view of the role of the NT obligation. After summarizing the caselaw on discriminatory taxation, this paper lays out a theory of the role of NT in trade agreements, in order to shed light on appropriate interpretations of the terms appearing in Art. III. We start from the notion that the GATT is an obligationally incomplete contract.

2012

"Article III of the GATT Treaty of 1994 espouses the basic principle of national treatment clause on internal taxation and regulation. The provisions relating to internal taxation were not designed to limit the degree of protection, but it is merely meant to determine as to what form the protection will acquire. For example, the tax on petroleum products would be an excise tax levied on imported and exported goods and such taxes are subject to the national treatment requirement under article III (2). This paper explores the regulatory objectives pursued by the tax measures in various contracting parties of GATT to determine whether such measures constitute an internal tax within the meaning of Article III(2) and the consistency of that measure within the national treatment requirement.
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2012

This contribution analyses the comprehensive chemicals legislation implemented by the European Union (EU) since 1st June 2007, known as REACH Regulation, from the perspective of WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement. The focus of this study is to investigate certain aspects of REACH, which are likely to be subject to WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). Thus, first of all, the thesis lays down the objectives and main procedures of the REACH with respect to registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction. Second, it examines the ongoing discussions and main concerns of WTO member states regarding REACH under TBT Committee Meetings. Lastly, it asks which of these concerns might be brought to WTO DSB in the future and to what extent they might be defended under TBT Agreement. This preliminary analysis concludes that even though EU seems to be in a strong position due to its high level of aim known as human health and environment protection, the compatibility of some requirements of REACH with TBT Agreement might still be questioned seriously.

2011, WORLD TRADE

A review of the WTO caselaw on discrimination and national treatment in international trade in the light of the work of Robert Hudec. Reviews the rise and fall of the "aim and effect" jurisprudence of the 1990s, and its displacement by... more