World 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 United States 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, a group of trade and investment law experts from 10 countries, South and North, have joined hands to propose ideas for a new world trade and investment law that would maintain global growth while distributing costs and benefi ts more fairly. Paying special attention to those who have suffered from trade dislocation and to restrictions that have hampered innovative growth strategies in developing countries, they outline a progressive trade and investment law agenda in World Trade and Investment Law Reimagined.
One of the most striking innovations in international law of the last decade is the creation of a standing appellate court at the World Trade Organization, "the Appellate Body". While there are other international tribunals with appellate chambers, the WTO Appellate Body stands out for its creation of a rich and controversial body of jurisprudence, crafted through the dozens of rulings it has made since 1996. In areas such as trade and environment, and trade and health, the Appellate Body has stepped into some of the most heated trade conflicts of the post-Seattle world. This book examines the WTO Appellate Body as the first full blown international law experiment with "routine" appellate review. Issues covered include the choice of interpretative method by the Appellate Body, its internal operations (for example the role of collegiality and the staff in the Appellate Body Secretariat), the Appellate Body's understanding of its own jurisdiction and mandate, and the argument put by critics that the Appellate Body has been engaging in inappropriate "judicial activism", especially in sensitive areas such as the review of domestic trade remedy (dumping, subsidies and safeguards) cases. As the first book length analysis and assessment of the Appellate Body, this volume will be of interest to trade law specialists, but also to all those who are concerned with the relationship of law to politics in global governance, and with the role of the international judge.
This third edition of one of the leading textbooks on world trade law offers what is, in a number of ways, a unique perspective on this important subject. Combining the best aspects of both casebook and treatise, this comprehensive textbook provides detailed explanations and analysis of the law to help understand the issues as well as case extracts to offer a flavour of the judicial reasoning of trade adjudicators. Moreover, the book is truly global in outlook, being equally useful for students of international trade law in the UK, Europe, the US, Asia and elsewhere around the world. This updated edition includes in-depth discussions of the most recent developments in international trade jurisprudence, setting out important precedents that help establish the boundaries between global trade rules and domestic national autonomy. In this era, when political developments place even more importance on international trade, it will be essential reading for all students, scholars and practitioners in the field.
The editors have succeeded in bringing together an excellent mix of leading scholars and practitioners. No book on the WTO has had this wide a scope before or covered the legal framework, economic and political issues, current and would-be countries and a outlook to the future like these three volumes do. 3000 pages, 80 chapters in 3 volumes cover a very interdiscplinary field that touches upon law, economics and politics.
As one of the pillars of economic globalisation, the WTO is at the heart of a complex network of rules and institutions. This volume analyses WTO law in light of the influence of globalised actors, identifying causal language as an indispensible component in understanding the development of WTO law.
This is a comprehensive overview of the law and practice of the World Trade Organization. It begins with the institutional law of the WTO, moving eventually to the consequences of globalization. New chapters on Trade in Agriculture and on Government Procurement and Trade.
This is primarily a textbook for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students of law. However, practising lawyers and policy-makers who are looking for an introduction to WTO law will also find it invaluable. The book covers both the institutional and substantive law of the WTO. While the treatment of the law is often quite detailed, the main aim of this textbook is to make clear the basic principles and underlying logic of WTO law and the world trading system. Each section contains questions and assignments, to allow students to assess their understanding and develop useful practical skills. At the end of each chapter there is a helpful summary, as well as an exercise on specific, true-to-life international trade problems.
In the opinion of many, the most crucial issue confronting the world today lies in achieving a sustainable nexus among global trade, economic development, and the environment. This book, written by a prominent diplomat with extensive direct experience in this field, presents a much-needed critical perspective on the conflict of norms among the three policy regimes, focusing on the dilemma of reconciling approaches regarding harmonized global governance and a more diverse community-based approach. It is the first and only in-depth treatment to systematically study a series of deliberations in the World Trade Organization’s Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), highlighting perspectives taken by both developed and developing economies. The book demonstrates that the CTE’s contributions to the evolving trade and environment policy framework have been, contrary to popular perception, both substantial and relevant. In his review of how the particular characteristics of twenty key work outputs of the CTE impact current practice in trade and environment policy discussions, the author discusses such key issues and topics as the following: a singular harmonized global governance framework versus the centrifugal force of community-based, localized or regional solutions that emphasize diversity and multifaceted institution building; drawbacks and continuing relevance of the CTE Work Agenda; issues related to carbon, intellectual property rights, and services; market access for environmental goods; requirements for environmental purposes relating to products, including standards and technical regulations, packaging, labeling, and recycling; and ways forward for combining global regimes with local solutions in an environmental context. Given the urgent need for making economic policies more coherent with sustainability and environmental goals, and for overcoming the ongoing stalemate between developed and developing countries on this matter, this book is sure to be warmly welcomed by policy makers and negotiators in the areas of both trade and environment, as well as by academics, theorists, and experts in the field of global governance interested in formulating practical approaches to trade and environment governance and minimizing potential policy conflicts.
Since the first edition of The World Trading System was published in 1989, the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations has been completed, and most governments have ratified and are in the process of implementing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In the Uruguay Round, more than 120 nations negotiated for over eight years, to produce a document of some 26,000 pages. This new edition of The World Trading System takes account of these and other developments. Like the first edition, however, its treatment of topical issues is grounded in the fundamental legal, constitutional, institutional, and political realities that mold trade policy. Thus the book continues to serve as an introduction to the study of trade law and policy. Two basic premises of The World Trading System are that economic concerns are central to foreign affairs, and that national economies are growing more interdependent. The author presents the economic principles of international trade policy and then examines how they operate under real- world constraints. In particular, he examines the extremely elaborate system of rules that governs international economic relations. Until now, the bulk of international trade policy has addressed trade in goods; issues inadequately addressed by policy include trade in services, intellectual property rights, certain investment measures, and agriculture. The author highlights the tension between legal rules, designed to create predictability and stability, and the governments need to make exceptions to solve short-term problems. He also looks at weaknesses of international trade policy, especially as it applies to developing countries and economies in transition. He concludes with a look at issues that will shape international trade policy well into the twenty-first century.
