Download or read book The Relationship of WTO Law and Regional Trade Agreements in Dispute Settlement written by Malebakeng Agnes Forere and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the author's Ph.D. dissertation, University of Bern, 2013.

Download or read book The Relationship of WTO Law and Regional Trade Agreements in Dispute Settlement From Fragmentation to Coherence written by Malebakeng Agnes Forere and published by Kluwer Law International B.V.. This book was released on 2015-10-12 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is becoming increasingly evident that traditional sovereignty is simply out of date. Instead, what we might call 'cooperative' sovereignty – which focuses on communication and interaction – is more responsive to the realities of interdependent economies in the twenty-first century. Nowhere is this more salient than in the area of dispute resolution, especially as labour, intellectual property, and the environment can no longer be evaded in trade negotiations. This ground-breaking book suggests that it is this shift in perspective that has given rise to the proliferation of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and the inevitable overlaps and tensions between their provisions and those of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The author examines this phenomenon in great detail, and offers viable recommendations to restore coherence in the global trading system without upsetting the rights and obligations of WTO Member States. Because the WTO and RTAs must be viewed as layers of one system and must therefore have a relationship that extends to dispute settlement, such principles of subsidiarity as autonomy, mutual assistance, and flexibility are key to a successful institutional relationship between the WTO and RTAs. From this theoretical springboard, the author proceeds to analyse the following issues and more: – the relationship between WTO and RTAs based on Article XXIV of GATT; - the extent to which WTO panels can apply RTA law; - the extent to which the WTO panels can hear RTA claims; - opportunity for RTA Members to secure preliminary rulings and advisory opinions from the WTO; - recognition by WTO panels of the results of litigation or arbitration that took place at the RTA level; - opportunity for RTA Members to appeal RTA dispute settlement decisions to the WTO; and - clarification of WTO rules designed to enable RTA activities (or intervene if necessary). Major cases decided at the WTO and RTA levels that manifest conflict between RTAs and the WTO are fully analysed. Confronting directly the stagnation in negotiating and concluding new trade agreements at the multilateral level and the fragmentation of the international trade law system, this important book shows clearly how the institutional relationship between the WTO and RTAs can be restructured with a view to establishing mutual recognition of the judgments of both. In a nutshell, the book calls for reconfiguration of WTO Dispute Settlement Body to perform functions of World Trade Court that is capable of hearing disputes arising between WTO Members, RTA Members and Non-WTO Members. It will prove invaluable to all involved in the negotiation and implementation of trade agreements at every level.

Download or read book Rethinking the World Trade Order written by Mohammad F. A. Nsour and published by Sidestone Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have proliferated at an unprecedented pace since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although the WTO legally recognizes countries' entitlement to form RTAs, neither the WTO nor parties to RTAs have an unequivocal understanding of the relationship between the WTO and RTAs. In other words, the legal controversies, the result of uncertainty regarding the application of the WTO/GATT laws, risk undermining the objectives of the multilateral trade system. This research tackles a phenomenon that is widely believed to be heavily economic and political. It highlights the economic and political aspects of regionalism, but largely concentrates on the legal dimension of regionalism. The main argument of the book is that the first step to achieving harmony between multilateralism and regionalism is the identification of the legal uncertainties that regionalism produces when countries form RTAs without taking into account the substantive and procedural aspect of the applicable WTO/ GATT laws. The book calls for the creation of a legal instrument (i.e. agreement on RTAs) that combines all of the applicable law on RTAs, and simultaneously clarifies the legal language used therein. Likewise, the WTO should have a proactive role, not merely as a coordinator of RTAs, but as a watchdog for the multilateral system that has the power to prosecute violating RTAs. The author is aware that political concerns are top priorities for governments and policy makers when dealing with the regionalism problematic. Hence, legal solutions or proposals are not sufficient to create a better international trade system without the good will of the WTO Members who are, in fact, the players who are striving to craft more regional trade arrangements.

Download or read book Trade Disputes and the Dispute Settlement Understanding of the WTO written by James C. Hartigan and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2009-02-01 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addresses the process of dispute resolution and appeal under the DSU of the WTO. This book covers politics and disputes between sovereign nations; power inequities in access to the DSU; specific categories of disputes, such as in agriculture and in intellectual property; and issues pertaining to compliance, enforcement and remedies.

Download or read book Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO Legal System written by Lorand Bartels and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2006 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO Legal System' introduces the economic & political underpinnings of regional trade agreements, their constitutional functions, & their role as a locus for integrating trade & human rights.

Download or read book Jurisdictional Conflicts Between the Wto and Regional Trade Agreements written by Chun-ming (Kevin) Chen and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2010-06 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A product of fragmentation of international law, the issue of jurisdictional conflicts between the WTO and Regional Trade Agreements is of systemic importance. Not only does it raise the potential problem of inconsistent rulings for WTO/RTA Members, it requires the WTO Tribunal to confront the very nature and scope of its jurisdiction, the admissibility of cases and its applicable law, all highly controversial and unsettled issues in international law. This thesis aims to present a framework that can hopefully serve to offer solutions on the basis of the current WTO legal system. Under this framework, where WTO proceedings are initiated in a genuinely abusive manner, the WTO Tribunal would be able to dismiss the WTO complaint for lack of jurisdiction or on the grounds of inadmissibility. This does not mean a general deference to RTA Tribunals, but, rather, would reflect the WTO Tribunal's cognizance of the relevant WTO Members' true intentions; by giving effect to the Members' true intentions, the WTO Tribunal could mitigate fragmentation of international law, thereby securing and promoting the coherence in the international legal system.

Download or read book Mega Regional Trade Agreements written by Thilo Rensmann and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-07-20 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an in-depth analysis of "Mega-Regionals", the new generation of trans-regional free-trade agreements (FTAs) currently under negotiation, and their effect on the future of international economic law. The main focus centres on the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), but the findings are also applicable to similar agreements under negotiation, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).The specific features of Mega-Regional Trade Agreements raise a number of issues with respect to their potential effect on the current system of international trade and investment law. These include the consequences of Mega-Regionals for the most-favoured-nation (MFN) principle, their relation to the multilateral system of the World Trade Organization (WTO), their democratic legitimacy and their interaction with existing bilateral investment treaties (BITs).The book is intended for academics and practitioners working in the field of international economic law.

Download or read book The WTO and the New Generation EU FTA Dispute Settlement Mechanisms written by Cornelia Furculiță and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-09-10 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores interactions between the new generation EU FTA and the WTO dispute settlement mechanisms, adopting an innovative, comprehensive approach. It investigates how the mechanisms potentially could and actually do compete, conflict, and cooperate, focusing not only on the potential negative consequences of fragmentation, but also on how synergies could be enhanced. Thus, unlike the existing literature, which chiefly focuses on conflicting interactions, it considers positive and negative interactions alike. Moreover, the book explores the topic in light of the most recent changes in and challenges to the international trade law regime. Particular attention is paid to how the multilateral and bilateral mechanisms studied interact with regard to the current WTO dispute settlement crisis and the EU-backed multi-party interim appeal arbitration arrangement. Thus, the book provides up-to-date answers to compelling questions. It also examines in detail the new generation EU FTA dispute settlement mechanisms, an aspect which has not been the subject of thorough research to date.The book pursues an interdisciplinary approach, combining legal methodology, international relations and political science theories with interviews. Given its scope, the book will appeal to researchers and scholars whose work involves international trade law issues. However, it will also be of interest to general international law academics, as it touches upon such issues as fragmentation, forum shopping, and general rules of interpretation. Furthermore, by analysing and presenting proposals with regard to the new generation EU FTAs, it will also be pertinent to the work of EU policymakers and researchers studying EU trade law.

Download or read book The WTO Dispute Settlement System written by Kati Kulovesi and published by Kluwer Law International B.V.. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tensions between economic interests and environmental protection have assumed crisis proportions in awareness at every level of society. In particular, the World Trade Organization has become entangled in controversies related to legitimacy, democracy, environmental protection, and fragmentation of international law, fuelling a contentious debate on the use (or abuse) of environmental norms at the WTO. To a greater degree than any comparable treatment, this book focuses on the role of the WTO dispute settlement system in addressing trade-environment conflicts. Highlighting the ways in which environmental issues challenge the legitimacy of WTO jurisprudence, it considers such relevant core issues as the following: challenges posed to the WTO by so-called and"linkageand" issues, such as environmental protection, labour, and investment; to what extent the WTO can apply rules of international law (e.g., environmental ones) that are not contained in the WTO agreements; and concerns over the Dispute Settlement System's lack of democratic accountability in matters of great public interest. The study analyses in detail the role of international environmental law in three key WTO cases, namely the Shrimp-Turtle, Hormones and Biotech disputes. This deeply informed and thoughtful book is of special importance for its proposals on how the WTO dispute settlement system can improve its legitimacy while respecting the limits of its mandate. It will be welcomed by international trade attorneys, environmental lawyers, concerned academics and students, and government officials in both trade and environmental policy.

Download or read book International Trade Law and the GATT WTO Dispute Settlement System written by Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann and published by . This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlike the UN and EC law, there has been little discussion of the problems of GATT/WTO law and GATT dispute settlement practice in the recent legal literature. This new book is the result of an initiative by the International Trade Law Committee of the International Law Committee of the International Law Association to promote the progressive development of GATT/WTO law, and especially of its dispute settlement system, by making a comparative legal study of international and regional law and dispute settlement practice. Part I of the book introduces the basic principles, procedures and historical evolution of the GATT/WTO dispute settlement system. It analyses the first experience and current legal problems with the new WTO dispute settlement system, such as the application of the Dispute Settlement Understanding to trade in services, intellectual property rights and restrictive business practices. Part II examines the evolution of international trade law, and the application of the GATT/WTO dispute settlement procedures in specific areas of international economic law, such as anti-dumping law, agricultural and textiles trade, restrictive business practices, and the Agreement on Government Procurement. Part III describes procedures for the settlement of international trade disputes in domestic courts and regional trade agreements, such as the EC, the South American Common Market and NAFTA, and examines their interrelationships with the GATT/WTO dispute rules and procedures.

Download or read book Conflicts of Jurisdiction Between Dispute Settlement Mechanisms of the World Trade Organization and Regional Trade Agreements written by Tan Son Nguyen and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last several decades there has been an exponential growth in the number of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). In addition to creating a wide overlap of substantive rights and obligations with the World Trade Organization (WTO), many RTAs also incorporate legalized mechanisms to resolve trade disputes, operating in parallel to the compulsory, automatic and exclusive system of dispute settlement under the WTO. This thesis sought to examine the possibility of jurisdictional conflicts between the regional and multilateral mechanisms and address potential ways to respond to this negative phenomenon. To verify the possibility of jurisdictional conflicts, the thesis examined the key features of WTO and RTA dispute settlement, the constituting elements of a jurisdictional conflict, and the practice of jurisdictional interaction between the two systems. This analysis demonstrated that it may be possible for the regional and multilateral mechanisms to exercise jurisdiction simultaneously or consecutively over essentially the same disputes. Importantly, even though this problem has not actually materialized to a substantial extent, future jurisdictional conflicts would still be quite likely, especially when RTA mechanisms may become more established and active over time. It is thus important to think through possible solutions to enhance the compatible coexistence between the WTO and RTA dispute settlement systems.Having determined the possible occurrence of jurisdictional conflicts, the thesis then investigated whether there are norms that can assist a determination as to which forum should have jurisdiction and which one has to give way in cases of jurisdictional conflicts. In doing so, the thesis developed the relevant frameworks to assess the applicability of RTA jurisdiction clauses and common jurisdiction-regulating norms, such as res judicata, lis pendens, forum non conveniens, comity, and abuse of rights, in WTO disputes. The examination revealed that these norms might not be satisfactorily applied in WTO disputes to regulate WTO-RTA jurisdictional conflicts. In the context of WTO law, where the relationship between WTO and RTA dispute settlement is not explicitly regulated, the studied inapplicability of norms determining jurisdictional priority means that multiple proceedings over essentially the same disputes before the WTO and RTA fora might be an unavoidable phenomenon. On the basis of this finding, the thesis turned to a new frontier and investigated whether there may be rules of international law that can enable tribunals to achieve a reasonable level of consistency between them in adjudicating essentially the same disputes. This inquiry established that principles of treaty interpretation, particularly Articles 31(3)(c) and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), may facilitate the integration of WTO and RTA laws into each other in multiple proceedings, thereby reducing the risk of unreasonably inconsistent interpretations and findings over essentially the same disputes. In the absence of explicit WTO provisions regulating the jurisdictional interaction between WTO and RTA dispute settlement and effective rules to establish jurisdictional priority between the competing proceedings, the interpretative tools appear to provide a practical and promising way to mitigate some negative effects arising from conflicts of jurisdiction.

Download or read book Challenges and Prospects for the WTO written by Andrew D. Mitchell and published by Cameron May. This book was released on 2005 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributions ... based on papers delivered at the Sixth and Seventh Conferences of the World Trade Law Association (WTLA) ... as well as specially commissioned chapters"--p. 1.

Download or read book WTO Law written by Birgitte Egelund Olsen and published by Kluwer Law International B.V.. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union (EU) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) share the distinction of having proven themselves as the two most successful large-scale international trade regulation regimes. This very useful book analyses the core legal concepts and rules that characterise the regulation of trade in the WTO. At the heart of the analysis is a comparison of WTO rules with parallel rules in the EU trade system, revealing how similar trade issues are dealt with in the two systems – a perspective that not only sheds light on how WTO law and EU law interact, but also greatly facilitates an understanding of the special features of WTO law for readers who are more familiar with EU law. Within this framework, the authors explore such key trade issues as the following: dispute settlement; implementation of judicial decisions and enforcement; principles of non-discrimination; trade in goods; non-discriminatory restrictions as barriers to trade; exceptions from trade-liberalisation obligations; trade and environmental protection;trade in agricultural products; conditions for applying safeguard and anti-dumping measures; prohibited and actionable subsidies; regulation of services; protection of intellectual property rights; regional trade agreements; special and differential treatments; government procurement; competition policy; and regulation of investment. As a timely and accessible analysis of the WTO and its interaction with the EU, this book is sure to be welcomed by international trade professionals, government officials, and interested academics, students, and researchers.

Download or read book The GATT WTO Dispute Settlement System written by Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2024-01-22 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The GATT and WTO dispute settlement systems have become the most frequently used international mechanisms for the settlement of trade disputes among governments. The 1994 Agreement Establishing the WTO introduced a historically unprecedented new dispute settlement procedure for conflicts involving trade in goods and services, trade-related investment measures, and intellectual property rights. This procedure provided for the compulsory jurisdiction of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, WTO Panels, and the WTO Appellate Body. The first 18 months from the time the WTO Agreement came into force on 1 January 1995 witnessed more than 50 invocations of the new dispute settlement procedures by a large number of countries, including many from the developing world. This large response, and the proposals for further extending the scope of WTO law, suggest that the WTO dispute settlement system will continue to be the most frequently applied, worldwide systems for the legal settlement of trade disputes among governments. This book provides students, lawyers and diplomats a thought-provoking and practice-oriented analysis of the GATT/WTO dispute settlement rules, procedures, and problems. The Annexes include a useful collection of relevant texts and tables of past GATT and WTO case law.

Download or read book WTO Trade Remedies in International Law written by Roberto Soprano and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-07-24 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade remedies (antidumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard agreements) are instruments used by WTO members to counter the economic injury caused by dumping, subsidies and the sudden and unforeseen increased imports. They are exceptions to the WTO principle of free trade and to the prohibition for States to react unilaterally to protect their own rights and interests, and as a result they have been accused by some as being the new tools of protectionism. This book analyses of the role and principles of WTO trade remedies in international law. In particular, it focuses on their aims, their structure, and their position within the WTO and more in general, the international legal system. The book considers trade remedies in light of fragmentation theories of international law and addresses the question how, and to what extent WTO law reflects and influences public international law.

Download or read book Essentials of WTO Law written by Peter Van den Bossche and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-04-02 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Fragmentation of International Trade Law Reassessed written by Patrick Wasilczyk and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-12-21 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides innovative and empirically based insights into the ongoing debate on the fragmentation of international trade law. It offers the reader a much-needed doctrinal overview of the different approaches to the issue of fragmentation and reveals their inherent methodological advantages and limitations. On this basis, the book then approaches the issue of fragmentation from an empirical standpoint by applying a novel dataset on Preferential Trade Agreements’ Dispute Settlement Mechanisms (PTA-DSMs), which have been used to adjudicate general exception clauses within the context of the individual PTA Members’ obligation to liberalize trade in goods. Although the results remain limited to the single issue of PTA-DSM adjudication for liberalization of trade in goods, they are indicative of key misconceptions regarding the fragmentation of ITL. As the findings confirm, the PTA-DSMs assessed have ultimately come to equivalent decisions, taking into consideration their overall use, the nature of the legal commitments embedded in the respective PTAs, and the economic wellbeing of the respective PTA partners. The book reveals the influence of specific PTA-DSMs on other PTA-DSMs and thereby paves the way for legal unification, rather than fragmentation.