Nijhoff International Trade Law Series – serie

This volume examines the complex relationship between economic and non-economic objectives in WTO law. It discusses how non-economic objectives (such as the protection of public morals, life and health, environment, or human rights) can serve as justification for trade-restrictive measures normally prohibited under WTO law. The relevant non-economic grounds of justification are analysed, as well as the substantive and procedural requirements which restrain the use of trade-restrictive measures taken for non-economic purposes. The issues covered by this book also have wider systemic implications for the WTO. Only if the WTO can demonstrate that it is not just concerned about free trade, but respects non-economic objectives as well, is it likely to remain a sustainable and legitimate form of governance.

Waste tends to be understood as the potentially polluting and unsolicited by-product of our daily lives, a source of risk for the environment and human health. Nonetheless, a transboundary market for wastes as valuable raw materials and second-hand goods has emerged, and states ship wastes to specialised disposal and recycling sites abroad.This book provides a thorough analysis of the Basel Convention and the applicable OECD and EU frameworks of regulation. The author adopts a legal approach that encompasses the environmental, human rights, and WTO law aspects of waste trade. It explores the potential of the concept of “sustainable development” to integrate divergent regulatory approaches under the umbrella of the WTO in particular, and identifies crucial elements of a more comprehensive and sustainable solution for international waste trade.

This book presents a critical legal perspective on the current direction of EU food regulation. Analysing three regulatory mechanisms - mutual recognition, scientific risk regulation and standardisation - in the evolution of food legislation in the EU, the book shows the inadequacy of the current framework in facing the challenges of enlargement. Using the particular experience of a new member state, Poland, the book argues that an enlarged Europe must not disregard diverse socio-economic implications of market regulation. Due to historical legacies and a bias in favour of homogeneity, the EU food regulatory regime has generated a one-dimensional crisis-oriented approach. As a result, it tends to overlook other legitimate concerns such as quality, diversity and local traditions. This book argues that this need not be so.

Sexual services and goods are regularly, and legally, offered in all Western countries. Although they are shunned through the age old maxims of in pari causa turpitudinis and nemo auditur, there is a growing tendency, both in legislation and case law, to recognize the effects of these contracts. The book analyzes the policies underlying the regulation of sexual services and goods and indicates some important conflicts: self-determination against human dignity, refusal of commodification of women’s bodies against protection of sex workers, regulatory approach against prohibition. The analysis touches sensitive issues such as zoning, sexual tourism, private sexual practices, consumers of sex enhancers. The volume takes a legal-realistic approach trying to see the private law aspects of what was considered only as ‘infamous commerce.'

International economic law is very likely to be one of the most significant areas of law throughout the twenty-first century. As is well-known, it is an inter-disciplinary area of law covering very broad and different fields since it deals with all economic aspects of relations among the subjects of international law. In today’s world, the relations among States, international organisations and individuals have dramatically intensified. It is a sine qua non requirement that the conflicts or cases deriving from the application of the principles of international economic law must be solved by the dispute settlement mechanisms of international law, which are crucial both for the protection of international peace and security on the one hand and for the implementation of international economic law on the other. The book focuses on the relationship between the rules of public international law and international economic law from the point of view of dispute settlement mechanisms. It consists of the following Chapters: International Economic Law; New Challenges and Issues in International Finance Law; Dispute Settlement in International Trade Law and Dispute Settlement in International Investment Law. Finally, the book draws some general conclusions and provides certain suggestions for future research and practice in the field.

This book illustrates how the constitutional feature of the WTO – allowing separate customs territories to become a Member – brings about the coexistence of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau (the Greater China) in the WTO. It examines the economic integration and the dispute settlement systems within Greater China. It explores their interactions within the multilateral WTO framework, their practices under the new genre of FTA, and their policies in adopting trade defence measures against each other. This book offers a good case study on the impact of WTO membership upon domestic reform and how it contributes to regional integration. It also provides a comprehensive analysis on the existing provisions in the WTO agreements pertaining to judicial review.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system, has succeeded, since its establishment in 1995, in generating a perception that the DSU offers one of the most advanced multilateral adjudicatory systems that exist today, principally because of the large volume of cases it has attracted and settled. Despite a high record of satisfactory settlements of disputes and tall claims in appreciation, there is an equal amount of scepticism, particularly about the nature and content of remedies for violations of WTO rights and obligations. This book presents a critical review on the problems stemming from the nature and scope of the WTO remedies and its enforcement. The study highlights in a comparative perspective the lacunas and inadequacies in the current system, and in the process, accentuates the detrimental nature of the WTO remedies on the interest of the developing and least developing countries.

Eight member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have recently concluded the Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and SAARC Agreement on Trade in Services (SATIS). To date, the progress of sub-regional trade integration in South Asia appears to be rather lacklustre. This book critically analyses the international legal aspects of economic integration in South Asia. It argues that although there are economic constraints in bringing about greater economic integration in South Asia, those constraints are not insurmountable. Many of the constraints are merely outcomes of dubious policies pursued by the policy makers in the sub-region and can be tackled with sustained political commitment towards the cause of the South Asian economic integration.

This book examines the effectiveness of the WTO DSU in pursuing the developmental objectives of the WTO. Unregulated globalisation enabled developed countries to benefit more from the process. International trade theories emphasise on welfare enhancement and influenced the development of international trade cooperation. However, its development during the colonial era emphasised on protection of colonial interests. The WTO was meant to emphasise on a strengthened dispute settlement mechanism to support its diverse membership. It has failed to achieve this due to weak mechanisms for promoting developing country participation. The DSU review based on the draft negotiating proposal from the DSB reflects the on-going weakness of the DSU in pursuing developed country interests whilst ignoring major problems faced by developing countries in using the DSU. Five major issues in relation to the DSU are identified in this investigation. However, the Chairman’s text in no way addresses any of these.

The Changing Landscape of Global Financial Governance and the Role of Soft Law provides interdisciplinary perspectives on the changing landscape of global financial governance by exploring the impact and role of soft law, directly or as a precursor of hard law, pertaining to financial governance. Since the shaping of financial governance impacts national, regional and global levels of regulation, different views and arguments contribute to the ongoing discussions about financial regulation. Against this background, this book brings together perspectives of economists and lawyers who have not rallied to one or the other popular call for more regulation as a panacea for the prevention of future global financial crises, calls which have all but drowned out more nuanced scientific debates. Instead, their analysis of aspects of remedial regulatory policy prescriptions already made or proposed demonstrates that carefully designed soft law can be deployed as a valuable method or tool of mediation between the unrestrained autonomy of dysfunctional markets and overzealously crafted hard law.

Situated between Europe and the borders of China, the Eurasian region is seldom studied from an overall legal perspective. The book gives a first-time structured overview of trade-related aspects of international economic law, comparative commercial law, and dispute resolution in this region, focused on the countries in the Southern Caucasus, Central Asia, as well as Russia. It also addresses the Eurasian Economic Union. Law of International Trade in the Region of the Caucasus, Central Asia and Russia approaches international trade law with a combined public international law and comparative private law perspective, taking into account the global and European context.

In Climate Border Adjustments and WTO Law, Ulrike Will develops a convincing reform proposal for a climate border adjustment (BA) on imports within the EU Emission Trading System (ETS). The proposed framework offers a realistic approach which would be immune to disputes at the WTO and comply with international climate agreements while remaining economically feasible and straightforward to implement.The book offers a comprehensive analysis of the WTO cases that might have parallels to the unresolved case of BAs. It provides interpretations of vague legal terms of the applicable WTO agreements and guidance on how to balance between environmentally related and trade liberalising WTO rules. Typified constellations of BAs pave the way for a reform of the EU ETS Directive.The inclusion of legal findings in the context of economic theory and climate science allows for a meaningful discussion of the functioning of the BA, relevant markets and competitive effects of specific design proposals. The proposed framework also takes into account the prevention of extra-jurisdictional effects.

The Law and Policy of New Eurasian Regionalization: Economic Integration, Trade, and Investment in the Post-Soviet and Greater Eurasian Space, edited by Anna Aseeva and Jędrzej Górski, makes several unique contributions to the literature. First and foremost, most of the current literature is in either economics or politics, with only a secondary focus on legal and institutional matters. Secondly, and consequently, the book is accessible and relevant to readers both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the boundaries of the Eurasian area: not only geographical boundaries, but also legal, geopolitical, geoeconomic, cultural, and, indeed, disciplinary boundaries.Drawing on international, transnational, and comparative legal scholarship, this rich volume offers the insights by a plethora of leading international scholars in economics, institutional theory, area studies, international relations, global political economy, political science, and sociology. The contributors come from four corners of the globe, including Asia, Europe, and North America.