Studies in Global Economic Law / Studien zum globalen Wirtschaftsrecht / Etudes en droit économique mondial – serie

Since the beginnings of international law, the law of the sea has been of paramount importance for international trade. Yet this area of law and international trade regulations have developed as two distinct areas with little interface with each other. As the GATT/WTO emerged in parallel to the LOS Convention since the 1970s, both bodies have made extensive efforts in international treaty making. However, the relationship between trade regulations and the law of the sea has hardly been explored. The author examines some key aspects of this relationship, in particular port entry, access to cargo in coastal shipping (cabotage) and access to cargo in international shipping. The inclusion of services in WTO law will render this relationship of great importance in the future as the agreement extensively covers maritime transport. It is just a matter of time until the current exclusion of maritime transport under special exemptions will be reviewed in future negotiations. The book provides the background and a normative basis for approaching some of the problems which members of the WTO will have to address in coming years. It also deals briefly with the problem of choice of law and competing jurisdictions between trade law and maritime law.

With increasingly globalised markets, changing consumer preferences and the steady development of technologies influencing food trade flows, safety and quality concerns have triggered the development of new forms of global (food) governance. Since its creation in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has succeeded in providing a multilateral legal framework for the development of regulatory practices through its multiple agreements. Similarly, the continuing importance of regional and bilateral trade agreements, such as in the European Union and in Switzerland, has enhanced WTO’s accomplishments through a comprehensive and dynamic set of international rules and standards for trade. However, the changing trends in the production and distribution of food products have questioned the effectiveness of the regulatory status quo. This book addresses the legal aspects of the current global architecture for food governance, particularly with regard to the role of international standards. In doing so, this work attempts at mapping the implications of domestic food measures in international trade law.