Law And Practice Under The Gatt

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.

Any experienced lawyer knows that cases are most often won or lost on procedural grounds; yet procedural issues are often considered too technical for proper treatment in legal literature. In this extensively revised new edition of Palmeter and Mavroidis' authoritative book on WTO dispute settlement, the authors discuss all WTO dispute settlement provisions and their interpretation in WTO jurisprudence. All the decisions of panels and the Appellate Body are discussed, from the inception of the WTO in 1995 until the end of May 2003. Although the book contains considerable technical expertise, it is at the same time written for accessibility to a wide readership. This volume - an essential tool for practitioners, diplomats and government lawyers - is a comprehensive study of compulsory third party adjudication in international law.

In this very thorough but highly accessible book an eminent legal scholar clearly explains today's system of international trade law and international economic relations as it has evolved over the last six decades. Focusing inevitably on the major innovations that came with the inception in 1994 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) with its various agreements, the analysis also provides in-depth commentary on the intense debate over important matters than remain unsettled. Among the aspects of the subject treated in depth are the following: the WTO dispute settlement mechanism; services the General Agreement on Trade in Services (OATS); investments the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS); intellectual property rights -the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS): areas still covered by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1947; the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) concept; special provisions relating to agriculture and textiles; sanitary and phytosanitary measures: technical barriers to trade; pre-shipment inspection: and import licensing procedures. The author describes all the major precedent-setting cases in WTO jurisprudence and analyzes their effect to date and the trends they have set in motion, particularly as they relate to perceived discrimination against developing nations which must balance their WTO commitments with the structural adjustments demanded by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) regimes. Arguments within the WTO and among scholars over such controversial matters as regulation of competition, setting of labour standards, and environmental controls as well as thorny concerns raised by enforcement of intellectual property rights and limitation on investments are held up to close scrutiny for their legal merits. This rigorous approach, in addition to its uncompromising detail and revealing clarity, assure this book of a place in the practice library of lawyers, officials, and policymakers in the field for many years to come.

The WTO is one of the most important intergovernmental organizations in the world, yet the way in which it functions as an organization and the scope of its authority and power are still poorly understood. This comprehensively revised new edition of the acclaimed work by an outstanding team of WTO law specialists, provides a complete overview of the law and practice of the WTO. The authors begin with the institutional law of the WTO (such as the sources of law and remedies of the dispute settlement system), then tackle the principal substantive obligations of the WTO regime (including tariffs, quotas, and MFN). They then move on to consider unfair trade, regional trading arrangements, and developing countries. In its final section the book deals with the consequences of globalization: firstly where WTO law confronts legal regimes governing issues of competition and intellectual property, and secondly, where free trade is seen to be incompatible with certain human rights. This edition also includes new chapters on trade in agriculture and on government procurement and trade. This book will be of interest to all scholars, students, and practitioners seeking to understand this pivotal yet controversial international organization and world trade in general.

The WTO is one of the most important intergovernmental organizations in the world, yet the way in which it functions as an organization and the scope of its authority and power are still poorly understood. This comprehensively revised new edition of the acclaimed work by an outstanding team of WTO law specialists provides a complete overview of the law and practice of the WTO. The authors begin with the institutional law of the WTO (such as the sources of law and remedies of the dispute settlement system), then tackle the principal substantive obligations of the WTO regime (including tariffs, quotas, and MFN). They then move on to consider unfair trade, regional trading arrangements, and developing countries. In its final section the book deals with the consequences of globalization: firstly, where free trade is seen to be incompatible with environmental protection and, secondly, where WTO law confronts legal regimes governing issues of competition and intellectual property.