Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

WTO effectiveness in resolving transatlantic trade‐environment conflict

WTO effectiveness in resolving transatlantic trade‐environment conflict Purpose – One of the major strategic challenges facing the transatlantic trade relationship is the ability to regulate such risk areas as the environment whilst maintaining important trade flows. Much scholarship has emphasised formal United States (US)‐European Union (EU) trade disputes when considering the treatment of risk. However, these cases represent a minority of the trade conflict at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). A majority of trade conflict gets raised, debated and resolved informally in the WTO committee structure. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is the WTO institutional arrangement that seeks to reconcile environmental, health and food safety regulations with trade objectives. The SPS embodies “in‐house” dispute resolution mechanisms that are based on the notion of constructive engagement. Mechanisms like ad hoc consultations, registering official protests, use of the chair's good offices and coordination with international standard setting organisations have been effective in promoting harmonisation between states. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The paper traces the process that is embedded within the SPS Committee for resolving trade conflict over risk‐based regulations, highlighting a recent case in point of wood‐packing materials. Findings – The paper elucidates a good news story about how American and EU policy makers utilize SPS Committee mechanisms to resolve differences over environmental regulations at the SPS Committee. Specific recommendations are offered on how to strengthen those mechanisms. Practical implications – If the recommendations offered are followed, trade conflict resolution over risk‐based issues in the SPS context will be strengthened. Originality/value – The paper is the first utilizing a case study to assess the effectiveness of WTO/SPS mechanisms for trade conflict resolution. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of International Trade Law and Policy Emerald Publishing

WTO effectiveness in resolving transatlantic trade‐environment conflict

Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/wto-effectiveness-in-resolving-transatlantic-trade-environment-7iud8yNNcx

References (8)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1477-0024
DOI
10.1108/14770021011075527
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – One of the major strategic challenges facing the transatlantic trade relationship is the ability to regulate such risk areas as the environment whilst maintaining important trade flows. Much scholarship has emphasised formal United States (US)‐European Union (EU) trade disputes when considering the treatment of risk. However, these cases represent a minority of the trade conflict at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). A majority of trade conflict gets raised, debated and resolved informally in the WTO committee structure. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is the WTO institutional arrangement that seeks to reconcile environmental, health and food safety regulations with trade objectives. The SPS embodies “in‐house” dispute resolution mechanisms that are based on the notion of constructive engagement. Mechanisms like ad hoc consultations, registering official protests, use of the chair's good offices and coordination with international standard setting organisations have been effective in promoting harmonisation between states. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The paper traces the process that is embedded within the SPS Committee for resolving trade conflict over risk‐based regulations, highlighting a recent case in point of wood‐packing materials. Findings – The paper elucidates a good news story about how American and EU policy makers utilize SPS Committee mechanisms to resolve differences over environmental regulations at the SPS Committee. Specific recommendations are offered on how to strengthen those mechanisms. Practical implications – If the recommendations offered are followed, trade conflict resolution over risk‐based issues in the SPS context will be strengthened. Originality/value – The paper is the first utilizing a case study to assess the effectiveness of WTO/SPS mechanisms for trade conflict resolution.

Journal

Journal of International Trade Law and Policy – Emerald Publishing

Published: Sep 14, 2010

Keywords: International trade; Conflict resolution

There are no references for this article.