A WTO Treaty on Trade Facilitation? Regulatory, Institutional, Legislative, and Cost Challenges for Developing Countries
The WTO members are negotiating a possible trade facilitation agreement, which could be a potential outcome in the WTO’s Bali Ministerial in December. However, the developing countries face many challenges in such a treaty and have asked for special and differential treatment as well as finance to meet the costs of new obligations. (more…)
Negotiating a Trade Facilitation Agreement: Considerations and Lessons from WTO Jurisprudence
This note discusses the lessons learned from WTO jurisprudence on trade facilitation articles under the GATT (i.e. Articles V, VIII and X GATT) and on other articles and WTO agreements that embody language similar to the one currently under negotiations. (more…)
Trade and Investment Agreements—Barriers to National Public Health and Tobacco Control Measures.
An arbitral tribunal is expected to issue soon a decision on jurisdictional matters in a case brought by Philip Morris against the government of Uruguay. The claim, based on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between that country and Switzerland, challenges packaging and labeling requirements for cigarettes adopted by Uruguay to reduce tobacco’s consumption. (more…)
Analysis of the role of the South-South Cooperation to promote governance on intellectual property rights and development.
The international regime on IP rights is currently made up of a patchwork of laws and institutions at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels with a growing number of players. The TRIPS Agreement of the WTO forms the core instrument with critical influence on the role of international actors and the scope of national policy making. TRIPS aim at reducing the North-South tension on IP rights protection through a multilateral system as one of its objectives. (more…)
GATS Dispute Settlement Cases: Practical Implications for Developing Countries.
Developing countries should be aware of the implications of the WTO dispute settlement reports on US – Gambling1 and Mexico – Telecommunications as they continue participating in the WTO negotiations. (more…)
Observations on the Proposal for a New Peace Clause.
This T.R.A.D.E. Analysis seeks to assist developing countries in discussions on the proposal to re-introduce a Peace Clause. It examines WTO dispute settlement developments after the expiry of the old Peace Clause and suggests possible trade-offs if developing countries decide to accept a new Peace Clause. (more…)
The WTO Dispute Settlement System: Issues to Consider in the DSU Negotiations.
This TRADE Analysis discusses selected aspects of the WTO dispute settlement system that developing countries should consider as they continue to engage in the DSU negotiations. (more…)
Developments on Discussions for the Improvement of the Framework for ICSID Arbitration and the Participation of Developing Countries.
The International Centre for settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is established by the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention) that entered into force on October 14, 1966. (more…)
Review of the Existing Special and Differential Treatment Provisions: Implementing the Doha Mandate.
By placing Special and Differential Treatment (hereafter referred to as ‘S&DT’) at the heart of the WTO Agreements, the Doha Ministerial Declaration explicitly acknowledged that S&DT is a fully accepted core principle in the WTO legal regime. (more…)
