Many years ago, Joel mentioned trade law issues related to Chicago's ban on foie gras. Perhaps now that a bigger market (California) has passed its own ban, we may see the issue raised at the WTO:
TOULOUSE, France -- France's foie gras industry says legislation due to come into force in California on July 1 banning the sale of duck or goose liver pate over animal rights concerns contravenes international trade law.
"We asked for a meeting on Monday with the agriculture minister," said Marie-Pierre Pe, chief representative of industry committee CIFOG.
"Bulgaria and Hungary, the other countries of the European foie gras federation, have asked their governments to seek action from the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the California law infringes on WTO law," she added.
Californian lawmakers passed the legislation in 2004 that bans production and sale of foie gras, as it is made by what is deemed to be a cruel practice of force-feeding ducks and geese so their livers become enlarged.
Is this the kind of "non instrumental public morals" measure that I'll be talking about in the next post?