Marc Benitah

Almost any person involved in WTO legal issues consults regularly the WTO  analytical index to see what panels and the Appellate Body said about a provision. The Index presents itself as " the authoritative guide to the interpretation and application of findings and decisions of WTO panels, the WTO Appellate

In a recent article entitled "THE TRIALS OF WINNING AT THE WTO: WHAT LIES BEHIND BRAZIL'S SUCCESS", the authors ( Shaffer, Ratton Sanchez, Rosenberg ) underline as factors explaining this success: a) Brazil's successful use of the system through hiring talented U.S. litigators b)Brazil&

As we know, the stumbling block in the Doha Round has been the Special Safeguard Mechanism in Agriculture. The first impression is that the stalemate is a result of a conflict between those who would like to sacrifice poor peasants in developing countries and those who want to protect these

Developing Countries who wanted absolutely to make this round a "development round" (as they understand the meaning of this expression) are surely now thinking about the consequences of the failure of the Doha Round. As always, the most important consequences for them will be unintended. The following Statement

When one attempts  to understand the philosophy of Developing Countries in the Doha Round, there is a much neglected idea that developing Countries negotiators do not like to express explicitly in broad daylight. It is however a powerful force behind their positions. This idea is that the Doha Round must

I have noticed in a recent article in the Washington Post the resurgence of an idea which is frequently mentioned, namely that the failure of the Doha Round would mean the end of the WTO: the time is fast approaching when [Lamy] must step in, lest the Doha round fail,

A few weeks ago, I posted a few lines about "neo-mercantilism" in the Doha Round. I am intrigued now  to see that my impulse to use the word "mercantilist" in a pejorative sense is in fact widespread. Just yesterday, Jayant Dasgupta, the Indian joint secretary of

More and more, I am puzzled by the discourse of WTO negotiators in the Doha Round. The WTO is supposed to be a free trade organization, and until further notice, the ideological basis of free trade is the comparative advantage paradigm. As we know, this paradigm implies “sacrificing” the sectors

While working on my forthcoming book on the law of subsidies under the WTO, I am constantely intrigued by the  many subtleties relating to the legal status of subsidies to biofuels. One of the major subtlety in this regard is to know when a biofuel is an agricutural product and

In the latest issue of BRIDGES, Joel Trachtman makes a provocative suggestion  in the context of the Doha Round, namely a "simple blanket exception stating that developing countries shall not be required to fulfil any commitment that is detrimental to their development or poverty alleviation". This blanket exception