Simon Lester

I know that at least two of you readers out there have been keeping an eye on tit for tat WTO disputes.  Here's another. On May 7 of this year, Russia requested consultations with Ukraine in Ukraine - Anti-Dumping Measures on Ammonium Nitrate . And now on October 21,

This is from the explanation of TPP ISDS by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: The safeguards in TPP, which protect the New Zealand Government’s right to regulate and which seek to prevent unwarranted ISDS claims, include: ... The Government is expressly permitted to make a counterclaim

Here's the abstract of an article by law professor Timothy Meyer: International negotiations struggle to keep pace with global problems like climate change. To fill this gap, local governments increasingly take matters into their own hands. For example, to promote the benefits of clean energy, a local government

Sweden's National Board of Trade has a new report called "The Right to Regulate in the Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada - and its implications for the Agreement with the USA." There are lots of interesting parts, but I'm going to focus on

This is from Greg Ip of the WSJ: ... “behind the border” barriers are politically more sensitive than tariffs because they affect domestic policies, from human rights to how much public health systems pay for drugs. Classical arguments for free trade are also less relevant: a country that grants foreign drug

From the SIEL: Call for Papers: Society of International Economic Law and University of Luxembourg, Fifth PEPA/SIEL Conference. SIEL’s Postgraduate and Early Professionals/Academics Network (PEPA/SIEL) and the Research Unit in Law of the University of Luxembourg are pleased to announce that the fifth PEPA/SIEL Conference

From the WTO: Nigeria announced its intention to request a mediation process regarding Mexico’s import measures on hibiscus flowers. According to Nigeria, Mexico requires verification of plant health certificates for consignments of hibiscus flowers, a plant commonly used in beverages, resulting in delays of up to six weeks. Mexico,

Back when I lived in Geneva, a Canadian friend was explaining Trudeaumania to me.  Pierre Trudeau was this charismatic political leader, apparently, who was kind of like a rock star in Canada.  Just for fun, I said something along the lines of, "so he was like the Canadian version

When the TPP text is made public, no doubt lots of people will explore in excruciating detail each and every word of the "carve-out" of tobacco from the investment provisions.  Until then, we can talk about the reductions in tariffs on tobacco products, set out here by

If you look at the list of Article 21.3(c) arbitration awards, you will see that in all 32 awards, the arbitrator was a current or former Appellate Body Member. Nothing in the DSU requires this, but it developed as a practice, and that's the way it