Simon Lester

Last year about this time, I was talking about how many more WTO disputes there were than normal. We ended up with the most WTO disputes in a long time: 27. With the latest WTO complaint (the EU's complaint against Russia's car recycling fee), I thought

This sounds like it was a lot of fun: In a dry run of one of the biggest legal battles in public health, an advocate for Australia's tobacco policies has delivered seemingly strong rebuttals of objections likely to be mounted in a landmark case at the World Trade

The final U.S. regulation related to labelling of dolphin-safe tuna, taken in response to last year's DSB ruling, is now out: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/07/09/2013-16508/enhanced-document-requirements-to-support-use-of-the-dolphin-safe-label-on-tuna-products If

I understand why Global Trade Watch is concerned that some trade rules interfere with domestic policy autonomy and the ability to regulate.  I don't agree with everything they say in this regard, but I have some sympathy for some of their views.  (As seen in the last post)

Most of this blog's readers are probably aware that the debate over international investment rules can get pretty heated.  The supporters fight hard to beat back any criticism; the critics get very frustrated over perceived corporate influence and bias. I'm a bit of an outsider to

UNCTAD has a recent paper which discusses options for reform of the investor-state system. Here's one possible path they set out: 3. Limiting investor access to ISDS This option envisages narrowing down the range of situations in which investors may resort to ISDS. This could be done

A number of people have suggested that a good way to approach the US-EU trade talks is to use the texts that each side has recently completed with Korea, in order to see where the similarities and differences are.  In that regard, my friends at Sidley have prepared a

From the Washington Post: The leftist government of Ecuador, under pressure from the Obama administration for considering a request for sanctuary from the American intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, announced Thursday that it will back out of a preferential trade pact with the United States that top Ecuadoran officials say is

This is from Kim Elliott: If President Obama and new U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman were serious about improving working conditions in Bangladesh—and about “working to foster development through trade,” as Ambassador Froman said at his swearing in—they would do the opposite of what they are doing.

The big trade news from today is that President Obama has decided to exclude Bangladesh from the GSP program: As part of this year’s review, the Administration also considered petitions to withdraw or suspend certain countries’ eligibility for GSP benefits based on statutory criteria, including whether a country is