Simon Lester

From the first EU written submission in the Seal Products dispute: 322. Canada argues that 90-95% of its seal  products, which derive from large-scale commercial hunts, cannot be placed on the EU market whereas seal products of certain EU Member States may potentially be placed on the market because they

From the first EU written submission in the Seal Products dispute: 257. Canada argues that the Indigenous Communities exception  de facto  violates Article 2.1 of the TBT Agreement since such exception effectively permits 100% of Greenlandic seal products to be placed on the EU market, but excludes virtually all

Now that Russia is in. From Reuters: Assuming WTO relations are set up quickly, the United States and Russia could file complaints against each other in the coming months. Earlier in December, Russia banned imports of meat containing any trace of ractopamine, a feed additive widely used in the United

As I said yesterday, it's not easy to summarize the "benefit" issue in the Canada - Renewable Energy panel report.  But just quickly, the dissenter puts the two sides succinctly.  The majority view (as desribed by the dissenter): 9.1 ... In essence, the Panel majority has

Amy Porges points me to more details on the WTO hiring in dispute settlement: Vacancy Notice No.: EXT/T/12-07    Title: Dispute Settlement Lawyer    Grade: To be confirmed    Contract Type: Temporary appointment    Issued On: 14 November 2012    Original published date: 14 November 2012  (42 day(s) until closing date)    Republished

From today's WTO panel report in Canada - Renewable Energy/Feed-In Tariff: 7.7 Throughout these proceedings, however, the complainants have emphasized that in contesting the WTO-consistency of the challenged measures, they do not question the legitimacy of the objectives pursued by the Government of Ontario through the

From the proposed revision to the EU's tobacco products directive, mentioned in the last post: (15) The likelihood of diverging regulation is further increased by concerns over tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco products, having a characterising flavour other than tobacco, which may facilitate uptake of tobacco consumption or

From Reuters: The European Union's executive Commission is to propose larger health warnings on cigarette packets and a total ban on flavorings such as menthol, a draft revision of EU tobacco rules seen by Reuters showed on Monday. The proposals stop short of forcing all cigarettes to be

A few months ago, I mentioned the surge in WTO disputes this year.  Well, they keep coming, and it may be starting to strain the WTO's resources.  Reuters reports: A surge in trade disputes has forced the World Trade Organization to reallocate staff to cope with a flood

A recent poll in New Zealand asked the following: New Zealand is currently negotiating a free trade and investment treaty with ten other countries called the Trans Pacific Partnership. As part of the negotiations, there is a proposal to allow foreign investors to sue governments in private offshore tribunals if