International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Trade in Everything: [Censored]

A headline from law.com: "Copycat Sex Toys Stimulate ITC Patent Fight": At first glance, a recent complaint at the U.S. International Trade Commission -- Devices Having Elastomeric Gel and Components Thereof -- sounds like a typical high-tech patent dispute. That is, until you get to the

USTR Ron Kirk on WTO Trade Enforcement

From Reuters: But in the same news conference, Kirk also made clear his dislike for WTO litigation, which can take years to resolve and often produce mixed results. "My guiding principle is that where we can get issues resolved through direct negotiations, no matter how difficult they are, we&

The First Labor Complaint Under a Trade Agreement

From a speech today by USTR Ron Kirk: So today I am announcing that the Obama Administration will file a case against Guatemala under our trade agreement with Central America and the Dominican Republic, for apparent violations of obligations on labor rights. This is the first labor case the United

The Investor-State Challenge to Uruguay's Anti-Tobacco Law

Via a Luke Peterson tweet, I see that Uruguay is planning to weaken its anti-tobacco law (see this old post for more), in response to a Phillip Morris investment treaty challenge: Uruguay's government yesterday said it would tweak the legislation, or possibly draft a new law, to fend

The U.S. Position on Free Trade and the Internet

In Foreign Affairs, this is from Betsy Gelb and Emmanuel Yujuico (of IPE Zone): Another example of a failed effort to apply a largely American vision of technology to a non-U.S. cultural environment involves the Internet search giant Google. In January, after the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights

Cell Phone Radiation Labeling and Trade Agreements

As you may have heard, San Francisco recently passed a law requiring that cell phones must have labels telling consumers how much radiation they emit: Imposing roughly the same cautionary standards for cellphones as for fatty food or sugary soda, [San Francisco] — never shy about its opinions — voted on Tuesday

Investor-State and States (Well, Provinces)

Trade lawyer Lawrence Herman talks about the local versus federal aspect of investor-state rulings: All of this raises the question as to how the federal-provincial aspects of Chapter 11 reviewed in this article will play out and how the two levels of government will deal with these issues in the

Some New Players in WTO Dispute Settlement

It's always exciting for me to see a new consultations request posted on the WTO web site. In addition to the substance, I like to see who the parties are. It's great to find someone other than the usual suspects. The latest request, in DS411, has

Trade Lawyer Position in Geneva

Even though it has been a long time since I was a trade lawyer in Geneva, people often ask me for advice on how they can become a trade lawyer in Geneva. Well, here's a good opportunity: The successful candidate will ideally have at least 5-6 years of

And Yet More on Trade Remedies under NAFTA

This is from Canadian trade lawyer Lawrence Herman, in a C.D. Howe Institute paper: Trade remedy cases under Chapter 19 of the NAFTA have been tapering off for several years. There was a flurry of activity under the Free Trade Agreement and in first five years of the NAFTA.