Trachtman

See Julian Ku's post at opinio juris, noting that the U.S. and Mexico have settled a dispute regarding Mexico's restrictions on exports of tequila in bulk.  This type of restriction could have been addressed under either NAFTA or WTO law.  Under WTO law, it would

I heartily welcome Prof. Petros Mavroidis as an additional member of the IELP blogocracy.  Petros, of Columbia Law School and Neuchatel, is one of the world's leading scholars and practitioners of international trade law.  We are fortunate indeed to have his erudite commentary.

A friend writes: "By the way, I don't know if you watch the TV show called Arrested Development, but I think you might like it. Smart, suble, and witty humor. Anyway, there's a character on the show who's a lawyer, and his name

See this Boston Globe commentary about the forthcoming book by Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu.  http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/01/15/sovereignty_in_cyberspace/  (See below) The basic thrust is that it's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a

Now that Hong Kong has failed, and the Doha round is on a slow track, one of the critical issues for the success of the round is the duration of fast track (re-labeled "trade promotion authority") in the U.S.  Fast track allows the U.S. Congress to

Oxfam has published a preliminary report on the Hong Kong Ministerial of the WTO.  More on this later, but two conclusions seem clear.  First, for those expecting developed countries to make altruistic contributions to the anti-poverty agenda through the WTO, the Doha Development Agenda is so far a disappointment.  Second,

In the U.S., the two recent candidates for appointment to the Supreme Court, Roberts and Alito, have both pledged allegiance to the text of the constitution.  Their right wing supporters acquiesce in their decision to foreswear judicial activism on the side of the right, perhaps in order to forestall

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) secretariat has recently refused to approve export quotas for caviar from Caspian Sea sturgeon.  This decision raises important issues of WTO law. The first question is who would complain?  It is most likely in this case that the exporting states would

Paul Wolfowitz has ordered the suspension of World Bank loans to Chad, because of Chad's non-compliance with the "lock box" features of its offshore oil pipeline.  The pipeline was financed by the World Bank on condition that funds be held in an offshore account and applied

In a statement yesterday, the EU Commission has declared the ineffectiveness of WTO law to influence its conduct.  Speaking of the anticipated WTO panel report in GMOs:  "Only products recognised as safe will be allowed and the WTO report will not influence the decision-making process in the EU."