International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 159)

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Could WTO Members Challenge In the Dispute Settlement Process the Self-Election Status of a Developing Country?

There are no WTO definitions of “developed” and “developing” countries. Members announce for themselves (the so-called “self-election” principle) whether they are “developed” or “developing” countries. This is considered as a consequence of the principle of sovereignty which includes the right of states to proclaim that they are developing

Chinese Ambassador's statement at the Oral Hearing in EU - Price Comparison Methodologies

In a rare move, China published part of the opening statement in a WTO dispute: the EU - Price Comparison Methodologies case. The statement refers extensively to the negotiating history of Section 15 of China's Accession Protocol, and even included video clips and statements by then-USTR Barshefsky, US

Is it legal for the WTO to team up with Alibaba and the World Economic Forum to "enable" E-Commerce? Probably not yet.

While a glum consensus has formed that nothing much happened at the WTO MC11 Ministerial Conference, a hardly-noticed announcement on the sidelines of the MC11 Ministerial Conference may have constitutional even transformative implications for the WTO. Yesterday (Tuesday), together with Alibaba's Jack Ma, and the World Economic

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform: Pluralism and the Plurilateral Investment Court

As described in a previous post, the UNCITRAL mandate on the possible reform of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) requires states to first identify and consider concerns regarding ISDS before going on to consider and develop any relevant reforms. Although states in the November 2017 session did not debate potential

Lighthizer's Opening Plenary Statement at the WTO Ministerial Conference

The full text is here. I'll quote some key portions and offer comments. Lighthizer starts with this: First, the WTO is obviously an important institution. It does an enormous amount of good, and provides a helpful negotiating forum for Contracting Parties. That sounds like a pretty basic point,

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reforms: Not Business as Usual

In late November 2017, states from around the world convened in Working Group III at UNCITRAL in Vienna to begin debates about the possible reform of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). In accordance with the UNCITRAL mandate (see Annotated Provisional Agenda) that was given in July 2017: The Working Group

Exceptions in Investment Agreements / The Meaning of "Necessary"

Bryan Mercurio and I have a new IIEL Issue Brief in which we argue against using industry (e.g. tobacco) carveouts as a way to ensure policy space in investment agreements. Instead of carveouts, we think that well drafted general exceptions clauses are more useful (well drafted obligations are also

Saving the Trading System

A lot of people are worried about the trading system these days, and are looking for ways to save it. My friends Frank Garcia and Tim Meyer are trying to save it from the left (drawing in part on Frank's forthcoming book Trade and Consent: Trading Freely in

The U.S. View of Section 15 of China's Protocol of Accession

This is from a U.S. third party submission [CORRECTION - that link is to a "Legal Interpretation" submitted by the U.S.; the third party submission is here] in the European Union – Measures Related to Price Comparison Methodologies (DS516) WTO dispute: 8.6. Section 15 is not an

Call for Papers: "Economic Constitutionalism: Mapping its Contours in European and Global Governance"

This is from the European University Institute and the University of Portsmouth: Call for Papers: "Economic Constitutionalism: Mapping its Contours in European and Global Governance" The School of Law at the University of Portsmouth and the European University Institute (EUI) are organising a 2-day international conference to