International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 322)

International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Tokyo Round Thoughts on Mandatory Labelling

For those who have been following the technical regulations vs. standards debate here, let me add something else to the mix. Here's something from a Secretariat note from early in the Tokyo Round: 4. With regard to labelling it was pointed out that in some cases labelling was

EU Aviation Emissions Scheme Opinion

The BBC reports: Plans to include any airline landing or taking off on EU territory in an emissions trading scheme are legal, an adviser to Europe's top court has said. European Court of Justice Advocate General Juliane Kokott said this in response to a legal challenge to the

A WTO Prosecutor?

Here's the abstract of a new article from Claus Zimmerman in the Journal of World Trade, entitled 'Rethinking the Right to Initiate WTO Dispute Settlement Proceedings': This article analyses the economic merits of the factual right of governments to interpose themselves as political filters ex ante

Is ACTA Enforceable?

Over the week-end, some steps were taken to bring the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) into force. I'm going to get myself in trouble here with international law folks, but let me ask this: Is there a difference between international agreements that have an enforcement mechanism and those that

Approaches to Investment Protection: Hardliners, Caution, Abandonment

Luke Peterson reports on three different approaches to invesment protection treaties: While Canadian officials are still hopeful that a Canada-EU trade deal can be finalized by next year, some EU member-states would like nothing better than to shunt talks onto a slow-track. A particular sore point emerging in the Canada-EU

Trade and Jobs

From the FT: The US Chamber of Commerce has claimed that the South Korea deal alone will create 280,000 jobs, while the White House has more modestly suggested a net 70,000 gain. However, the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think-tank partly funded by labour unions, has said that

The Seal Product Ban under EU Law

Following up on this post, blog reader Laurens Ankersmit points me to an EU General Court order deciding that the action brought against the seal product ban under EU law was inadmissible because the applicants did not have standing, on the basis that they were not directly and individually concerned

PPMs in the Tuna Panel Report

There's still lots to uncover in the Tuna panel report. Here's something on PPMs: 7.369 Finally, Mexico contends that the US measures unilaterally exert pressure on the Mexican fleet to change fishing areas and/or fishing methods, which Mexico argues is evidence of the de

Trade in Everything: Flying Pigs

From the Daily Mail: An entire Boeing 747 has been hired at £330,000 per trip to fly pigs in more comfort on the 5,500-mile journey than humans often have in economy class. It is an extraordinary turn of events for a country of 1.3 billion once known

US Tuna Panel report again: technical regulations and int'l standards

Dear all, I am intrigued by the US Tuna Panel’s approach to the question of whether the US used the AIDCP standards (which incidentally are resolutions passed by contracting parties to the Agreement on International Dolphin Conservation Program) as a basis for its dolphin-safe labelling provisions. At one point,