International Economic Law and Policy Blog (Page 332)

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What Aspect of a Measure Should be Considered under the GATT Article XX Sub-Paragraphs? (Follow-up)

Back in 2007, I posted the following: In its first decision, U.S. - Gasoline, the Appellate Body famously (relatively speaking) said: One problem with the [panel's] reasoning ... is that the Panel asked itself whether the "less favourable treatment" of imported gasoline was "primarily aimed

Cigarette Package Labelling, in Australia and the U.S.

If you'll be in London on June 29, Andrew Mitchell will be talking about Australia's plain packaging for cigarette legislation at the UCL's WTO Scholars' Forum: Next month the Australian Government will introduce legislation to require the plain packaging of tobacco products by

Combating Climate Change through Investment Arbitration

Can investment treaties be used to force governments to follow through on their climate change plans? From a new paper: In addition to the general non-commercial risks that may affect any foreign direct investment, low-carbon investments face specific risks related to the mechanisms of public support that states develop to

REVENUE FOREGONE IN THE FUTURE: AN INCOHERENT RULING IN THE BOEING PANEL REPORT?

In the recent Boeing panel report, the panel decided in the context of the fiscal regime of the State of Washington that “it is not necessary for the Panel to resolve the issue of whether revenue to be foregone in the future constitutes a financial contribution for the purposes of

Investment Treaties and International Rights

A few posts ago, I asked: Of all the individuals, groups and other entities that are out there in the world, why do only "foreign investors" have access to this special international remedy? In the comments to my post, Mark Kantor said: Your question "why do only

Investor-State after the Australian Policy Change

In this paper, Luke Nottage is concerned that Australia's recent policy change with respect to investor-state might lead to a decline in investor-state provisions all around Asia. Here's the abstract: Treaty-based investor-state arbitration (ISA) has gradually become a more established part of the legal landscape in

Understanding PPMs at the WTO

In the Peter Fitzgerald paper mentioned in the last post, I saw a reference to this sentence in "Understanding the WTO": The WTO agreements are interpreted to say ... [that] trade restrictions cannot be imposed on a product purely because of the way it has been produced. See p.

The Seal Products Dispute and a Public Morals Defense

In a new paper, Peter Fitzgerald is skeptical of a GATT Article XX(a) "public morals" defense being successfully invoked by the EU as a justification for its seal products ban. Here's a key excerpt: Moreover, since import prohibitions are among the most trade disruptive measures

Appointment for Chang-fa Lo

I am delighted to report that our IEL colleague and my good friend Professor Chang-fa Lo of National Taiwan University has had his nomination to the Constitutional Court of Taiwan approved by the Legislative Yuan. Chang-fa will start his position as Justice on October 1. He promises he will remain

Dictionaries and Legal Interpretation

Speaking of the Appellate Body, which is known for (among other things) its use of dictionaries, here's an interesting NY Times piece on the U.S. Supreme Court's increasing use of dictionaries: In a decision last week in a patent case, Chief Justice John G. Roberts