My initial impression was that Indonesia was misbehaving, entering into a deal with Baxter HealthCare to provide Baxter with exclusive access to Indonesian avian flu virus samples, and declining to provide these samples to the World Health Organization. But let's think this through.  In formal terms, Indonesia happens

Nearly three decades ago, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a celebrated decision, Cassis de Dijon, in which it established the principle of “mutual recognition.” The ECJ ruled in 1979 that “there is therefore no valid reason why, provided that they have been lawfully produced and marketed in one

Even if there have been few observations on the Biotech ruling from the perspective of the WTO-MEAs (Multilateral Environmental Agreements) debate, the fact is that the MEAs aspect of this ruling has apparently added something to this debate, although the ruling is puzzling through its ambivalence. 1) On the one

Given Japan's stated criteria for selecting potential FTA partners (most notably geographical proximity, trade and investment volume and resource wealth) as well as its obvious prioritization of East Asian nations (ostensibly to counter China’s growing power in the region), its negotiations with Switzerland at first appear rather

Upon the request of the author, I'm linking to an article entitled Food or Filth? The European Paradox.  I don't mean to take sides in the debate by linking to it.  I just figure that it will give those for and against GMOs (as well as

It's not often that the internal workings of the WTO are discussed in the public sphere, so I'm always interested to read about it when they are.  Inter Press Service reports on the the success of women (or lack thereof) at moving up in the ranks

From Julia Qin: USTR targets FDI Incentives in China The US consultation request in the China subsidy case is now available on the WTO website (DSU358). Of the nine measures cited by the US as evidence of illegal subsidies, seven are incentives offered to foreign-invested enterprises (i.e., companies with

How important is "development" to the Doha Round, which is officially titled the "Doha Development Agenda"?  In a recent Q & A, Charlene Barshefsky says that the reference to development was a "false pretense" for the round: [Daniel Altman]: Will the conclusion of the

In a recent  previous post, Joel Trachtman suggests that the recent speech by  Pascal Lamy constitutes a "major break" in the trade-environment debate at the WTO. Frankly, I see nothing breaking nor major in this speech. All what Lamy says is that some trade issues negotiated in the

Pascal Lamy has made a major break with past WTO positions, and suggested that the WTO should include a chapter on trade and environment.  The doctrinal core of his speech seems to be the following: But it [the Doha Round's promise for the environment] also includes a promise