International Economic Law and Policy Blog

Sign in Subscribe

Topic

WTO - General

20 posts

The Obama Administration's Attack on Appellate Body Independence Shows The Need for Reforms

By Steve Charnovitz, George Washington University Law School The Obama Administration has not yet apologized for its unilateral action in May 2016 to unseat Appellate Body Member Seung Wha Chang, a distinguished jurist from South Korea. Although this hostile act by the United States has been roundly criticized by other

New AU funding system and the WTO

At its July 2016 summit in Kigali, Rwanda, the AU Assembly held a special retreat to consider new proposals intended to ensure that the AU “is financed in a predictable, sustainable, equitable and accountable manner with the full ownership by its Member States”. The new funding proposal adopted by the

The WTO congratulates itself on panel diversity - unfortunately its math is wrong

In this news release, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news16_e/disp_21jun16_e.htm, the WTO announces that it has just appointed its 100th female dispute settlement panelist and compares itself favorably with other international tribunals, stating "[t]he WTO's dispute settlement system has

Mission Creep at the WTO

On Saturday, the WTO joined three other international organizations in issuing a Statement about the H1NI virus. The other three IGOs were the FAO, the OIE, and the WHO. The Statement can be found at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news09_e/jt_stat_02may09_e.htm. According

Carolyn Deere on the WTO DG Non-Race

It is being reported that Pascal Lamy is the only candidate for DG. Carolyn Deere comments: This year, with only one nominee at hand, WTO Members must nonetheless ensure that there is vigorous debate on the challenges facing the organization and the changes that the Director-General should pursue. They must

Lamy Seeks a Second Term as DG

From his letter to the General Council Chair (scroll down to page 3): During the last three years I believe that I have done my best to serve these objectives with dedication and conviction. And although today we are closer to our goal, much remains to be done, not only

Where is the link between financial markets and WTO?

This last week just witnessed the largest government intervention in the financial market - the U.S. government took control of the two mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and will acquire $1 billion of preferred shares in each and provide as much as $200 billion to the two

Judging RTAs in WTO Dispute Settlement

Among the many difficulties with reconciling bilateral/regional trade agreements and the WTO Agreement is which "branch" of the WTO, the Dispute Settlement Body or the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements, should judge the overall consistency of these agreements with WTO rules. A recent article by Youri Devust

An Olympic Boycott and the WTO

All the recent talk about a boycott of the Olympics, or the opening ceremonies at least, has me wondering: Is there a WTO violation here? My guess is no, but I have more questions than definite answers. Some questions: -- First, services seems like the most promising place to look,

Postscript on the Appellate Body Appointments

What Chinese Appellate Body appointee Zhang Yuejiao had to say: "I will do my best with unwavering impartiality," Zhang said Thursday. She will take her seat in June in the seven-member Appellate Body, which issues final rulings in trade disputes. "You can rest assured that I will