The WTO and the Environment: Development of competence beyond trade

by Watson; James

• ISBN13: 9780415527125
• ISBN10: 0415527120
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book debates the role played by the WTO in the environmental field, and it goes on to offer workable solutions for the international community in respect to the interaction between international trade and environmental law. The book addresses the development of environmental competency in the WTO and examines the arguments of those who oppose WTO rule making with impacts on the environment. The WTO's interactions with multilateral environmental agreements are considered and it also analyses recent WTO cases including the Shrimp/Turtlecase and the Tuna/Dolphincase. In examining of how an international organisation set up with a specific purpose in mind has come to interact in fields beyond its original intended competence James Watson demonstrates how the dispute resolution system at the WTO has come to work in a judicialised manner operating with an informal system of precedent. This has led to the contracting parties placing more reliance on the decisions of the dispute panels and appeal body when considering policy options, with WTO rulings increasingly influencing the behavior of national legislatures in regard to the environment. The book sets out practical improvements which could be made to the dispute resolution system in order to support higher levels of competence when considering trade-related environmental measures. The book argues that this could be achieved with straightforward amendments to the WTO, based on existing practices endorsed under the WTO for other policy considerations.