Clik here to view.
WTO Appellate Body in Clove Cigarettes – Faites vos Jeux
The WTO Appellate Body’s Report in ‘Clove cigarettes’ was issued on 4 April. It is a dream ‘Trade and public health’ case and therefore generally a superb ‘trade and regulatory autonomy’ case. Under...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Use of Fair Trade labels in procurement decisions – Court of Justice of the...
The Court of Justice of the EU has further completed its views on the use of criteria linked to sustainable development. These are criteria which do not simply refer to environmental characteristics of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Plain packaging – One battle might be over, plenty to follow
I reported earlier that he plain packaging dispute is fought on many fronts. As has been widely reported, the domestic challenge to the Australian regime would seem to have been won by the Government...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EU law goes global – Compliance of landed fish and aquaculture products with...
Fisheries and aquaculture markets and regulation, are among the oldest in the world. Both economics and regulatory aspects of thee markets are often opaque. The challenge of their sustainable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
International standards, Codex and a new SPS dispute in the making: EU US...
Alberto Alemanno reports on some crucial developments in the development of international SPS standards. Prof Alemanno links to recent EU Agriculture Council conclusions which are a treasure trove of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Flury of WTO domestic regulatory autonomy cases continues: Ontario’s feed-in...
Just before the Christmas break, a WTO Panel ruled at the request of Japan and the EU that Ontario’s feed-in tariff program is illegal under the GATT and TRIMs agreement. Feed-in tariff programs are a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Compulsory licensing addressed in joint WTO, WHO, WIPO report on access to...
As reported earlier, India’s compulsory license against Bayer, for the sale of its drug Sorafenib Tosylate (marketed as Nexavar), brought the possibilities for compulsory license under the spotlight....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Does China – Raw Materials spell the end for OPEC? An eco-centered GATT view...
Oops, I did it again. A touch too suggestive, perhaps, the title, however the thought did occur to me. OPEC Members increasingly are WTO Members, too. OPEC traditionally is questioned from the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EU Seal product ban upheld by the ECJ – (unsubstantiated) Inuit and traders’...
The European Court of Justice has dismissed an application by Inuit community group, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), and the Fur Institute of Canada, for the EU’s ‘Seal Pups Regulation‘ (seal products...
View ArticleClik here to view.
WTO compatibility of biofuels sustainability criteria: The Argentinian complaint
Argentina has requested consultations, the first step in the WTO’s dispute settlement procedure, with respect to the EU’s biofuels sustainability criteria, contained in RED, its renewable energy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lessons learned from ACTA – European Commission transparency on TTIP
The European Commission (EC) has just published its position papers on a number of key aspects of the TTIP negotiations (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the United States). The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Toxic policy-making? Rotterdam ‘bans’ the use of Roundup
It is being reported (this link in Dutch only however I suspect the international media will pick up on this soon) this morning that the city of Rotterdam has ‘banned’ the use of Roundup (Monsanto’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How ‘trade related’ is the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual...
In Daiichi Sankyo v Demo (most likely ‘Demo’ in shorthand), the Court of Justice held last Thursday, 18 July. One of the main issues was the extent of Article 207 TFEU on the EU’s common commercial...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The ‘compact’– A new phase in international regulatory co-operation or a way...
In response to the tragedy at the Rana Plaza factory, the EU, Bangladesh and the International Labour Organisation together launched the ‘Global Sustainability Compact’ early July. The full title of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EU WTO action against Russian vehicle recycling fee
The first ever (ok, the second: however the polyethelyne case was settled before a report) WTO case concerned the environment (US Gasoline). The first ever EU action against Russia as a Member of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SPS meets Geopolitics: the Lithuanian WTO complaint against Russia’s...
Lithuania is suspecting that a combination of its currently holding the rotating presidency of the European Union, and Russian jittery over an impending trade and association agreements with the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EC, UK et al comments on Belgian nano-register delay its roll-out. No...
The European Commission, the United Kingdom, The Czech Republic, Italy and Ireland have all issued detailed comments on the ‘nano register’ notified by Belgium. Belgium itself had summarised the draft...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is something fishy in the State of Denmark? Faroe Islands WTO and UNCLOS...
Yummie. That’s how Trade lawyers and EU lawyers receive news of the Danish request for consultations with the EU, over at the WTO, on behalf of the Faroe Islands. A separate action is underway with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Be careful what you ask for. A first review of the WTO EU seals Panel.
After leaks, the Panel’s ruling in EU Seals is finally out. As it was only released this afternoon, I have not as yet had time to read it thoroughly. However diagonal reading reveals that by and large...
View ArticleClik here to view.
RERA: a weee chance of US Basel ratification?
Many thanks to Gideon Kracov for pointing this out to me: the proposed Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (a private member’s Bill) would install an EU-type regime on the export of electric and...
View Article