WTO and Environmental Protection

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the interpretation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in dispute settlements has shown both the limits and scope of how a rule-making body, with a legacy of compromise and negotiated outcomes, deals with environmental protection. It spells out the WTO position on the trade-environment linkage and then reviews the key provisions negotiated under the WTO framework that relate to environmental policies. Next, it details the scope and limit of these rules by analyzing a sample of environmental cases interpreted in the WTO dispute settlement body (DSB). These include the tuna-dolphin, shrimp-turtle, reformulated gasoline, and asbestos cases. It also looks at how the WTO rules compare to those established under other Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEAs) and how this relationship is significant as it highlights limits.

From the Paper:

"The preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement that establishes the WTO has referred to the importance of working towards sustainable development. The Members have recognized that "their relations in the field of trade and economic endeavor should be conducted with a view to....protect and preserve the environment and to enhance the means for doing so in a manner consistent with their respective needs and concerns at different levels of economic development" This statement contains an example of the legacy of compromise and the result of negotiated outcomes in the WTO. In the case of environmental protection there is a compromise of "sustainable development" embedded in the WTO Agreements and mandates that gives leeway to "creative ambiguities"."

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