Law Commons^™

The New Tobacco Products Directive And Wto Law: Much Ado About Nothing?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

Shared Responsibility Regulation Model For Cross-Border Reproductive Transactions, Sharon Bassan

Sharon Bassan

The term “cross-border reproductive transactions” refers to the phenomenon of tens of thousands of people who travel from one country to another to purchase reproductive services, in order to have a child. The foci of this paper are the lion share of cross-border reproductive transactions, specifically between consumers, i.e., intended parents from affluent countries, and suppliers of reproductive services, egg sellers and surrogate mothers, the majority of whom are from lower middle-income countries. Strong concerns regarding the morality of consumers’ states’ policy arise when a country nationally restricts or bans commercial surrogacy, while accepting the results of cross-border reproductive transactions …

The World Trade Organization Dispute Over Genetically Modified Organisms: The Precautionary Principle Meets International Trade Law, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

“Precaution” is increasingly accepted as a basis for governmental policy in the areas of public health and environment on both the domestic and international levels. A precautionary perspective counsels action to avert danger or threats in situations of scientific uncertainty or incomplete information. Precautionary approaches find expression in internationally harmonized formulations as non-binding exhortations, binding treaties, and meta-level principles. Precaution is a particular challenge to free trade agreements, whose purpose is to eliminate unjustified barriers to trade. In that context, precaution as a justification for a challenged governmental measure may appear to be nothing more than a pretext for protectionism. …

The Tbt Agreement And Tobacco Control Regulations, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

The article analyses reports issued by the panel and the Appellate Body in the US – Measures Affecting the Productions and Sale of Clove Cigarettes dispute and attempts to assess their broader consequences for national tobacco control policies. Both reports are particularly important because they clarify the limits existing under WTO law, in particular the TBT Agreement, in this policy space. In this context, the article investigates whether the WTO dispute settlement bodies interpreted relevant rules of the TBT Agreement in a manner that provides countries with sufficient regulatory autonomy while ensuring at the same time that their technical measures …

A Failure To Consider: Why Lawmakers Create Risk By Ignoring Trade Obligations, David R. Kocan Professor

David R. Kocan Professor

The U.S. Congress frequently passes laws facially unrelated to trade that significantly impact U.S. trade relations. These impacts are often harmful, significant, and long-lasting. Despite this fact, these bills rarely receive adequate consideration of how they will impact trade. Without this consideration, Congress cannot properly conduct a cost-benefit analysis necessary to pass effective laws. To remedy this problem, the U.S. Trade Representative should evaluate U.S. domestic law to determine whether it is consistent with international trade obligations. Moreover, the U.S. Congress committee structure should be amended so that laws that might impact trade are considered within that light. In the …

The Who Framework Convention On Tobacco Control As An International Standard Under The Tbt Agreement?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski

Lukasz A Gruszczynski

In this article Lukasz Gruszczynski argues that there are good grounds for considering the Guidelines to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (‘FCTC’) relevant international standards under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (‘TBT Agreement’). The structure of the article is as follows: (1) Part I provides an overview of the relevant sections of the TBT Agreement and its ambiguities with respect to defining an international standard; (2) Part II sets out the aims, purpose and governance structure of the FCTC; (3) In light of the overviews of the TBT Agreement and the FCTC, Part III then considers whether …