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Full-Text Articles in Law
Water As A Public Good: The Status Of Water Under The General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade, Bryant Walker Smith
Water As A Public Good: The Status Of Water Under The General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade, Bryant Walker Smith
Bryant Walker Smith
Is water a “product” subject to the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)? I argue that it is not, because the established, widespread, and consistent assertion by states of public ownership over their water resources through both municipal and international law (the “public-ownership consensus”) precludes any reading of GATT that would fundamentally alter the unique status of those resources. My reasoning therefore differs from others who have addressed this issue in that I first examine the broader legal context in which the WTO exists and then consider how that context compels an interpretation of “product” …
Biofuels, Subsidies, And Dispute Settlement In The Wto, Bryant Walker Smith
Biofuels, Subsidies, And Dispute Settlement In The Wto, Bryant Walker Smith
Bryant Walker Smith
The first WTO panels to tackle a biofuels dispute under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures will navigate a murky sea of conflict, gridlock, and uncertainty that the subsidies agreement did not contemplate and that the failed Doha round did not resolve. This article charts these waters. It identifies both the values that the panels will confront and the interpretive tools that they will wield. It further argues that dispute settlement may become the primary driver of an otherwise stagnant regime, and it sketches three competing visions for protecting the “legally binding security of expectations” that underscores that regime.