Law Commons^™

Deploying The Wto Agreement On Government Procurement (Gpa) To Enhance Sustainability And Accelerate Climate Change Mitigation, Robert D. Anderson, Antonella Salgueiro, Steven L. Schooner, Marc Steiner

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Mitigating climate change and promoting sustainability are defining challenges of our time. Public procurement has a vital role to play in responding to the current crises. This article makes the case that the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), and specifically the Work Programme on Sustainable Procurement that has been initiated pursuant to the Agreement, can serve as important instruments to promote sustainable approaches to public procurement internationally, consistent with the goals of climate change mitigation.

The Work Programme, which was established at the time of the GPA’s modernization in 2012 and on which important work has …

Mapping The Law Of Wto Accession, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) joined either as original members or through the Article XII accession process. To date, over 20 members have joined through accession including most notably China in 2001. Recently, Vietnam completed its accession negotiations and Russia made do so sometime in 2007. Governments joining the WTO through accession have to abide by WTO rules, as all members do, but applicant governments are also often asked to accept individualized rules tailored for them through negotiations. These special rules have not received extensive examination in previous scholarship. The purpose of this article is to …

Anti-Corruption Internationally: Challenges In Procurement Markets Abroad—Part Ii:The Path Forward For Using Procurement Law To Help With Development And The Fight Against Corruption, Daniel I. Gordon

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper, presented at the West Government Contracts Year in Review Conference (covering 2012), discusses developing issues in international public procurement. Among other things, the paper suggests that there is growing recognition of the role that procurement can play in national development and the fight against corruption. In the paper the author points out that, while there is a worldwide trend toward more and more similar procurement systems, that trend does not mean that procurement systems are becoming, or should become, uniform. Moreover, the author contends in the paper that procurement law has only a limited role in national development …

The Wto’S Revised Government Procurement Agreement - An Important Milestone Toward Greater Market Access And Transparency In Global Public Procurement Markets, Robert D. Anderson, Steven L. Schooner, Collin D. Swan

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In December of 2011, the Parties to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) adopted significant revisions to the Agreement. The revised Agreement comprises (a) a much-needed modernization of the text of the Agreement, (b) an expansion of related market-access commitments by the Parties, and (c) a set of Future Work Programs intended to enhance transparency among the Parties and improve the administration of the Agreement. In these unstable economic times, the importance of the GPA and its improvements cannot be overstated.

This article also bemoans the media's misrepresentation of the ongoing process of China's negotiated accession into the …

Tempering 'Buy American' In The Recovery Act - Steering Clear Of A Trade War, Steven L. Schooner, Christopher R. Yukins

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The controversial 'Buy American requirements in Section 1605 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 threaten to stir protectionism leading to an outright trade war. This could be catastrophic in the current economic crisis, particularly since the Obama administration does not appear to beleive that additional domestic preferences are needed for U.S. procurement. The pending challenge for federal regulators, therefore, will be to craft a rule that contains the Recovery Act's international impact, while implementing Congress' intent. The authors suggest that the optimal approach seems to be the most simple: to fold new procurement under the Recovery Act …

The Enforcement Of Wto Judgments, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This essay examines the WTO’s dispute resolution system known as the Dispute Settlement Understanding (“DSU”). Inspiration for this essay comes from an influential article written by Michael Reisman four decades ago titled “The Enforcement of International Judgments.” Professor Reisman’s article presented a model for improving enforcement of international judicial decisions in cases between states. My essay shows that the DSU has achieved much of what Professor Reisman envisioned with respect to systematic enforcement of multilateral tribunal decisions. My essay begins by summarizing the institutional improvements recommended by Professor Reisman. Then the essay demonstrates how the DSU achieves many of those …

A New Wto Paradigm For Trade And The Environment, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article provides an overview of the “trade and environment” interface in the WTO and proposes a new paradigm for making progress. The article reviews recent developments in WTO adjudication and negotiations and examines the institutional interplay of international trade and biosafety with particular reference to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The article also points to several pro-environmental initiatives that could be taken by the WTO.

Part I provides a brief review of the history of environment linkage in trade policy, beginning in 1923. Part II offers a general survey of WTO rules and policies with implications for the environment. …

Incrementalism: Eroding The Impediments To A Global Public Procurement Market, Christopher R. Yukins, Steven L. Schooner

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Following decades of international negotiations and agreements, the world's multi-trillion-dollar public procurement market appears to be maturing into a free, open international market. To reach that point, nations must lower a broad array of barriers to trade in procurement. As the U.S. experience demonstrates, purchasing agencies, laboring under the constraints of domestic preferences, may effectively seek to promote free trade. At the same time, a variety of international organizations, from the World Trade Organization to Transparency International, have developed tools and instruments - including model codes and explicit nondiscrimination agreements - that ease barriers to trade in procurement. To accelerate …

Trade And The Environment In The Wto, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The linkage between trade and the environment stands out as an important challenge in global economic governance. Over the past decade, the WTO devoted considerable attention to this issue and included it on the agenda of the Doha Round. In parallel, the jurisprudence on trade and the environment has experienced significant advances. This study provides an overview of the main institutional changes at the WTO and of the developments in the jurisprudence most relevant to the interaction between the environment and trade. Specifically, this study focuses on GATT Article XX and takes note of many positive (and a few negative) …

Professor Hudec's Contribution To World Order, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

For over three decades, Professor Robert E. Hudec shaped the field of international trade law, and inspired students, colleagues, and policy-makers around the world. Professor Hudec was a spirited, witty, unassuming, kind, and honest man. He enjoyed having his ideas contested by others, and was willing to spend time to help colleagues and students think through their ideas. This tribute to Professor Hudec collects a series of stories and acknowledgments from his peers and colleagues.

The World Trade Organization And Law Enforcement, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Increased threats from transborder criminal activity are leading to stronger governmental and intergovernmental responses in the military, judicial, and regulatory arenas. These efforts, particularly the non-military efforts, raise a new issue in international economic law: the intersection between trade and law enforcement. This paper provides an overview of this “trade and law enforcement” linkage in four areas: (1) security, (2) health, (3) human rights, and (4) environmental protection. To explain the linkage between trade and law enforcement, I present the taxonomy of how trade measures are usable for law enforcement, and I offer a synopsis of the WTO provisions relevant …

China's Legal System And The Wto: Prospects For Compliance, Donald C. Clarke

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The impact of WTO membership both on China and its trading partners, both for good and for ill, has been greatly overstated. WTO treaty obligations and Dispute Settlement Body rulings will not become part of Chinese domestic unless specifically incorporated by Chinese legislation. Moreover, the WTO does not require a perfect legal system of its members; instead, it requires a degree of transparency and fairness in certain limited areas. Although some of China's WTO commitments will be difficult for it to fulfill, even non-fulfillment will not result in the predicted flood of WTO dispute settlement proceedings, since such proceedings can …

Trans-Parliamentary Associations In Global Functional Agencies, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article examines a new phenomenon, transparliamentary activism that focuses on particular international issues or international organizations. For example, the Parliamentary Conference on the World Bank. Such parliamentary organizing has a political significance beyond the usual transnational NGO activities because parliamentarians are elected officials. The transparliamentary activism discussed here differs from the traditional interparliamentary association going back over a hundred years. The article discusses the recent developments in the World Trade Organization and the World Bank.

The Law Of Environmental 'Ppms' In The Wto: Debunking The Myth Of Illegality, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article explains and appraises the WTO law of Processes and Production Methods (“PPMs”). A better understanding of the law and of how PPMs operate can help governments and stakeholders improve the management of outwardly directed PPMs. Governments presently have divergent views about WTO rules. These diverging views have led to an inside-out debate from which a political consensus cannot easily emerge. This Article examines the relevant WTO case law on the issue of PPMs and concludes that PPMs are, contrary to some commentators, not prohibited by the WTO. Finally, the Article shows how a correct legal reading may enable …

The Legal Status Of The Doha Declarations, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article evaluates the uncertain legal status of two ministerial declarations approved at the Doha Conference. The Article proceeds by explaining the broad meaning and purpose of ministerial declarations, as well as the specific implications of the Doha Declarations. I conclude that the Doha Declarations may be considered either (1) the political statements or moral commitments of trade ministers or (2) as part of the constitutive process of decision-making by the WTO organization. Under the first view, the WTO Declarations are analogous to G-7 Declarations or the Malmö Declaration of environmental ministers. Under the second view, the Ministerial Conference can …

Triangulating The World Trade Organization, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article presents an analytic method for considering proposals to expand the scope of the WTO. In doing so, the Article organizes competing ideas concerning the rationale for the WTO and shows how varying assumptions can lead to different conclusions on the proper content of international trade law. This Article seeks to advance the debate by comparing these assumptions and also considering the key literature about trade linkage. The Article proceeds in three parts. Part I shows why the purpose of the WTO is not self-evident and how a framework can be useful for improving the debate about the organization's …