Agriculture Law Commons^™

Irreconcilable Differences? The Geneva Act Of The Lisbon Agreement And The Common Law, Daniel Gervais

Daniel J Gervais

Developing An International Carbon Tax Regime, Steven Specht

Steven Specht

As atmospheric CO2 remains in the range of 400 ppm, it is necessary to find new international coordination to deal with climate change. The best way forward is an international regime of harmonized domestic carbon taxes. By agreeing to a minimum amount of taxation on domestic, point-source producers, money can be set aside for adaptation costs and alternative means of energy production. Finally, such a plan will overcome the problem of non-participation of countries in agreements like the Kyoto Protocol. As this is a treaty dealing with economics and trade, countries can place taxes on imports of non-participatory countries under …

Is The Turkey Halal? Genetically Modified Animal Feed Regulation Where East Meets West, Jennifer Spreng

Jennifer E Spreng

Turkey’s Biosafety Law (2010) imposes some of the world’s most stringent restrictions on the import, release and marketing of genetically modified foodstuffs. The Biosafety Board has not approved a single food event; the Council of State has suspended approval of MON 810; Turks have endured meat and milk price spikes; herders are going bankrupt for lack of affordable feed; and importers have been arrested and prosecuted for trace contamination with unapproved GMOs. It’s a pox an all their houses: Turks want nothing do with GM foodstuffs.

The culprit? The “precautionary principle,” which authorizes taking precautions in the face of scientific …

The Cotton And Sugar Subsidies Decisions: Wto's Dispute Settlement System Rebalances The Agreement On Agriculture, Stephen J. Powell, Andrew Schmitz

Stephen Joseph Powell

As far back as David Ricardo's shattering insight as to comparative advantage in 1817, agriculture has enjoyed special favor in trade. The unique place of farming was so well established by the time the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") was negotiated that GATT's tight disciplines on government interference with free trade not only exempted government protections to growers, but in fact were drafted to be fully consistent with the agricultural policies of the major signatories. While it would be an exaggeration to argue that GATT' s first half century was without impact on agricultural benefits, the sector …

The Limits Of Regulatory Science In Transnational Governance Of Transgenic Plant Agriculture And Food Systems, Taiwo Oriola

Taiwo Oriola

The current national and transnational regulatory and policy framework for transgenic plant agriculture and food is arguably largely defined by science. Notably, transgenic plant agriculture policy deference to science is ostensibly premised on the general perception that science is neutral, objective, reliable, and agnostic. This is exemplified by cases ranging from Alliance for Bio-integrity v Donna Shalala, European Communities: Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products, to European Commission v Republic of Poland, in which conscientious, ethical, religious, and cultural oppositional grounds to transgenic plant agriculture and food were trumped by scientific imperatives. However, the lack of unanimity …

International Economic Law And The Right To Food, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

This chapter examines the historic and current policies and practices that have contributed to food insecurity in the global South. It analyzes the impact of international economic law on the patterns of trade and production that perpetuate food insecurity, and recommends concrete measures that the international community might take through law and regulation to promote the fundamental human right to food. Part I provides a short introduction to the right to food framework and its implications for international trade, investment, and finance. Part II places the current food crisis in historical perspective by discussing the trade and aid policies that …

Los Estados Miembros De La Ue Como Gestores De Los Controles Oficiales Relativos A La Seguridad De Los Alimentos, La Salud Y El Bienestar De Los Animales Y La Fitosanidad, Luis González Vaqué

Luis González Vaqué

Article 44 (4) and (6) of Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004 requires the Commission to establish, and submit to the European Parliament and Council, an annual report on the overall operation of controls in the Member States in the light of: (a) the annual reports submitted by the national authorities on their control activities; (b) Commission controls carried out in the Member States; and (c) any other relevant information. The Report on the overall operation of official controls in the Member States on food safety, animal health and animal welfare, and plant health [COM(2013)681] is the third such report submitted by …

The Global Food System, Environmental Protection, And Human Rights, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The global food system is exceeding ecological limits while failing to meet the nutritional needs of a large segment of the world’s population. While law could play an important role in facilitating the transition to a more just and ecologically sustainable food system, the current legal framework fails to regulate food and agriculture in an integrated manner. The international legal framework governing food and agriculture is fragmented into three self-contained regimes that have historically operated in isolation from one another: international human rights law, international environmental law, and international trade law. International trade law has taken precedence over human rights …

Organismos Genéticamente Modificados (Ogm) Y Justicia: Implicaciones De La Biotecnología Para La Justicia Ambiental Internacional, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

En septiembre del 2006, un panel de resolución de controversias de la Organizacón Mundial del Comercio (OMC) emitió su fallo a favor de los Estados Unidos en la disputa entre EE.UU y la Unión Europea sobre los organismos genéticamente modificados (OGM). El fallo se basó en limitadas determinaciones procedimentales, y no abordó el tema de la seguridad de los OGM, el derecho de los países de reglamentar los productos genéticamente modificados más rigurosamente que sus equivalentes convencionales, ni la coherencia de la legislacion europea con las obligaciones del OMC. El continuo conflicto entre los Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea …

Regional Safeguard Measures: An Incentive To Sign Regional Trade Agreements Without Taking Into Consideration The Special Needs For Developing Countries, Elenor Lissel

Elenor Lissel

No abstract provided.

Agricultural Trade And Developing Countries, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

This article reviews Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries, edited by M.A. Aksoy & J.C. Beghin (Washington DC: World Bank, 2004). The book examines key issues in agricultural trade policy that are of particular significance to developing countries. The book’s strength is its painstaking research and detailed and exhaustive analysis of agricultural trade and production policies in a variety of countries and across a variety of commodities. The book provides a clear explanation of the market distortions caused by agricultural protectionism and of the distributional impacts of agricultural trade liberalization. The book’s weakness is its failure to integrate its analysis …

The Cotton And Sugar Subsidies Decisions: Wto’S Dispute Settlement System Rebalances The Agreement On Agriculture, Stephen J. Powell, Andrew Schmitz

Stephen Joseph Powell

Acting on a complaint by Brazil, a WTO dispute settlement panel ruled September 8, 2004, that a variety of support programs for upland cotton exceeded reduction commitments made by the United States when it signed the 1995 WTO Agriculture Agreement and were thus not immune from challenge under the WTO Subsidies Agreement, with which the Panel then found these programs inconsistent.

The Panel's conclusions, if upheld by the WTO's Appellate Body, will have significant impact on agricultural policies for specialty and program crops of the United States, Europe, and Japan. This paper analyzes the decision, notable as the first to …