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Full-Text Articles in Law
Trade Multilateralism And U.S. National Security: The Making Of The Gatt Security Exceptions, Mona Pinchis-Paulsen
Trade Multilateralism And U.S. National Security: The Making Of The Gatt Security Exceptions, Mona Pinchis-Paulsen
Michigan Journal of International Law
Today, there are an unprecedented number of disputes at the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) involving national security. The dramatic rise in trade disputes involving national security has resuscitated debate over the degree of discretion afforded to WTO Members as to when and how to invoke Article XXI, the Security Exception, of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (“GATT”), with binding effect. The goal of this article is to shed light on contemporary questions and concerns involving national security and international trade, particularly questions involving the appropriate invocation of Article XXI GATT, through careful attention to the article’s historical context. …
A Higher Authority: Canada’S Cannabis Legalization In The Context Of International Law, Antonia Eliason, Robert Howse
A Higher Authority: Canada’S Cannabis Legalization In The Context Of International Law, Antonia Eliason, Robert Howse
Michigan Journal of International Law
Part I of this Article provides an overview of some of the key terms and provisions of Canada’s Cannabis Act. Part II looks at the Cannabis Act in the context of the International Drug Conventions, examining how the various convention provisions might apply, looking first at the Single Convention and then at the 1988 Convention and how that convention fits with Canadian constitutional provisions. Part III focuses on the international human rights framework and how the Cannabis Act might be viewed as compatible with international human rights law even where incompatible with the International Drug Conventions. This Part also offers …
On Territoriality And International Investment Law: Applying China's Investment Treaties To Hong Kong And Macao, Odysseas G. Repousis
On Territoriality And International Investment Law: Applying China's Investment Treaties To Hong Kong And Macao, Odysseas G. Repousis
Michigan Journal of International Law
To date, investor-state tribunals have been preoccupied with a range of issues revolving around the territorial application (territoriality) of international investment agreements (IIAs). The importance, as well as the various forms such issues take, has recently been highlighted in the decision of the Singapore High Court (SGHC) in Laos v. Sanum. In this case, the SGHC was asked by Laos to set aside an earlier arbitral award (in Sanum v. Laos), filed by a Macanese legal entity and rendered under the China-Laos bilateral investment treaty (BIT). In approaching the matter, the SGHC set aside the award on the grounds that …
Food Miles: Environmental Protection Or Veiled Protectionism?, Meredith Kolsky Lewis, Andrew D. Mitchell
Food Miles: Environmental Protection Or Veiled Protectionism?, Meredith Kolsky Lewis, Andrew D. Mitchell
Michigan Journal of International Law
Eat local. Such a small phrase yet such a loaded proposition. Buying food from nearby sources has become a popular objective. This aim is associated with helping farmers in one’s country or region; observing the seasonality of one’s location; eating fresher foods; striving for food security; and protecting the environment. One of the unmistakable messages of the “locavore” movement is that importing food—particularly food that comes from far away—causes environmental harm. The theory is that transporting food long distances results in the release of high levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere and is thus a dangerous contributor to …
Paper Compliance: How China Implements Wto Decisions , Timothy Webster
Paper Compliance: How China Implements Wto Decisions , Timothy Webster
Michigan Journal of International Law
China’s growing economic and military clout generates scrutiny, optimism, insecurity, opportunism, opprobrium, and unease around the world, especially in the United States. Many question China’s role on the world stage. Politicians and academics openly doubt China abides by international law and other global standards of state conduct promulgated by Western liberal democracies since the end of World War II. The game may change—international trade, territorial and maritime disputes, environmental law, human rights, arms control, riparian rights, cyber-crime, endangered species—but the concern remains the same: is China an international scofflaw?
A Dual Track Approach To Challenging Chinese Censorship In The Wto: The (Future) Case Of Google And Facebook, Anonymous
Michigan Journal of International Law
As economic and trade policies continue to affect more facets of society, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) impact on government policy and citizens’ lives has grown. Since its creation on January 1, 1995, the WTO has fostered trade liberalization negotiations and served as a forum where member countries can discuss economic concerns with one another. The WTO is perhaps best known for its dispute settlement mechanism. When countries cannot reach a mutual resolution to a conflict governed by a trade agreement, they can initiate formal legal proceedings against one another by asking for a panel to be appointed. The panel …
Reforming Trade Remedies, Wentong Zheng
Reforming Trade Remedies, Wentong Zheng
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article aims to restart the debate on trade remedies by offering new perspectives on the fundamental defects of the current trade remedy regime and proposing a bold yet feasible road map for reforms. As shall become clear, the debate on trade remedies is an essential component of the broader debate on trade protectionism, an issue that has never been more important in light of the challenges facing the world economy today. Reforming trade remedies, therefore, has far-reaching implications for the global trade agenda.
Gsp And Development: Increasing The Effectiveness Of Nonreciprocal Preferences, Matthew G. Snyder
Gsp And Development: Increasing The Effectiveness Of Nonreciprocal Preferences, Matthew G. Snyder
Michigan Journal of International Law
The intellectual foundations of nonreciprocal preferences were first laid out in the 1960s, as several scholars noted developing countries' increasing reliance on highly volatile, low-value-added exports like agricultural and mineral commodities. The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which became the mechanism for implementing nonreciprocal preferential market access, was developed in this context. GSP was envisioned as part of a larger development strategy that included import-substitution policies, infant industry protection, and preferential access to developed countries' markets. As GSP granted preferential access over World Trade Organization (WTO) most favored nation (MFN) rates, development economists anticipated that it would provide developing countries' …
Rebalancing Trips, Molly Land
Rebalancing Trips, Molly Land
Michigan Journal of International Law
Application of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute resolution procedures to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement) has provoked a variety of reactions over time. At its inception, the decision to enforce the treaty through the WTO's dispute resolution process was widely viewed as a loss for developing countries. Many feared it would lead to an explosion of litigation against developing countries and cause distortions in domestic intellectual property (IP) policy making. More recent scholarship, however, has argued that these fears were unfounded. Few disputes before WTO panels have involved violations of the TRIPS Agreement, even …
Toward A Trips Truce, Patricia L. Judd
Toward A Trips Truce, Patricia L. Judd
Michigan Journal of International Law
The World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS or Agreement), now over fifteen years old, regulates a marketplace characterized by extraordinary dynamism, influenced by the constant forces of globalization and technological evolution. Attempts to regulate this market raise natural, persistent questions concerning the Agreement's ability to serve its respective constituencies and adapt to change. The Agreement operates in the midst of an age-old dynamic pitting developing and developed countries against one another, especially when it comes to domestic enforcement against piracy and counterfeiting-a dynamic in which TRIPS has been criticized as a one-sided instrument. …
Breaking Patents, Daniel R. Cahoy
Breaking Patents, Daniel R. Cahoy
Michigan Journal of International Law
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Boeing aircraft company worked to address the rising cost of jet fuel by inventing lighter metal alloys for use in aerospace materials. Among its discoveries was a method of producing aluminum-lithium alloys with high "fracture toughness," and in 1989, Boeing received a patent for the process. Five years later, another aerospace company working as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contractor, Lockheed Martin, was attempting to solve a similar problem related to materials used in the space shuttle. Lighter materials were necessary for future shuttle missions to transport components of the International Space …
Public Non-Commercial Use' Compulsory Licensing For Pharmaceutical Drugs In Government Health Care Programs, Pier Deroo
Public Non-Commercial Use' Compulsory Licensing For Pharmaceutical Drugs In Government Health Care Programs, Pier Deroo
Michigan Journal of International Law
Suppose a relatively prosperous nation with universal public health coverage faces an HIV/AIDS crisis. It refuses to negotiate with the patent-holding manufacturers of the best antiretrovirals (ARVs) available, instead issuing compulsory licenses. Compulsory licenses permit the generic drug manufacturers designated in the compulsory licenses to make, use, import, and sell the patented ARVs without the permission of the patent owners, increasing competition and lowering prices. Realizing that drugs are much cheaper without patents, the nation decides to issue another round of compulsory licenses for an extensive list of patented drugs for its universal health care program. While improving public access …
The Inherent Jurisdiction Of Wto Tribunals: The Select Application Of Public International Law Required By The Judicial Function, Andrew D. Mitchell, David Heaton
The Inherent Jurisdiction Of Wto Tribunals: The Select Application Of Public International Law Required By The Judicial Function, Andrew D. Mitchell, David Heaton
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article explores whether World Trade Organization (WTO) panels and the Appellate Body (WTO Tribunals) have the power to apply certain rules of public international law by reason of their judicial character, and because the application of these rules is necessary for the proper exercise of their judicial function. In other words, it seeks to answer the following questions: Do WTO Tribunals have inherent jurisdiction? And, if so, what are some of the rules applicable under and limitations on this jurisdiction?
Are Eu Trade Sanctions On Burma Compatible With Wto Law?, Robert L. Howse, Jared M. Genser
Are Eu Trade Sanctions On Burma Compatible With Wto Law?, Robert L. Howse, Jared M. Genser
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article will explore the European Union's approach to Burma. The European Union, until recently, has implemented quite limited trade sanctions against the Burmese junta. According to the most recent figures, E.U. countries still import €306 million ($454 million) of commodities and products, ninety-five percent of which are textiles, timber, gems, and precious metals. However, the Common Position of November 19, 2007, strengthens considerably E.U. measures against the Burmese regime and contains a ban on the importation of these goods from Burma. Further, the Common Position requires E.U. countries to prohibit intentional and knowing "participation" in activities that "directly or …
Paper Dragon: Inadequate Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In China, Omario Kanji
Paper Dragon: Inadequate Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In China, Omario Kanji
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note will explore the extent to which China is in violation of its obligations under TRIPs. Section I surveys the current state of IPR infringement in China. Section II analyzes relevant TRIPs provisions, case law, and treaties that supplement TRIPs provisions. Section III analyzes Chinese criminal law, the December 2004 Judicial Interpretation of Chinese criminal law, and Chinese IP law as they pertain to IPR infringement. Section IV outlines enforcement efforts in China against the backdrop of the law analyzed in the previous section. Section V evaluates these enforcement efforts given China's capabilities and obligations, and Section VI concludes …
Power, Norms, And International Intellectual Property Law, Tai-Heng Cheng
Power, Norms, And International Intellectual Property Law, Tai-Heng Cheng
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article begins with the premise that international law is the net result of global processes of interactions among state and non-state participants in the international system. The Article builds on the author’s previous work by proposing a theory of international law that fills the interstices between private and public international law. Participants generally deploy power and invoke legal and social norms in pursuit of interests and in response to the strategies of other participants. Eventually, outcomes that reflect both power and norms result, and these outcomes in turn modify norms and reallocate power. New outcomes then follow in future …
Juridical Substance Or Myth Over Balance-Of-Payment: Developing Countries And The Role Of The International Monetary Fund In The World Trade Organization, Ugochukwu Chima Ukpabi
Juridical Substance Or Myth Over Balance-Of-Payment: Developing Countries And The Role Of The International Monetary Fund In The World Trade Organization, Ugochukwu Chima Ukpabi
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note attempts to chart the division of labor in respect of balance-of-payment between the Fund and the WTO. More importantly, it reflects on how the intertwined relationship between the Fund and the WTO over balance-of-payment might impact on developing countries in the unfolding architecture of trade.
The Promotion Of Free-Trade Areas Viewed In Terms Of Most-Favored-Nation Treatment And "Imperial Preference", Sydney M. Cone Iii
The Promotion Of Free-Trade Areas Viewed In Terms Of Most-Favored-Nation Treatment And "Imperial Preference", Sydney M. Cone Iii
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article will first examine the relevant WTO provisions that permit free-trade agreements as exceptions to MFN treatment. It will then situate current U.S. policy in the context of the history and purpose of those provisions. Next, the discussion of history and purpose will take up a key debate in the original GATT negotiations, in which the United States championed MFN treatment, while European countries, in particular, Great Britain, sought to retain preferential trading arrangements-arrangements once associated with the rubric of "imperial preference." Against this background, the article will explore the question of whether current U.S. policy represents a reversion …
Staying Within The Negotiated Framework: Abiding By The Non-Discrimination Clause In Trips Article 27, Kevin J. Nowak
Staying Within The Negotiated Framework: Abiding By The Non-Discrimination Clause In Trips Article 27, Kevin J. Nowak
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note argues that the Panel in Canada-Generic Medicines correctly decided that the non-discrimination clause in Article 27 applies to the exceptions of Articles 30 and 31. Because Article 27 is the guiding force of Section 5, any exceptions to the rights granted under Section 5 must comply with the requirements set forth in Article 27. Although extreme applications of the non-discrimination clause could be limiting upon some exceptions, Articles 30 and 31 were not placed into TRIPs as complete escape clauses from the framework of Section 5. Additionally, the application of the non-discrimination clause to Articles 30 and 31 …
Balancing Judicial Economy, State Opportunism, And Due Process Concerns In The Wto, Ana Frischtak
Balancing Judicial Economy, State Opportunism, And Due Process Concerns In The Wto, Ana Frischtak
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note will focus on an aspect of the dispute settlement proceeding that has not been officially proposed for reform: the withdrawal of and amendments to measures being challenged by a complaining Member during the course of the proceedings. This aspect raises issues of judicial economy, state opportunism, and due process. In particular, this practice, where the respondent country to a dispute withdraws or amends the measure being challenged during the course of proceedings, threatens to undermine the legitimacy of the dispute settlement system as a fair and transparent adjudicating body.
Wto And Gmos: Analyzing The European Community's Recent Regulations Covering The Labeling Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Brian Schwartz
Wto And Gmos: Analyzing The European Community's Recent Regulations Covering The Labeling Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Brian Schwartz
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note explores the compatibility of the EC's GMO regulations within the framework of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures ("SPS Agreement"), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade ("TBT Agreement"), and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994" or "GAT"), all integral parts of the WTO Agreement. Part II presents arguments for or against the use of GM-products. Part III explores the concept of ecolabeling by analyzing the general goals of such programs, including the economic theory behind green consumerism and the characteristics necessary for effective schemes. Part IV describes the core …
The New Codex Alimentarius Commission Standards For Food Created With Modern Biotechnology: Implications For The Ec Gmo Framework's Compliance With The Sps Agreement, Aaron A. Ostrovsky
The New Codex Alimentarius Commission Standards For Food Created With Modern Biotechnology: Implications For The Ec Gmo Framework's Compliance With The Sps Agreement, Aaron A. Ostrovsky
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note makes two assertions. First, despite the fact that the Codex guidelines do not specifically invoke the Precautionary Principle in name, it can indeed be read into the guidelines in the amount of deference given to states in how they assess risk. This in turn means that the E.C.'s Deliberate Release Directive should be enjoy a presumption of compliance with both the SPS Agreement and the GATT. The second assertion is that even if the adjudicating body of the WTO finds that the Deliberate Release Directive, in relying on the Precautionary Principle, prescribes a higher level of protection than …
The Varied Policies Of International Juridical Bodies- Reflections On Theory And Practice, John H. Jackson
The Varied Policies Of International Juridical Bodies- Reflections On Theory And Practice, John H. Jackson
Michigan Journal of International Law
It can be seen that "fragmentation" can have several dimensions, and that the difference between juridical approaches as well as legislative approaches to treaty or other norm stating documents can result not only from different institutional settings, but also from different policy goals assumed for differing dispute settlement systems.
Bridging Fragmentation And Unity: International Law As A Universe Of Inter-Connected Islands, Joost Pauwelyn
Bridging Fragmentation And Unity: International Law As A Universe Of Inter-Connected Islands, Joost Pauwelyn
Michigan Journal of International Law
The fragmentation of the international legal system is not new. The consent-based nature of international law inevitably led to the creation of almost as many treaty regimes, composed of different constellations of states, as there are problems to be dealt with. Traditionally, these different regimes operated in virtual isolation from each other. Most importantly, the Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank, IMF, and GATT, now WTO) focused on the world's economic problems, while the UN institutions tackled the world's political problems. Both the IMF and World Bank articles of agreement, for example, explicitly state that political factors cannot be taken into …
Interpreting The Wto Agreements- A Commentary On Professor Pauwelyn's Approach, Joshua Meltzer
Interpreting The Wto Agreements- A Commentary On Professor Pauwelyn's Approach, Joshua Meltzer
Michigan Journal of International Law
In his paper, Professor Pauwelyn argues that pursuant to Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Vienna Convention), the Appellate Body should consider other rules of international law in the interpretation of the WTO Agreements, when that law reflects the "common intentions" of the parties to the WTO. He argues that this does not mean that "all the parties to the WTO treaty must have formally and explicitly agreed, one after the other, to the new non-WTO rule; nor even that this rule must be otherwise legally bind all WTO members; but rather, that this new …
Reply To Joshua Meltzer, Joost Pauwelyn
Reply To Joshua Meltzer, Joost Pauwelyn
Michigan Journal of International Law
A reply to Joshua Meltzer's comment on the author's paper Bridging Fragmentation and Unity: International Law as a Universe of Inter-Connected Islands
Development, Globalization, And Law, Robert L. Kuttner
Development, Globalization, And Law, Robert L. Kuttner
Michigan Journal of International Law
Is global commerce under essentially laissez-faire rules optimal for economic development? In this era of liberated and deregulated markets, and after the final collapse of communism, a great many commentators would consider that a self-evident question. Of course free global commerce is good for economic development, because we know that the freest possible markets produce the most efficient use of resources and the highest available rates of economic growth. And growth benefits development. How could it be otherwise? And what is the role of law in facilitating commerce and in contouring a particular regime of domestic and transnational commerce and …
The Importance Of Core Labor Rights In World Development, Jonathan P. Hiatt, Deborah Greenfield
The Importance Of Core Labor Rights In World Development, Jonathan P. Hiatt, Deborah Greenfield
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article discusses the meaning and significance of core labor standards and the importance of linking them to trade agreements. It explains why the "protectionist" label often attributed to such linkage efforts by their detractors is misleading, as the example of China illustrates, repression of labor rights constitutes a form of unfair competition which undermines efforts to create a more just and stable world economy.
Development: Domestic Constraints And External Opportunities From Glabalization, T. N. Srinivasan
Development: Domestic Constraints And External Opportunities From Glabalization, T. N. Srinivasan
Michigan Journal of International Law
In what follows, this Article first discusses the process of development in Section II. Section III is devoted to the external aspects of development, namely international trade, finance, and intergovernmental organizations. Section IV is concerned with the domestic dimensions and legal reform, drawing on the debate on legal reforms in India. The author offers a few concluding remarks in Section V.
Labor Standards And The Generalized System Of Preferences: The European Labor Incentives, Anthony N. Cole
Labor Standards And The Generalized System Of Preferences: The European Labor Incentives, Anthony N. Cole
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Note offers an introduction to the history of the GSP system, and critiques India's claim that the particular GSP scheme enacted by the EC is unacceptable under WTO law. It ultimately concludes that while the EC’s GSP scheme does indeed raise issues not raised by the GSP scheme of any other country, it is nonetheless not inconsistent with the EC's WTO obligations. Part 2 discusses the development of the international GSP regime, as incorporated into the legal structure of the WTO, and thereby establishes what originally was and was not seen as permissible within such schemes. Part 3 then …