The New Tobacco Products Directive And Wto Law: Much Ado About Nothing?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Mar 2015
The New Tobacco Products Directive And Wto Law: Much Ado About Nothing?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Lukasz A Gruszczynski
The article analyses the compatibility of various regulatory mechanisms provided by the new Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) with the requirements of WTO law, in particular those included in the TBT and TRIPS Agreements. After introducing basic provisions of the directive and summarizing the concerns raised by some WTO Members during meetings of the TBT Committee and the TRIPS Council, the article discusses in more detail the merits of those claims. It finds that concerns expressed by the WTO Members are generally overstated, as most TPD provisions, except for the temporal menthol exception, are WTO compatible. The article also notes that …
Fcts's Cop6 Meeting And Its Implications For Tobacco Control Polices, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Dec 2013
Fcts's Cop6 Meeting And Its Implications For Tobacco Control Polices, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Lukasz A Gruszczynski
The sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Framework Conventionon Tobacco Control (FCTC) took place in Moscow on 13 – 18 October 2014. This report is intended to summarize the outcomes of the COP6, analyzing in more detail three specific issues that were addressed and/or discussed during the meeting: (i) the relationship between international trade regime and the FCTC; (ii) the guidelines for the implementation of Art. 6 of the FCTC (price and tax measures); and (iii) the treatment of electronic nicotine delivery systems.
The Reach Regulation And The Tbt Agreement: The Role Of The Tbt Committee In Regulatory Processes, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Dec 2012
The Reach Regulation And The Tbt Agreement: The Role Of The Tbt Committee In Regulatory Processes, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Lukasz A Gruszczynski
The REACH Regulation is one of the most complex regulatory frameworks ever designed by the EU. The Regulation intends to comprehensively address, for the first time in history, the health and environmental risks posed by chemicals. It imposes certain registration, evaluation and authorization requirements for both imported and domestically produced chemical substances. On international level, the Regulation has been met with strong criticism coming from many of the EU’s trading partners. Although countries in general have acknowledged the legitimacy of the objectives sought by the EU, they have expressed numerous concerns regarding the necessity and proportionality of the new system. …
Standard Of Review Of Health And Environmental Regulations By Wto Panels, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Dec 2012
Standard Of Review Of Health And Environmental Regulations By Wto Panels, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Lukasz A Gruszczynski
This chapter assesses the applicable standard of review in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) disputes with complex factual issues. In particular, the chapter analyzes how the new deferential standard, set out by the Appellate Body (AB) in US/Canada - Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC – Hormones Dispute, is actually applied in practice (determining reasonableness of risk assessment, not its correctness). To this end, the AB report in Australia – Measures Affecting the Importation of Apples from New Zealand is scrutinized. The conclusion is reached that although the applicable standard of review under the SPS Agreement (particularly under Articles 2.2 …
Customary Rules Of Interpretation In The Practice Of Wto Dispute Settlement Bodies, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Dec 2011
Customary Rules Of Interpretation In The Practice Of Wto Dispute Settlement Bodies, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Lukasz A Gruszczynski
The WTO dispute settlement bodies tend to follow the instructions of Articles 31-33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). The customary rules that are embodied in these articles constitute a point of reference for both the panels and the Appellate Body in their interpretation of WTO provisions. This paper identifies a number of cases, however, where the dispute settlement bodies appear to deviate from the holistic approach promoted by the VCLT. In particular, these include instances of extensive reliance on text (to the exclusion of other elements such as context and purpose), application of a sequential …
How Deep Should We Go? Searching For An Appropriate Standard Of Review In Sps Cases, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Dec 2010
How Deep Should We Go? Searching For An Appropriate Standard Of Review In Sps Cases, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Lukasz A Gruszczynski
Although the applicable standard of review under Articles 2.2/5.1 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) is not de novo, investigation by WTO panels is nevertheless quite intrusive in terms of objectivity and coherence of risk assessment. Moreover, the panel’s review does not end with the final conclusion reached by the WTO Member in its risk assessment; it also extends to the quality of the reasoning employed and the intermediate interferences that led to the conclusion. If a WTO Member relies on expert judgment in its risk assessment, this needs to be sufficiently transparent …
The Sps Agreement Within The Framework Of Wto Law. The Rough Guide To The Agreement’S Applicability, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Sep 2008
The Sps Agreement Within The Framework Of Wto Law. The Rough Guide To The Agreement’S Applicability, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Lukasz A Gruszczynski
This article analyzes the problem of applicability of the SPS Agreement and its relationship with the TBT Agreement and GATT 1994. In this context, special attention is given to the panel report in EC – Biotech Products. The reason for such an approach is twofold. First, it was the first panel which comprehensively analyzed the conditions of applicability of the SPS Agreement, and second, some parts of its analysis are disappointing and not well reasoned. This article recognizes that the conditions of applicability of the SPS Agreement were conceptualized by the case law very broadly. The author, while accepting parts …
Sps Measures Adopted In Case Of Insufficiency Of Scientific Evidence – Where Do We Stand After Ec-Biotech Products Case?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
May 2008
Sps Measures Adopted In Case Of Insufficiency Of Scientific Evidence – Where Do We Stand After Ec-Biotech Products Case?, Lukasz A. Gruszczynski
Lukasz A Gruszczynski
This article analyzes the disciplines established by Article 5.7 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. The analysis is based both on the text of the SPS Agreement as well as on the existing case law with the special consideration given to the panel’s ruling in EC – Biotech Products. The article criticizes the approach of the case law to the issue of applicability of Article 5.7 as it confuses the applicability with the consistency. The article argues that it is more appropriate to view the SPS Agreement as providing for three mutually exclusive paths of …