This book compiles the proceedings of a conference on dispute settlement in international trade held in Montevideo, Uruguay in April 2004. It also includes papers requested to prestigious scholars and practitioners with the objective of ensuring as complete a collection of papers as possible in a single volume. The book provides a comprehensive view of both multilateral and regional trade dispute settlement mechanisms and the complex array of systemic issues that underlie their mutual interactions, including the challenges associated with the proliferation of dispute settlement mechanisms worldwide, the risk of fragmentation, and the special needs of developing countries. All of the chapters were written by leading experts; the papers and the roundtable discussions on multilateral issues expose the strengths and weaknesses of the WTO dispute settlement system, its history, the status of the current process of review, and the interactions between trade disputes and ongoing negotiations under the Doha Development Round, in particular regarding the ever difficult issue of agricultural trade. The book also brings a fresh view of the problems and accomplishments with respect to State-to-State trade disputes in several sub-regions of Latin America: MERCOSUR, the Andean Community, the Central American Common Market, and the ALADI framework. These are regions in which the specialized literature in English is scarce, yet their increasing importance as markets and players in international trade negotiations warrants the attention of practitioners, policymakers, negotiators and academics around the world. Dispute settlement in NAFTA and in the European Union are also the subject of individual chapters. Roundtable reports provide interesting comparative views. Those analyses set the stage for more prospective views and discussions on the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and its dispute settlement mechanism, an ambitious initiative that seeks to unite 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere. This book provides an excellent set of readings for those interested in the multiple facets and future challenges of trade dispute settlement around the globe.
The Editors
Julio Lacarte
Former Chairman of the WTO Appellate Body, Mr. Lacarte has been Ambassador of Uruguay in Germany, Argentina, Bolivia, the European Communities, Ecuador, the United States, India, Japan and Thailand. He has also been Permanent Representative of Uruguay before the OAS, GATT, the Cuenca de la Plata Accord, ALADI, and the Geneva-based international organizations twice. Mr. Lacarte was Member of the UN Development Planning Committee, Adjunct Director of the UN Balance of Payments and Trade Division, Director of Cooperation among Developing Countries of UNCTAD, Chairman of several working parties on dispute settlement under GATT, Chairman of the Negotiating Groups on Dispute Settlement and on Institutions during the Uruguay Round; Chairman of several working groups on accession of countries to the GATT; Chairman of the GATT Contracting Parties; and Alternate Executive Secretary of GATT. Mr. Lacarte was also Minister of Industry and Trade of Uruguay, headed many national delegations to conferences sponsored by major international organizations and chaired many international commissions, committees, boards and councils on a number of issues, particularly on trade. He has authored four books on trade, economics, and dispute settlement and many specialized articles. Mr.Lacarte has taught in universities in Uruguay, Argentina, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the United States and France and has been consultant for the IADB, ECLAC, UNDP, SELA and UNCTAD. Has been awarded honorary decorations by the Governments of Ecuador, Bolivia, Germany and Argentina.
Jaime Granados
MSc (Oxford University), LLM (University of Georgia), Law (University of Costa Rica). Jaime Granados has been a consultant since 1998 with the Integration and Regional programs Department of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington D.C. co-ordinating the technical support that the IADB provides to the FTAA negotiating process. In 1997-98, he was Director for International Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica. Therein he was in charge of the overall coordination of national trade policy and was principal adviser to Costa Rica¿s FTAA Chairmanship, as well as Chairman of the FTAA Working Group on Investment. He also directed over the negotiations for a free trade agreement between Central America and the Dominican Republic, and other bilateral, hemispheric and multilateral negotiations on trade and investment issues. From 1992 to 1996, he was trade negotiator with that Ministry. He participated actively in the negotiations for free trade agreements between Costa Rica and Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela, as well as FTAA and WTO talks. Recently, he has authored or co-authored several publications in specialized journals and collective books on the following topics: agriculture in the FTAA, US-Central America free trade negotiations; export processing zones in a global environment; market access issues; Central American integration; free trade negotiations between Central America, Colombia, and Venezuela; and interaction between FTAA and WTO negotiations.
Contributors
Leandro Araujo
James Bacchus
Luis Olavo Baptista
Ann Casanova
Steve Charnovitz
Jose Diaz
Roberto Echandi
Berta Feder
Carlos Fernández Ballesteros
Valerie Hughes
Marcos Jank Didier
Opertti Leo Palma
Jan Paulsson
Felix Peña
Carlos Pérez del Castillo
Ernst-Urlich Petersmann
Fernando Piérola
Juan Rosas Penso
Ricardo Ramírez
Kurt Riechenberg
Debra Steger
Ricardo Vigil
John Weekes
James A. Whitelaw
Rufus Yerxa
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