With the expansion of its scope, the WTO is having a much greater impact on governments, industries and NGOs. While the GATT was a fairly obscure organization known mostly to trade professionals, government officials, and diplomats, it is no surprise therefore that the WTO has garnered considerably more attention. The legal profession has been paying more attention too; the practice of WTO law has now come into its own. One illustration is the admittance of outside counsel to plead on behalf of member governments in WTO litigation (which was not accepted by most governments in the days of the GATT).
Various observers of the WTO have gone to print to express their views and experiences with the work of the organization: politicians, diplomats, industry federations, labor unions, consumer groups, academics, etc. Practicing lawyers have their own way of looking at the world. They are concerned with how agreements actually work, how unresolved issues can be effectively addressed, how agreements can be made to work better. With this volume we have tried to capture various perspectives our profession has to offer on the WTO's activities. The various chapters are written mostly by members, former members and friends of our law firm, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, who have been active for several decades in GATT and WTO affairs.
The book opens with essays on dispute settlement, to which practicing lawyers understandably pay particularly close attention. A selection: Claus-Dieter Ehlermann discusses his experiences during six years as a member of the Appellate Body of the WTO. Then follows a perspective from the other side of the bench: the role of private counsel in WTO litigation. Problems with the compliance structure of the WTO dispute settlement process are examined. The approach taken by the Appellate Body in trade remedies cases is critically reviewed. This part concludes with an analysis of the practical implications of WTO law for private parties: how can private parties protest against WTO violations by third countries (a case study of the EU Trade Barriers Regulation, the equivalent to US Section 301)?
The second part addresses various WTO agreements. This part starts with market protection issues whereby member countries, under WTO authority, use tariffs aimed at offsetting subsidies or dumping, or impose other trade restrictions by way of safeguard measures. To begin with, the WTO subsidies agreement is described. Next follows an analysis of the antidumping agreement. In addition, this part surveys practical issues concerning the special safeguard mechanism against China that was agreed at the time of China's accession to the WTO in 2001. An account of the Textile and Apparel Agreements is timely too as the agreed textile quota regime is ending in 2004. The book then moves beyond trade in goods. On intellectual property, the WTO's novel enforcement principles are analyzed in detail. A chapter on the WTO's rules on telecommunications services, including their first interpretation in the 2004 panel report in the Telmex case, concludes this part.
Finally, in Part III, practitioners look ahead to developing principles and new issues facing the WTO and the world trading s y s t e m . Competition law principles, though no longer an immediate subject of negotiation in the current Doha Round, are already developing under existing WTO law. Science and health issues in trade, particularly in foodstuffs, are highlighted as public debates on hormones, biotech foods, and BSE have heightened in recent years. The thorny issue of environmental protection and so-called PPMs is addressed separately. Finally, Charlene Barshefsky, a practitioner who can rely on her previous experiences as US Trade Representative, calls attention to the need for increasing participation of the Middle East in the WTO.
Contributors
Part I. Dispute Settlement
Claus-Dieter Ehlermann
Marco Bronckers
John Jackson
Christiane Schuchhardt
Gary Horlick
Peggy Clarke
John Greenwald
Jason Kearns
Steve Charnovitz
Natalie McNelis
Naboth van den Broek
Part II. Substantive Law
Peggy Clarke
Gary Horlick
Eleanor Shea
Marco Bronckers
Martin Goyette
Robert Cassidy, Jr.
Stuart Weiser
Feer Verkade
Natalie McNelis
Pierre Larouche
Part III. A Look Ahead
Claus-Dieter Ehlermann
Lothar Ehring
Jason Kearns
Gary Horlick
Natalie McNelis
Steve Charnovitz
Axel Desmedt
Charlene Barshefsky
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