The WTO's Blind Spot: Dispute Resolution in the International Food Industry
Year: 2013
Type: preprint
Abstract: This paper analyzes the importance of the WTO’s role and its dispute resolution process within the international food trade system based on a discussion of the WTO’s dispute resolution of American genetically modified (GM) crops that were forced into the European market. In order for public policy and economic aspects to coexist in the legally binding decisions that originate from the WTO dispute resolution process, the panels should acknowledge their protective function toward the trading partners on the one hand, and the public and the global ecologic sustainability on the other. The resulting precedent, in turn, would induce behavioral changes in all WTO signatory nations, and, if legally enforced, promote economics, public health, and environmental protection simultaneously. Thus, the WTO needs to construe already available laws, such as the Cartagena Protocol, in a way as to not only protect public health, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, and fair trade, but also those companies that currently manipulate the WTO and govern the food industry.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Author: Gabriela Steier
Institution: Duquesne University
Language: English
Topic: World Trade Organization Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1512799108