Proposals for the Environment and Trade to the WTO

         
Author Name YAMASHITA Kazuhito  (Senior Fellow, RIETI)
Creation Date/NO. October 2009 09-J-030
Download / Links

Abstract

This paper analyzes the desirable direction of the interpretation of various rules and regulations of GATT and the WTO from the standpoint of economics, based on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Particularly, the following legal issues are examined.

(1) Externality related to the consumption of goods and goods themselves

(2) Eco labels on non-product-related process and production methods (PPM)

(3) PPM regulations-the classification of products based on whether they are legal or illegal

(4) Discipline with regard to the replacement of trade polices by environmental policies (e.g., environmental dumping)

(5) Border tax adjustment

(6) Extraterritorial application of domestic environmental standards (unilateralism)

In addition, we also examine to what extent the trade-related rules of the Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEA) can be interpreted to be consistent with the WTO, and what alternative methods are conceivable if the interpretation is insufficient.