[WTO Case Review Series No.6] United States—Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products (DS381): Implications for future TBT disputes

While the Word Trade Organization's (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (hereinafter "TBT Agreement") has long remained unused as a legal basis of the WTO dispute settlement, the Appellate Body made three landmark decisions in 2012: US-Clove Cigarettes, US-Tuna II, and US-COOL. This paper addresses the second case, US-Tuna II. This decision is of importance not only because it clarified two key obligations of the TBT Agreement (i.e., Articles 2.1 and 2.2), but also it resolved and refined other important issues under the Agreement, such as the treatment of process and production methods, the definition of a "technical regulation," and the definition of an "international standard." This paper examines each important finding in this case and considers the implications and insights that this decision provides for future TBT disputes.