No iceberg in sight: on the absence of WTO disputes challenging fossil fuel subsidies

The empirical record of dispute settlement cases under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on energy subsidies consists only of cases against renewable energy (RE) subsidies, whereas WTO members have not challenged others’ much larger and environmentally harmful fossil fuel subsidies. Yet, the WTO agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures would at first sight seem to create possibilities to forestall environmentally harmful subsidization. In this article, we assess possible explanations for the skewed distribution of energy subsidies dispute settlement complaints at the WTO. We argue that differences in legally relevant characteristics of fossil fuel subsidies, on the one hand, and RE subsidies, on the other hand, largely explain this observation. In the case of RE subsidies, in particular, the disputes filed to date have targeted a much narrower set of measures than the whole range of RE subsidies currently in place, namely those incorporating a local content requirement component. Although this finding is not new, we have probed into this question more systematically, both by widening the scope of the empirical analysis from actual to potential WTO disputes on energy-related policies the European Union and the USA might have initiated, and by systematically assessing the plausibility of alternative explanations.     

Energy transitions and trade law: lessons from the reform of fisheries subsidies

Fossil fuel subsidies, like subsidies to the fishing sector, lead to trade-distorting and ecologically harmful practices. The US$35 billion in subsidies provided by countries every year to the fishing sector leads to more and more boats being built, even as 90% of fish stocks are either fully exploited or overfished. An estimated US$444 billion in subsidies are provided annually for the production of fossil fuels by G20 countries, even as evidence emerges that oil, gas and coal reserves must remain unexploited to limit global warming increases to 2 °C. Of course, each country has its own development priorities, livelihood concerns and need for food and energy security. Agreeing upon subsidy reform is a complex undertaking that requires the assessment of social, political and historical considerations, as well as the involvement of international and transnational legal regimes that govern climate change, energy, fisheries and trade. This article reviews proposals for reform within the World Trade Organization and regional trade agreements, including the new disciplines on fisheries subsidies that were endorsed in the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Although the latter agreement is unlikely to enter into force, consensus is emerging on the need to prohibit subsidies that contribute to overfishing or that are linked to illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing. The article shows how these legal developments might inform attempts to limit fossil fuel production and consumption subsidies. It highlights the need for learning and open deliberation about subsidy reform by affected stakeholders, including representatives from international organizations and civil society. It also points to new arrangements that link compliance with subsidy rules to standards and benchmarks from fisheries regimes, and demonstrates how such inter-regime connections are legitimate in the context of the fragmentation of international law. While reform to fisheries subsidies is still preliminary and fraught, there are useful lessons for the equally important project of energy transitions.     

世界贸易组织补贴规则研究

世界贸易组织法律体系中关于补贴问题主要规定在三个法律文件之中,即《补贴与反补贴措施协议》(以下简称《补贴协议》)、《农业协议》和《服务贸易总协定》。《补贴协议》只处理影响货物贸易的补贴,《农业协议》对农产品的补贴在《补贴协议》的大框架内有一些特殊规定,《服务贸易总协定》则另外规定了关于服务贸易的补贴。由于发达国家与发展中国家的经济实力的巨大悬殊以及它们对农业补贴的不同政策,从而导致了在货物贸易的补贴规则方面,两类国家之间存在着尖锐的利益不平衡,发展中国家必须为实现其与发达国家实质上的平等而继续奋斗。     

Market definition as value reconciliation: the case of renewable energy promotion under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures

The interrelationship between renewable energy support policies and World Trade Organization (WTO) law is an important recent manifestation of the challenge to reconcile environmental and economic values in contemporary societies. This article strives to contribute to the discussion by using the intersection between policies to support renewable energy, in particular sustainable biofuels in the EU, and the WTO’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures as a case study. The article discusses how efforts to promote renewable energy seem to have become contingent upon the core legal notion of ‘relevant markets’. The article further claims that this contingency is problematic: renewable energy markets are highly complex in practice, and combined with the WTO’s convoluted interpretations of ‘relevant markets’, the legal outcomes struggle to find the proper balance between appropriate support for sustainability and the prevention of protectionist market fragmentation.     

Engaging the Private Sector: EU–China Trade Disputes Under the Shadow of WTO Law?

Abstract:  This article intends to reflect a new tendency of China's new trade policy to utilise more effectively the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules with the support of emerging public–private networks, at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. Based on legal pluralism and network theory, this article argues that although still far from an active user of the dispute-settlement mechanism, China is gradually building up its legal capacity for challenging foreign trade barriers, by actively engaging the private sector and mobilising resources of domestic industries. It particularly focuses on how this new trend has been reflected on three recent high-profile disputes: textile, footwear and car parts, and concludes that the pattern of China's trade policy indicates that both China and its trading partners have realised that their trade relations are developing under the shadow of WTO law.     

论WTO体系下农业补贴的特殊安排及未来展望

与WTO《补贴协定》及GATT1994相比,在总体规范方法、概念、规则结构、救济等方面,《农业协定》采取了一套独特的规制方式,但在WTO农业补贴争端中,《补贴协定》、GATT1994与《农业协定》常被共同适用于农业补贴。此举强化了对农业补贴的规制,但农业补贴是否,以及在多大程度上继续享有特殊地位和待遇,最终应由成员谈判确定。在未来一段时期内,特殊的农业补贴规则将继续存在,我国在参与WTO农业谈判、诉讼,调整国内农业政策时,应给予充分重视。     

与食品安全相关的绿色壁垒法律问题研究

国际贸易和食品安全是相互影响和相互制约的关系,绿色壁垒形成的根本原因在于一些国家为了保护本国经济利益,限制外国产品进入本国市场,确保本国产品在国内市场的占有份额。它具有形式上的合法性、实施上的歧视性等特征。WTO对＂绿色壁垒＂问题进行了相关法律规制,但是也存在很多问题;针对绿色壁垒对我国食品进出口的影响,我国应当从善用WTO规则、完善国内法律法规、大力发展绿色产品出口以及加强自主产权转基因食品的研究等方面予以积极应对。     

King Cotton, Developing Countries and the 'Peace Clause': The WTO's US Cotton Subsidies Decision

Although the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a powerful vehiclefor promoting economic development, the Uruguay Round has beenperceived by developing country WTO members as an unequal bargain.Especially with respect to agriculture, the Uruguay Round yieldedonly limited concessions. In September 2003, Doha Round effortsstalled at Cancún when developing countries coalescedto oppose a proposal that insufficiently liberalized trade inagriculture. In March 2005, the Dispute Settlement Body adopteda panel decision upholding Brazil’s legal challenge ofUS subsidies to cotton producers. The US Cotton Subsidies decisionrepresents a dramatic victory for Brazil and other developingcountry WTO members. The timing of the decision, coincidingwith ongoing Doha Round agriculture negotiations, ensures thatit will influence any outcome of the Round. This article examinesthe US Cotton Subsidies decision, describes the subsidy programsat issue in the dispute, reviews applicable WTO rules, and outlinesthe major findings of the panel and Appellate Body. The articleconcludes that Brazil’s victory in US Cotton Subsidiesmay represent a broader shift within the WTO away from a systemdominated by the US and EC toward a system that increasinglyis influenced by emerging market economies.     

The Governance of Cross-Border Data Flows in Trade Agreements: Is the Cptpp Framework an Ideal Way Out?

The regulations of cross-border data flows is a growing challenge for the international community. International trade agreements, however, appear to be pioneering legal methods to cope, as they have grappled with this issue since the 1990s. The World Trade Organization (WTO) rules system offers a partial solution under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which covers aspects related to cross-border data flows. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) have also been perceived to provide forward-looking resolutions. In this context, this article analyzes why a resolution to this issue may be illusory. While they regulate cross-border data flows in various ways, the structure and wording of exception articles of both the CPTPP and USMCA have the potential to pose significant challenges to the international legal system. The new system, attempting to weigh societal values and economic development, is imbalanced, often valuing free trade more than individual online privacy and cybersecurity. Furthermore, the inclusion of poison-pill clauses is, by nature, antithetical to cooperation. Thus, for the international community generally, and China in particular, cross-border data flows would best be regulated under the WTO-centered multilateral trade law system.     

贸易与环境关系的理论及实证分析

从理论上看,贸易自由化与环境保护的关系主要表现为两种价值观的对立;在法律上,尤其是在国际法领域,贸易与环境的关系表现为规则的冲突。在以推动自由贸易为宗旨的世界贸易组织内,这种冲突通常体现为成员国采取限制贸易的环境措施而直接导致争端。分析WTO解决这些争端的实践,可以发现,现行多边贸易体制对处理环境与贸易冲突的争端有了新的发展,主要体现在WTO争端解决机构对GATT1994第20条导言、第20条b款和g款的应用和解释。     

GATT/WTO下的环境——贸易争端评析

随着国际环境法的发展 ,GATT/WTO受理的环境———贸易争端呈现出三个阶段的变化。发达国家扩展其国内环境法的域外效力而与致力于经济目标的发展中国家产生贸易冲突 ,使这类争端日益增多 ;GATT/WTO争端解决机构适用法律时逐渐接受环保理念 ;争端解决机制通过一系列改革逐步提高了处理环境与贸易交叉问题的能力。但是 ,GATT/WTO的贸易法原则和贸易争端解决机制决定了它不可能成为解决环境———贸易争端的理想机制。     

Rulemaking Amidst Growing Diversity: A Club-of-Clubs Approach to WTO Reform and New Issue Selection

The diverse nature of World Trade Organization (WTO) membershipmakes it highly unlikely that members will all be willing andable to sign on to the full range of agreements that many membersmight find desirable. The paper proposes an approach in whichthe WTO would supplement its core agreements with additional‘clubs’ to which only some members would subscribe.The approach is a compromise in which diversity can co-existwith a more extensive set of commitments for willing members.The paper provides suggestions for how the clubs would be selectedand how they would operate. Clubs would be chosen where theycould help promote the WTO’s central missions: loweringbarriers to trade, reducing the discriminatory effects of domesticpolicies, and enhancing economic development through trade.All WTO members would participate in negotiating club rules,but members would be free not to join. Clubs would use the DisputeSettlement Understanding (DSU) to deal with disputes, but suspensionof concessions in the event of violations would be confinedto the provisions of the same club in which the violation occurred.     

The devil lies in the definition: competing approaches to fossil fuel subsidies at the IMF and the OECD

Fossil fuel subsidy reform has in recent years been addressed by international economic organizations including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The two organizations have differed significantly in how they define fossil fuel subsidies. The IMF’s definition constitutes a radical break with previous definitions by including environmental externalities, while the OECD’s is more conventional. The article explores the factors that explain why these international economic organizations have approached fossil fuel subsidies so differently. The exact definition of fossil fuel subsidies is contested. Furthermore, fossil fuels subsidies can be framed in ways that emphasize, respectively, their macroeconomic, fiscal, environmental, and distributive consequences. The article finds that institutional interaction lifted OECD involvement in fossil fuel subsidies to a new level, whereas the impetus to address fossil fuel subsidies within the IMF came largely from the IMF staff. In both cases, the organization’s bureaucracy constituted the most important factor shaping how the organizations addressed such subsidies and hence the main reason why they differ in how they approach fossil fuel subsidies.     

WTO电信服务贸易规则对我国电信服务贸易立法与实践的启示——由“美墨电信服务贸易争端案”引发的思考

依照我国在入世议定书所作的承诺,自2006年12月起,我国应开放移动话音和数据服务领域,加之之前已经部分开放的增值电信服务和基础电信寻呼领域,我国电信服务业正面临着前所未有的压力。美国诉墨西哥影响电信服务的措施争端案是电信服务贸易领域第一个由WTO专家组作出裁决报告的案例,分析本案不仅可以更深入地了解WTO电信服务贸易规则,更有助于我国更好地运用《服务贸易总协定》(GATS)相关规则应对因电信服务市场开放所带来的一系列问题。     

追溯与寻明:国际法视角下的碳排放权单位研究

自以《京都议定书》为基础的市场化机制建立以来,经过近20年的发展,全球碳金融市场呈现蓬勃发展的态势,交易量大幅提升,成交金额不断攀升,市场化机制在夯实中不断完善和发展。同时,争端与纠纷日益增加,国际多边环境公约调整下的碳排放权机制部分地在WTO体制下进行规制,成为众多学者的憧憬。碳排放权单位体现的既不是GATT框架下的"产品",也不是GATS框架下的"服务",而是在经济上反映出特殊的金融衍生产品的属性。然而,碳排放权单位交易商提供服务的行为契合GATS金融服务要求,因此交易商可依据GATS享受跨国服务领域中的最惠国待遇,并可将与WTO规则相关的争端诉诸WTO争端解决机制,实现环境争端解决的规范化、法制化。     

论WTO争端解决机制对WTO农业体制的影响

较之农业谈判的举步维艰,争端解决机制在对WTO现存规则的澄清和完善上取得一定的进展,从而成为发展中国家维护其在国际农产品市场上应有利益的有效手段。但值得注意的是,争端解决机制对农业体制的影响有限,更高层次的农业贸易自由化仍需要农业谈判的推动。     

论WTO后过渡期中国企业的反倾销法律对策

WTO后过渡期是一个具有特别含义的法律概念.WTO后过渡期中国的外贸出口面临着三大制度性障碍,在此期间引起贸易摩擦是历史的必然,中国开始成为后过渡期贸易争端的最大受害国.后过渡期的中国企业必须树立新的营销理念和机制,充分利用WTO规则应对欧美的贸易反倾销,并在反倾销道路上学会博弈;国家要抓紧修订和完善适应WTO规则需要的法律规范.     

“环境贸易壁垒”及其法律对策研究

加入WTO后 ,面对各国以保护环境为名而采取的各种贸易限制措施即所谓的“环境贸易壁垒” ,我国政府应坚持“共同但有区别的责任”原则 ,实行先进的环境制度 ,采取积极措施应对 ,有力抵制违反WTO规则的各种以环境保护为由的贸易保护行为     

WTO disputes settlement

How to understand China’s policies and practices on the WTO dispute settlement since its accession to WTO and conduct objective and reasonable assessment on its performance and achievements in WTO dispute settlement is currently an important issue of concerns. By analyzing China’s performance in the WTO dispute settlement in the broad environment of the WTO dispute settlement activities over the past thirteen years, this paper holds that the WTO dispute settlement mechanism has made remarkable achievements over the past 13 years, strongly promoted the trade relationship of the WTO members and settled tough and complicated trade disputes in a timely, effective and proper manner; and over the past seven years after China’s accession to WTO, China’s practice in WTO dispute settlement mechanism has rendered the following initial impression: High-profile positive policies and low-profile moderate acts; not hesitate to file complaints but be good at responding to complaints in participating in the WTO dispute settlement activities; more consultations should be made with less litigations; diligent in participation and strict in implementation; and handling trade disputes related to the WTO rules in a reasonable, effective and moderate manner.     

The Amicus Brief Issue at the WTO

The near-exclusive attention which many commentators have givento the importance of analysing the amicus brief issue in termsof transparency and accountability, often accompanied by accusationsof a lack of democratic status on the part of the countriesthat have objected to the admission of such briefs, is misplaced.The World Trade Organization (WTO) Members that have objectedmost strenuously to amicus brief submissions have been developingcountries—ironically, the most vocal proponents of anindependent, strong "trade court". Why should developing countriescomplain if the issue is really one of strategic and politicalinterests? After all, a "court" that takes it upon itself toaccept amicus briefs despite the protestations of the majorityof the WTO Membership is, in this sense, a "strong court". Whatthis article aims to provide is a very close account of theviews of the Members in the political debates on this issue.On that basis, it seems that abstract arguments based on thepositive role that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) canplay are unlikely to assuage developing countries' concerns.They only address the supposition that developing countriesare morally mistaken in their political views, or are sufferingfrom a false consciousness of the (real) threat of trans-boundarynon-governmental moral entrepreneurs. Instead, the concernsof these and other Members have to do with estimations aboutthe likely impact of WTO Appellate Body activism on the misapplication(and consequent unpredictability) of negotiated trade rules.These concerns should be taken seriously, for they go to theoriginal intent at Uruguay of having an impartial body whichwould impartially apply negotiated rules, with an eye towardsthe avoidance of political controversy. According to this view,fundamental gaps in trade regulation should be resolved by theMembers—not the Appellate Body.