At the inception of the World trade organization (WTO) in 1995, the organization's provisions for a formal dispute settlement mechanism under the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) stood out as state of the “art”, “crown” and “jewels” of the WTO. Fifteen years later on, an assessment of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)’s judicial records shows that the system has indeed reduced the role of international diplomacy, while strengthening the rule of law in dispute settlement. The WTO-DSU’s independent Appellate Body, strict deadlines within which to settle disputes and binding panel recommendations certainly supersede the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) dispute settlement system. To date, 400 disputes have been lodged before the Dispute Settlement Body leading to establishment of over 140 panels and adoption of 218 panel/Appellate Body reports. However, what these statistics fail to show is the fact that the DSM is dominated by leading industrialized countries, notably the European Communities and the United States, at the expense of developing countries. The European communities and the United States in particular are said to be employing the DSU to achieve their aspirations in international trade. This arises from their retaliatory capacity to threaten weaker respondents from pursuing disputes against them among other reasons. It follows that despite of the uniqueness and widely recognized efficacy, the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism has largely failed to address the needs of developing/ least developed countries, especially in Africa. The system’s lack of meaningful remedies, lack of transparency and general insensitivity to the development concerns of African countries have worked to alienate African states from the dispute settlement process. The said shortcomings in the pattern and structure of the DSU have also been noted from all corners of WTO membership including the original architects of the System like India, Brazil and Australia. In light of the above, this research paper analyzes the process of dispute settlement at the WTO, with special emphasis on the nature of remedies available to parties under the DSU. The research identifies pertinent areas for reform in the DSU and the DSB as a whole. The research arrives at practical measures/alternatives that African countries could adopt in order to enhance participation in dispute settlement at the WTO. The research points out that WTO law is tailored through interpretation of covered agreements and precedents and that participation in the WTO dispute settlement system is therefore crucial to the shaping of WTO law in the long run. In the end, African countries (forming a large percentage of WTO Membership) have not made use of the dispute settlement mechanism despite their trade being affected by the protectionist trade policies of their developed counterparts. If the majority of WTO membership cannot access the DSM, then the WTO objective of enhancing security and predictability of the multilateral trading system remains fictitious. This research therefore adds to the voice of many that the amendment of the DSU is long overdue. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

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Humboldt-Univ., Diss.--Berlin, 2003. / Literaturverz. S. 413 - 552.

Thesis (Maste). / Collection of master's theses of the postgraduate LLM program "International Tax Law" at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration 2005/2006. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis analyses the relationship between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the alter-globalization movement through the theoretical framework of Robert W. Cox. A Coxian perspective highlights that the WTO is a central international organization of the current nebuleuse, and one integral to enforcing, promoting and defending transnational corporate hegemony. The emergence of the protest movement inaccurately labelled the ‘anti-globalization movement’ can be described as a Coxian counter-hegemonic structure. From the plethora of protesters making up this ‘anti-globalization movement’ who dispute the legitimacy of the WTO, a distinct alter-globalization movement can be identified. It prescribes the alternative principles of public accountability, the rights of people and the protection of the environment as guides to reforming the WTO towards a Coxian ‘new multilateralism’. This thesis asks: to what extent has this alter-globalisation movement succeeded in altering the policies and processes of the WTO in accordance with these principles? In Coxian terms the questions of how far the campaign for ‘new multilateralism’ has successfully altered the hegemony of the current world order and avoided trasformismo are asserted. After illustrating corporate structural power within the WTO’s policies and procedures, the alter-globalisation movement is defined as an entity of overlapping social movements and Non-Governmental Organizations (Alter-NGOs). The thesis identifies and evaluates three strategies employed by the alter-globalisation movement to place its values at the heart of the WTO: demonstrations on the street; assisting developing states during negotiations; and submitting amicus briefs to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). The obstacles presented by the WTO’s policy of trasformismo are then detailed, namely: political elites coopting the alter-globalization movement’s principles into their own rhetoric; the cooption of NGOs by political elites from the developing world, and the cooption of NGOs and the fierce rejection of any NGO influence within the WTO. In its conclusions the thesis details the manner in which trasformismo is a significant tool in the armoury of corporate hegemony for resisting reform, and thereby informs existing literature on the problems faced by all social movements and NGOs engaging with reforming the world order.

Univ., Diss.--Münster, 2006. / Literaturverz. S. 199 - 206.

Diss. Univ. Bremen, 2007. / Im Anhang engl. Vorschriftensammlung.

Pas de résumé / Doctorat en droit / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

For the average Chinese citizen, waking up under a sky blanketed with smog is no longer a surprise: since the rise of industrial capitalism, changes in trade policy, consumer preferences and the overall magnitude of industry have resulted in crippling levels of ambient air pollution. Though growth in the manufacturing realm was prevalent in the post-Mao Industrial Revolution era, China’s accession to the World Trade Organization resulted in the proliferation of trade on a grand scale, and due to low manufacturing and production costs, resulted in China assuming its seat in the global market. Unfortunately, this economic success was accompanied by an unhealthy increase in ambient air pollution levels, and has since posed a significant threat to public welfare. This study surveys the impact of different aspects of trade volumes in the 31 provinces of China on the state of ambient air pollution. Findings include that as a result of increased trade due to China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, the volume of sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from provincial industries is positively correlated with the exports of products manufactured in industrial operating units within China. This study also finds a positive relationship between the imports of products manufactured outside of China, as there is an increase in pollution from road dust due to traveling vehicles with these imported products. Though exports and imports of goods produced in foreign nations contribute significantly to the emissions patterns in Chinese provinces, an analysis of the data indicates that there is a stronger correlation between domestically produced units that are traded, as opposed to those units that are produced outside of the country.