<p>A lot of work has been done regart=ding the SPS agreement and its impact on iternational trade, though not so connclusive. The study, however, is going to deal specifically with an impact of the SPS agreement to the SSA countries, by analysing the balance beween protection of human, animal and plant life or health on the one hand and promotion of international trade in this region.</p>

Trade remedy measures (TRMs) in international economic law refer to antidumping measures, countervailing duties and safeguard measures. They are designed to respond to unfair trade practices or to compensate the negative impact on domestic industries resulting from tariff concessions made under the trade liberalization arrangements. Due to the importance of these instruments, the rules on TRMs are strengthened in the WTO legal framework and established on non-discriminatory basis towards all WTO Members. However, with the proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTA) in recent decades, it was noticed that, most RTAs adopted innovative approaches on TRMs among their regional partners. Such incoherence has brought a series of trade disputes and arguments concerning the conflicts between the WTO and RTA. Current central issues in this area are whether those innovative TRMs are consistent with WTO law and what is the appropriate approach to examine the legality of those measures. Against the canvas of WTO trade remedy rules, this research first investigates the diversified trade remedy approaches in RTAs and their impact on international trade. It then clarifies the ambiguous legal criteria against which TRMs in RTAs should be judged in order to be WTO-consistent. Thereafter, a methodology through which a RTA-specific TRM could be tested against the WTO’s criteria is also developed. It is argued that facilitating TRMs in RTAs must always adhere to the criteria laid down by the WTO, e.g. GATT Article XXIV. In particular, a “necessity test” should be applied when examining the legality of a special TRM in RTAs, in the case where a dispute arises between the RTA members and third countries on the issue. In order to bring the RTA-specific TRMs into compliance with WTO law, this research also looks at the WTO surveillance mechanism on RTAs. Considering a number of difficulties that have arisen in the GATT/WTO’s surveillance of RTAs in the past, the thesis addresses what positive measures can be taken in the future and whether TRMs in RTAs should be scrutinized by WTO political organs or through the dispute settlement mechanism.

<p>A lot of work has been done regart=ding the SPS agreement and its impact on iternational trade, though not so connclusive. The study, however, is going to deal specifically with an impact of the SPS agreement to the SSA countries, by analysing the balance beween protection of human, animal and plant life or health on the one hand and promotion of international trade in this region.</p>

Climate change has been described as a malign, wicked, and super wicked problem. I focus on key characteristics that make international collective action challenging: asymmetry, fear of free riding, scientific uncertainty, and inherent interdependencies. I argue that an institution designed to tackle such a complex problem requires a key set of features: leadership, linkage, quality information, differentiated obligations, monitoring/enforcement, transparency, and flexibility. I assess the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol to determine what aspects are missing. I then ask why the European Union (EU), with incentives to the contrary, set broad unilateral goals. I argue that the framework of political and economic integration made deep cooperation possible. Lastly, I consider whether this experience is specific to the EU and ask whether regional trade networks have a role in the global arsenal of climate change solutions.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo medir os efeitos do Mercosul em termos de criação, desvio de comércio e desvio de exportação, usando uma base de dados abrangente e o que há de mais moderno na literatura de gravidade. Nos últimos anos, houve um grande avanço tanto na teoria quanto na estimação de equações de gravidade, o que ajudou na microfundamentação destes modelos e na obtenção de resultados consistentes. As estimações feitas mostram que o bloco possibilitou uma criação de comércio, o que ocorre quando tanto o comércio realizado intra bloco quanto com o resto do mundo aumentam. Além do mais, foram estimados modelos com a finalidade de verificar como os efeitos do Mercosul sobre comércio evoluíram ao longo dos anos, mostrando que o efeito maior do bloco se deu nos anos 90. Outra importante questão analisada foi o impacto do Mercosul sobre dois setores econômicos: agricultura e indústria. Nestes setores também houve indícios de criação de comércio, no entanto a indústria presenciou desvio de exportações em direção ao bloco. Por fim, foram construídos alguns grupos contrafactuais, que indicam que na ausência deste acordo o comércio teria sido menor, apesar dos efeitos serem heterogêneos entre os anos e os países. / This dissertation aims to measure the effects of Mercosur in terms of trade creation and diversion and export diversion, using a comprehensive database and the most modern instruments in gravity literature. In recent years, there has been a great advancement in theory and estimation of gravity equations, which helped the microfoundation of these models and the obtainment of consistent results. Our estimates show that Mercosur resulted in trade creation, which occurs when both the intra regional trade and trade with the rest of the world increase. Moreover, we estimated some models in order to see how the effects of Mercosur on trade has evolved over the years, showing that the greatest effects occurred in the 90\'s. Another important issue discussed was the impact of Mercosur on two economic sectors: agriculture and industry. In these sectors there was also evidence of trade creation, however industry has suffered exports diversion towards the block. Finally, we constructed some contrafactual groups, which indicate that in the absence of Mercosur trade would be smaller, although the effects are heterogeneous across years and countries.

Since the inception of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, traditional trade barriers like tariffs and quotas were no longer at the heart of trade disputes under the multilateral trade framework. The economic interdependence trend has brought a number of social issues to the forefront of the international scene, and the conflict between trade values and social values have soon become the new theme of trade conflicts at the current stage. Hence, international trade rules were urged to address issues other than economic concerns, such as environmental protection, cultural value preservation and human rights. Clashes between trade liberalization and social values are harshly criticized for their alleged negative impacts on issues like equality, freedom, social justice, environment and culture. The World Trade Organization (WTO), as the only multilateral trade regime, is arguably extending its competence in dealing with conflicts other than trade issues. However, the conflicts are made more incomprehensible due to the absence of a clear and reconciled order in both substantive and procedure senses. This research is based on the aforementioned concerns, and focuses on the relationship between trade liberalization and a specific spot among the enormous range of social values: Trade in Culture. Departing from domestic regime, the research is going to critically evaluate domestic state of law and policies under the realm of WTO rules, in order to carry out their interactions with WTO regime. By analyzing to what extent they collide with each other, and the possible alternatives to develop cultural trade, the research considers the development of cultural trade in the way that is more responsive to the real problems of current restraints presented at the domestic level, so that implications to the WTO legal framework can be drawn.

Magister Legum - LLM / A lot of work has been done regart=ding the SPS agreement and its impact on iternational trade, though not so connclusive. The study, however, is going to deal specifically with an impact of the SPS agreement to the SSA countries, by analysing the balance beween protection of human, animal and plant life or health on the one hand and promotion of international trade in this region. / South Africa

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

This dissertation analyzes the obstacles against further cooperation in international economic relations. The first essay explains the gradual nature of trade liberalization. I show that existence of asymmetric information between governments provides a sufficient reason for gradualism to exist. Governments prefer starting small to reduce the cost of partner’s betrayal when there is sufficient degree of information asymmetry regarding the partner’s type. Learning about partner’s incentive structure enhances expectations, encouraging governments to increase their current level of cooperation. Specifically, the uninformed government’s subjective belief for the trading partner being good is improved as the partner acts cooperatively. This updated belief, in turn, lowers the subjective probability of future betrayal, enabling further progress in cooperation. The second essay analyzes the relationship between two countries facing two policy dilemmas in an environment with two way goods and capital flows. When issues are independent and countries are symmetric, signing separate agreements for tariffs (Free Trade Agreements-FTA) and for taxes (Tax Treaties-TT) provides the identical level of enforcement as signing a linked agreement. However, linkage can still improve the joint welfare by transferring the slack enforcement power in a case of asymmetric issues or countries. I report non-results in two cases where the policy issues are interconnected due to technological spillover effect of FDI. Moreover, I show that linking the agreements actually reduces enforcement when agreements are linked under a limited punishment rule and policy variables are strategic substitutes. The third essay investigates the welfare/enforcement consequences of linking trade and environmental agreements. In the standard literature, linking the agreements generate non-trivial results only when there is structural relation between the issues. I focus on institutional design of the linkage and show that even if environmental aspects of international trade are negligible linking the agreements might still have some interesting welfare implications under current GATT Rules. Specifically, when traded goods are substitutes in consumption, linking the environmental agreement with trade agreement under the Withdrawal of Equivalent Concession Rule (Article XXVIII) will reduce the enforcement. However, enforcement in environmental issue increases when the same rule is implemented in the absence of linkage.

La presente investigación hace un análisis de las exportaciones de granos de café a Bélgica y los efectos de la firma del Acuerdo Comercial entre el Perú y la Unión Europea en el marco del Comercio Justo en el periodo 2012-2018. Diversas cooperativas del Cusco han venido exportando café con la certificación FLO; estas exportaciones se han dado incluso antes de la firma del tratado en referencia. Es así como, este estudio hace, por un lado, un análisis cualitativo a través de entrevistas a profundidad a actores y expertos de la industria cafetera para localizar motivos y percepciones en cuanto a datos relevantes de la industria. Este está seguido de un análisis cuantitativo con datos tomados del Ministerio del Ambiente, Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego y ENAHO, los cuales proporcionan al presente estudio de datos empíricos que presentan diversas perspectivas de como se ha dado el efecto en de la firma. Es así como, basándose en la combinación de estas dos técnicas, esta investigación sugiere dar un enfoque unificado que parta del Gobierno Central, a través de instituciones económicas inclusivas que refuercen la industria cafetera, alineada con el Capítulo IX del acuerdo en referencia, el cual está enfocado en el crecimiento sostenible; así como la implementación de gestión tecnológica y mejoras en gestión comercial dentro de las cooperativas. En ese contexto, el Estado peruano, junto con los empresarios deben aunar una dirección única que conduzca a alcanzar un desarrollo sostenido. / This research analyses the exportation of coffee beans and the effects of the signing of the Trade Agreement between Peru and The European Union within the frame of the Fair Trade in Belgium from 2012 to 2018. Cooperatives in Cusco have been working with the FLO Certification several years before the signing of the Trade Agreement in reference. On one side, this study has carried out a qualitative analysis through depth interviews to actors and specialists in the field in order to uncover hidden reasons and perceptions from actors who work in this industry. This was followed by a quantitative analysis taking data form the Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, and ENAHO, which offer empirical material that shows diverse views on how the Trade Agreement has impacted cooperatives through the years 2012-2018. Thus, based on the combination of these two techniques, this study suggests a unified approach from the Government through inclusive economic institutions to reinforce the coffee industry in order to serve the Chapter IX on Trade and Sustainable Development, as well as the implementation of technology management and business management within cooperatives. Therefore, many factors may explain the step-backs, some internal, some external. In this context, the Peruvian Government and the cooperatives should bring together a management that conducts a sustained development. / Tesis