The purpose of this thesis is to examine if there is a problem with compliance in the World Trade Organization, to investigate the validity of the managerial and the political economy approaches to compliance and to analyze reform proposals that tackle the issue of compliance, pursuing improvement of the system. Drawing on the scenario of increasing legalization and cooperation in trade, the first question is examined by way of interviewing trade experts and officials as well as analyzing case studies that are pertinent to the research at hand. The second question – if management is preferred to enforcement as to induce compliance – is answered by analyzing official WTO Dispute Settlement reports, interviews, case reviews and articles on retaliation and compliance written by different authors. The third question is answered as a reflection of the findings of the first two questions. Analysis on the managerial theory of compliance examine whether enforcement plays a minor role in inducing compliance in the WTO, if there is a propensity to comply amongst states and if noncompliance is inadvertent rather than a result of calculation of interests. In the other hand, tests conducted on the enforcement approach to compliance investigate the importance of retaliation in WTO Dispute Settlement, the necessity of an enforcement tool and the claim that noncompliance is a political decision. Tests conducted suggest that the enforcement school of compliance is correct when stating that noncompliance is a political decision, resulted from careful calculation of interests. The research indicates that the WTO Dispute Settlement presents a dual facet of compliance, in which the enforcement tool is responsible for allowing the managerial effects to take place. In this regard, the enforcement tool alone is seen as inappropriate, especially if economic asymmetries are present. An approach that accommodates both enforcement and managerial aspects is prescribed. The research has indicated that successful reform proposals should aim at increasing the credibility of the threat of retaliation as to follow the diagnosis verified by the tests conducted.

Apesar de o fluxo de comércio afetado por medidas antidumping não chegar nem a 1% do comércio global, aproximadamente 20% das disputas na OMC são sobre antidumping. A OMC é um órgão intergovernamental e seu sistema de solução de controvérsias tem por objetivo analisar se as medidas adotadas por seus Membros estão em conformidade com os compromissos assumidos nos acordos abrangidos. O Acordo Antidumping da OMC (ADA) estabelece os procedimentos investigatórios a serem seguidos por seus Membros para combater o dumping que comprovadamente causa dano à indústria doméstica. O objetivo é evitar que sejam adotadas medidas em circunstâncias descabidas, com o mero intuito protecionista de criar barreiras ao comércio. O dumping é uma prática do setor privado e não dos governos. Portanto, não é o dumping que é questionado perante a OMC, e sim a obediência pela autoridade investigadora dos procedimentos investigatórios estabelecidos no ADA. Tanto os órgãos da Administração Pública como a OMC exercem uma função fundamental para que o devido processo legal seja observado em matéria antidumping. A função legislativa é criar as normas que regularão o procedimento, a função executiva é aplicar/monitorar o procedimento, e a função judiciária é verificar se o procedimento tem sido aplicado corretamente. À luz dessas considerações, a tese a ser defendida é que: (i) diante das limitações trazidas aos painéis e ao Órgão de Apelação pelo Artigo 17.6 do ADA, a função do sistema de solução de controvérsias da OMC e dos judiciários nacionais, em matéria antidumping, muito se assemelham: ambos buscam controlar a discricionariedade da autoridade investigadora; (ii) mais efetivo para os importadores e/ou exportadores que pretendem questionar uma medida antidumping seria buscar inicialmente uma solução mediante recurso ao judiciário do país importador. O recurso ao sistema da OMC, além de depender do interesse do governo e ser oneroso, apresenta dificuldades no momento de implementação das recomendações; (iii) entretanto, tendo em vista o despreparo do Judiciário Brasileiro, sugerimos a criação de cortes especializadas; (iv) o recurso ao Judiciário, mesmo perante cortes especializadas, não resolveria os problemas do processo antidumping apontados ao longo da tese. Para sanar, fazemos algumas outras sugestões de mudanças estruturais para aplicação: (a) no âmbito da OMC, com vistas a delimitar a atuação do Órgão de Apelação e garantir segurança jurídica aos Membros; e (b) no âmbito brasileiro, com vistas a modificar a dinâmica das investigações antidumping conduzidas pela autoridade administrativa e assegurar o cumprimento de sua real finalidade. / Despite the fact that the flow of trade affected by anti-dumping measures does not reach 1% of global trade, approximately 20% of the disputes at the WTO are about these measures. The WTO is an intergovernmental organization and its dispute settlement system has the objective of analyzing if the measures adopted by its Members are in accordance with the commitments accepted in the covered agreements. The WTOs Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA) sets forth the investigation proceedings to be followed by its Members in order to deal with dumping proven to have caused damage to domestic industry. The aim is to avoid that measures are taken under inappropriate circumstances, with the mere protectionist purpose of creating trade barriers. Dumping is a private practice, and not a governmental one. Thus, it is not the practice of dumping itself that is questioned before the WTO, but the obedience by the investigating authority of the proceedings established in the ADA. The Public Administration organs and the WTO are equally responsible by a fundamental role of guaranteeing that the due process of law is respected in the matter of anti-dumping measures. The legislative duty is to create rules that will govern the proceedings, the executive duty is to apply/monitor the proceedings and the judiciary duty is to verify if the proceedings have been applied correctly. In light of these aspects, the thesis to be defended is: (i) considering the limitations to panels and the Appellate Body by Article 17.6 of the ADA, the duties of the WTOs dispute settlement system and the national judiciaries, in terms of anti-dumping, are similar: both try to control the discretion of the investigating authority; (ii) it would be more effective to importers and/or exporters who want to challenge an anti-dumping measure to resort initially to the judiciary system of the importer country. The resort to the WTO system, besides depending on the government`s political interest and being expensive, has difficulties when it comes to implement the recommendations; (iii) in spite of that, considering the lack of preparation of the Brazilian Judiciary, it is suggested the creation of specialized courts; (iv) the resort to the Judiciary, even before specialized courts, would not solve the problems of the anti-dumping process pointed out throughout this thesis. To tackle these problems, we make some other suggestions of structural nature: (a) in what concerns the WTO, aiming at limiting the Appellate Body`s role and guaranteeing legal security to its Members; (b) in what concerns Brazil, aiming at changing the dynamics of the anti-dumping investigations conducted by the administrative authority and securing the fulfillment of its real purpose.

Este trabalho teve por objetivo analisar o processo de juridicização do sistema multilateral de comércio, por meio da aplicação do modelo teórico de K. W. Abbott et aI (2000) e contraposição dos resultados obtidos à análise do recurso a elementos normativos para justificação das decisões emanadas do sistema em procedimentos de solução de controvérsias em que foi suscitado o artigo XX(g) do GATT para defesa da medida questionada. Observou-se que, apesar do nível de juridicidade tenha permanecido praticamente o mesmo da passagem do GATT-1947 para a OMC, o recurso a elementos normativos para motivação das decisões foi incrementado. A hipótese demonstrada pelos resultados desta pesquisa é que o enfoque restrito no processo de institucionalização por meio de tratados não permite que sejam refletidas, no processo de juridicização, as alterações ocasionadas por outros elementos, como foi o caso, na presente pesquisa, das regras relativas à conformação dos órgãos auxiliares, à interpretação e à tomada de decisão - sejam elas originadas em tratados, costumes ou princípios. / This research aims at analyzing the legalization of the multilateral trade system, applying the theory developed by K. W. ABBOTT et al (2000) and confronting the results with the leveI of recourse to normative elements to justify the decisions issued on disputes where Article XX(g) of GA TT was used in defense of the challenged measure. Notwithstanding the fact that the legalization of the system did not alter from the GATT-1947 to WTO, more normative elements are used for motivation of the decisions taken by WTO. The research shows that excessive focus on the process institutionalization by treaties does not reflected the changes brought about by other elements, such as the configuration of the auxiliary organs - panels and Appellate Body - and the rules related to interpretation and decision making - be them customary international law or principIes.

Esta tese teve por objeto analisar a viabilidade de implementação de, no âmbito do sistema de solução de controvérsias (SSC) da OMC, um mecanismo de contramedidas (retaliação) coletiva, à luz da teoria de formação de alianças, tal qual desenvolvida na teoria de relações internacionais. O objetivo foi perquirir se e em que condições poderão se formar coalizões visando à aplicação de retaliação coletiva, caso tal mecanismo seja incorporado ao SSC/OMC. A tese se baseou na premissa de que o enforcement do SSC/OMC ainda se funda em soluções de self-help, ou seja, dependente da força, do poder, do Membro demandante de induzir o Membro demandado a cumprir as recomendações do Órgão de Solução de Controvérsias (OSC), mediante a aplicação de retaliação bilateral, centrada na reciprocidade. Observa-se todavia uma insuficiência e/ou ineficácia de tais contramedidas bilaterais para induzir o Membro demandado a cumprir com as recomendações do OSC em situações envolvendo desequilíbrio de poder (entre Membro demandante e Membro demandado). A teoria de formação de alianças se mostrou adequada para a análise pretendida, primeiramente porque o desequilíbrio de poder é objeto de estudo de tal teoria. Em segundo lugar, com ênfase na sistematização apresentada por Glenn N. Snyder, tal teoria se mostrou apropriada para a questão em vista da configuração do sistema de comércio internacional como uma anarquia, dentro de uma estrutura de multipolaridade, em que não é possível perceber ex ante os possíveis alinhamentos, diante de uma determinada configuração, justificando o emprego de tal teoria. A tese então confirmou a necessidade de adoção de um mecanismo de retaliação coletiva no SSC/OMC, tendo indicado quando a retaliação coletiva deverá ser desnecessária, facultativa ou obrigatória. Para tanto, a tese desenvolveu conceitos como capacidade relativa, menor coalizão vencedora, aliança-dependência, além de perquirir sobre a situação pré-aliança dos interesses das unidades envolvidas, como propulsionadora ou limitadora da formação de alianças. Tais conceitos foram aplicados sobre as situações fáticas das onze arbitragens do Artigo 22.6 do Entendimento sobre Solução de Controvérsias (ESC). Por meio da aplicação da Teoria da Paisagem de Agregação, a tese confirmou a necessidade de implementação, em determinadas circunstâncias, de um mecanismo obrigatório de retaliação coletiva. Assim, propôs a tese que um mecanismo de retaliação coletiva poderá ter caráter meramente facultativo quando, em uma situação de desequilíbrio de poder: (i) houver outros Membros com interesses comuns, intensos e específicos a propulsionar a formação de uma aliança; e (ii) tais Membros reunirem capacidade relativa suficiente para formar uma menor coalizão vencedora, juntamente com o Membro demandante. De outra parte, o mecanismo de retaliação coletiva deverá ter caráter obrigatório quando, diante de uma situação de desequilíbrio de poder: (i) seja patente a baixa capacidade relativa do Membro demandante; (ii) não haja Membros com interesses comuns, intensos e específicos a propulsionar a formação de uma aliança com o Membro demandante; e (iii) seja improvável a formação de uma menor coalizão vencedora. Por fim, a tese apresentou uma proposta de emenda aos Artigos 22.3 e 22.6 do ESC, para incorporação de um mecanismo de retaliação coletiva no SSC/OMC, explicitando os requisitos legais para tanto. / The objective of the thesis was to examine the viability of implementing a mechanism of collective countermeasures (retaliation) within the dispute settlement system (DS) of the WTO, as from the perspective of the alliance formation theory, as developed under international relations. The aim was to verify whether and under which conditions coalitions seeking at imposing collective retaliation will form, in case such mechanism is implemented in the DS/WTO. The thesis developed under the premise that enforcement under the DS/WTO is still founded on self-help, i.e., dependent on the force, the power, of the demanding Members to induce the demanded Member to adopt the Dispute Settlement Bodys (DSB) recommendations, by means of bilateral retaliation, based on reciprocity. However, one can note that the insufficiency and/or ineffectiveness of such bilateral countermeasures to induce the demanded Member to comply with the DSBs recommendations are generally associated with imbalance of power situations. The alliance formation theory proved to be appropriate for undertaking the envisaged analysis. Firstly, the analysis of imbalance of power situations is under the purview of the alliance formation theory. Secondly, with emphasis on the work developed by Glenn N. Snyder, the theory showed to be appropriate for the matter at hand, because the international trade system is structured under anarchy, in a multipolar structure, where it is not possible to predict ex ante the possible alignments in a given configuration, justifying the usage of the theory. The thesis thus confirmed the need to adopt a mechanism of collective retaliation at the DS/WTO, having indicated that collective retaliation can be unnecessary; allowed or mandatory. For that, the theory developed the concepts of relative capacity, minimal winning coalition, alliancedependence, besides the examination of the pre-alliance situation of the interests of the units involved, to verify whether there are fostering or preventing factors to the alliance formation. Such concepts were applied to the factual settings of the eleven arbitrations of Article 22.6 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU). By means of the application of the Landscape Theory of Aggregation, the thesis confirmed the need to implement, under certain circumstances, a mandatory mechanism of collective retaliation. Thus, the thesis submitted that the collective retaliation mechanism will be allowed, when, under an imbalance of power situation: (i) there are other Members with common, intense and specific interests fostering the alliance formation; and (ii) such Members bring about enough relative capacity to form a minimal winning coalition with the demanding Member. On the other hand, the collective retaliation mechanism will be mandatory, in an imbalance of power situation, when: (i) it is evident that the demanding Member has low relative capacity; (ii) there are no Members with common, intense and specific interests to foster the formation of an alliance with the demanding Member; and (iii) it is improbable that a minimal winning coalition will be formed. Finally, the thesis proposed an amendment to the text of Articles 22.3 and 22.6 of the DSU, to incorporate the collective relation mechanism in the DS/WTO, indicating the legal requisites thereof.

Magister Legum - LLM / This study examines the legal and policy objectives of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) with specific reference to international standards and the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The study sets out the history and development of the TBT Agreement and the relationship between the TBT Agreement and selected WTO Agreements. The study also explores the application and interpretation of the TBT Agreement under the WTO dispute settlement system. More importantly, the study addresses the legal, policy and practical implications of the TBT Agreement for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Africa. A central argument put forward in this study is that, albeit international standards have been recognised as an important tool for LDCs in Africa to gain access to foreign markets, there is no significant ‘political will’ and commitment from the key players in standardisation work, that is, the national governments, the private sector and the ISO. At the same time, some developed and developing countries tend to use their influence and involvement in the activities of the ISO as a means of promoting the use and adoption of their homegrown standards. The study proposes, among others, that a more participatory approach which encompasses representatives from consumer groups, the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from these LDCs in Africa, should be adopted

In 2003 the United States filed an official complaint against the European Community at the World Trade Organization in regards to the ban imposed on GM crops within the EU, saying that there was no scientific defense for their point of view, and this had created barriers to trade. After one of the longest dispute settlement in WTO history, the body sided with the US and deemed the ban to be restricting free trade. Conflicting research on the safety of GM crops has further complicated the matter and many members of the EU are still choosing to ban GM crops in defiance of the WTO ruling.

The thesis deals with disputes concerning hormone treated beef. The first, theoretical part describes the dispute settlement process under the World Trade Organization. The second part deals with causes of disputes, main participants and development of the process. The last chapter is devoted to retaliatory sanctions and impacts for bilateral trade of countries involved in disputes.

The Master thesis describes comprehensively attributes and operating of arbitration in the Czech Republic which has acquired significance recently. The work is divided into eight chapters. After exordium I make readers acquainted with alternative dispute resolution, e.g. mediation. The third chapter characterizes arbitration and describes history, sources of law, types of arbitration and capability of arbitrator in the Czech Republic. The fourth part deals with the arbitration agreements and their requirements. The fifth chapter is dedicated to its particular stages and revision, recognition and enforcement of the arbitral awards in order to provide the reader an complex overview of the the arbitration proceedings. In the sixth section, the author tries to define advantages and disadvantages of this method of solving disputes and to answer question why we should choose it. The seventh chapter adds a special current issues devoting an arbitration clause on consumer contracts. In the last chapter author concludes the topic and suggests improvements.

De nos jours, le multilatéralisme et le libre échange sont le fondement du système économique. La participation de la Thaïlande à l’OMC et au FMI joue un rôle incontournable dans les stratégies de développement du pays. En tant que pays en développement et malgré certaines dispositions particulières en sa faveur, l’influence qu’elle exerce au sein de chaque institution reste limitée. Ce qui l’a conduite à chercher des alliances en regroupant avec les pays qui partagent les mêmes positions pour mieux se faire entendre.Grâce à cette participation, le gouvernement thaïlandais dispose d’une source de financement en cas de crise économique et financière. Il peut mieux mener les politiques commerciales dont l’accent a été mis sur la promotion des exportations et avoir un mécanisme de règlement des différends qui lui permettent de défendre les intérêts de ses producteurs de manière plus efficace surtout lorsqu’il s’agit d’un différend avec des pays développés. Mais face à des limites du système multilatéral à vocation universelle (impasse du Cycle de Doha, problème de la conditionnalité de l’aide et de l’efficacité des mesures prévues par le FMI), la Thaïlande est retournée plus vers le bilatéralisme et le régionalisme afin de protéger les intérêts du pays. / In this day and age, multilateralism and free trade are the foundations of theeconomic system. The participation of Thailand in the World Trade Organization (WTO) andthe International Monetary Fund (IMF) plays an essential role in the development strategies ofthe country. As a developing country and despite some specific provisions in its favour,Thailand’s influence within each institution is limited. A greater voice, by gathering withcountries that share the same positions, prompted Thailand to seek such alliances. Throughthis participation, the Thai government has a funding source in the event of economic andfinancial crisis. They can improve trade policies that focus on export promotion and have adispute settlement mechanism that allows them to better defend the interests of its producers,especially when these disputes involve developed countries. But the limits of the multilateralsystem (Doha round impasse, the issue of conditionality and effectiveness of the IMF’smeasures) incite Thailand to turn more towards bilateralism and regionalism for protecting thecountry’s interests.

"Despite the apparent universal existence of the friendly settlement procedure it has not been extensively used in the African regional system. Against this background, this study is a comparative analysis of the provisions and application of the friendly settlement procedure in the African, Inter-American and European regional systems. The study further examines in detail the practice and jurisprudence of the three regional systems on a comparative basis. The comparative analysis is relevant for the following reasons. Both Africa and South America share common historical backgrounds in terms of socio-economic development and the nature of human rights violations. Europe has the oldest human rights system and if experience is anything to go by, then there might be lessons to be learnt by the younger counterparts. The establishment of the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (African Court) to complement the protection mandate of the African Commission on Human and Poeoples' Rights (The African Commission) further justifies the comparative analysis as the other regional systems also have regional human rights courts. ... Chapter 1 is an introduction of the study on the effectiveness and propriety of friendly settlements. The ensuing chapter traces the foundations and sets up the conceptual and theoretical framework of friendly settlements. Having established the existence of the procedure, chapter 3 examines the institutional and legal provisions of friendly settlements in international and regional human rights instruments on a factual level. The detailed and critical analysis of the frienldy settlement procedure is presented in chapter 4. The author makes use of the jurisprudence of the three regional human rights bodies and examines how the procedure has been applied in practice. The practice of the three regional bodies is analysed on a comparative basis to assess the effectiveness of the procedure. The last chapter makes conclusions and gives recommendations regarding the application of the friendly settlement procedure as an alternative method of dispute resolution." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Henry Ojambo, Faculty of Law, University of Makerere, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM