[Summary]: This thesis provides a comprehensive study of OPEC. It seeks to ascertain and analyse the international legal status of OPEC and its characteristics, to examine how OPEC functions and what its stated aims and objectives are, to evaluate the performance of OPEC in the context of these objectives, and to suggest improvements for the future. OPEC was originally established in 1960 by a group of developing oil-producing countries as an institutional response to the need which they all felt to assert their independence and ensure their economic survival. In this context Part One examines and analyses the general pre-history and overall background of OPEC from a variety of different perspectives including but not limited to such relevant areas as international conflicts over the distribution of wealth and power between producers and consumers in particular, and between the developing and developed countries in general. Part Two considers the constitutional legal foundations of OPEC which are to be found in the original OPEC Resolution of 1960 and in its subsequent OPEC Statute (as amended) which defines the Organisation's aims and objectives, its internal structure, its decision-making processes, its financial resources and its dispute settlement procedures. Part Three of the thesis enlarges on this initial survey by examining OPEC's structure, composition, organs and membership in greater detail. Part Four considers OPEC's international legal status and its standing vis-a vis the larger international community and other international organisations. Part Four also considers OPEC in the context of the internationally recognised principle of a state's right to exercise permanent sovereignty over its natural resources, and therefore of the OPEC Members' rights to organise the production, marketing and pricing of their oil resources. Part Four also explores the proposition that although OPEC may not have been founded with the express contemplation of such international legal and economic milestones as the Havana Charter and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in mind, it has in fact proved to be quite consistent with International Commodity Agreements (ICAs) in more than one respect, while at the same time displaying characteristics which are uniquely different from a typical ICA. Bearing the above in mind, Parts Five and Six seek to examine OPEC's track record since its inception thirty-eight years ago. Part Five examines the decision-making processes and financial contributions in OPEC, while Part Six then focuses on OPEC's actual policies and resulting activities - and their legal significance. Finally, Part Seven is concerned with a general evaluation of the main features and relative failures and successes of OPEC up to now, as well as with a conclusion as to its future role, including - in order to enhance that role - recommendations as to how OPEC's practices and policy could perhaps be improved in the years to come. (N.B.: A more comprehensive summary appears in the Abstract on pages xi - xiv. )

Acknowledging a relationship between international human rights and international trade law adds to the legitimacy of economic, social and cultural rights already enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the central institution for international trade law and it has demonstrated a commitment to enhance human rights. This commitment has been realized through WTO efforts to enhance human dignity and eradicate poverty. These WTO efforts ought to be fostered and used to promote human rights. The purpose of this study was two fold – first, demonstrate that a relationship between international trade law and international human rights exists; and second, that this relationship is useful in promoting economic, social and cultural rights. This relationship will be examined through WTO initiatives, case studies and the Accession of the Republic of China in 2001.

This study explored whether there is an inherent inequitable nature of the liberalization process with respect to the World Trade Organization Agreements, namely TRIMs (Trade-related Investment Measures), TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and the Agreement on Agriculture.

The reason for highlighting the difference between GATT and GATS is to focus on the impact of these agreements on the developing countries and in particular the latter will be the main focus of this paper. The economies and governments of the developing states are struggling to generate sustainable capitol growth and maintain financial stability to enhance economic growth. This is due to dictators who rule in such a manner to maintain power irrespective of the future economic viability of their state. Thus the environment for sustainable economic growth is wrath with political instability, lack of proper financial control and eagerness to attract foreign investment and allowing market access to developed states.

The objective of this research was to examine how SADC states can attain goal 8 of the Millennium Development Goals set up by the international community through the United Nations in the year 2000, using trade under the mechanism envisaged by the World Trade Organization by the target date of 2015.

The main objective of this paper was to explore and evaluate the viability of incorporating the promotion, enforcement and protection of human rights within the WTO agenda, mandate and framework. It further aimed to investigate the viability of accelerating multilateral cooperation amongst international major role players, thus assessing and evaluating the kind of cooperation necessary for the adequate protection and enforcement of human rights by the WTO and major role players involved.

<p>The main aim of the research was to determine the viability of retaliation as a trade remedy under the Dispute Settlement Understanding. It was to establish whether retaliation as a remedy is beneficial to the entire WTO membership and system. The specific objectives were: to examine the feasibility of damages as an alternative remedy to retaliation / to determine whether there is a need to revise the Dispute Settlement Understanding, for it to adopt a more development friendly approach to dispute resolution / to make recommendations regarding the improvement of the Dispute Settlement Understanding.</p>

<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>

This thesis analyses the consistency of WTO law with international environmental law and general international law in the field of trade and environment. GATT obligations require trade measures to comply with national treatment (Article III) and most –favoured nation treatment (Article I) and to prohibit import and export restrictions (Article XI). GATT exceptions permit measures to protect human, animal or plant life or health (Article XX(b)) and to conserve exhaustible natural resources (Article XX(g). This thesis analyses the consistency of unilateral and multilateral environmental measures with these GATT obligations and exceptions. It argues that the Article XX exceptions should be interpreted according to the proximity of interest between the country using trade restrictions and the environmental problem. It argues further that Article XX should be interpreted in accordance with customary international law regarding sovereign equality, non-intervention and the doctrine of necessity. Applying the principle of sovereign equality to WTO rights, this thesis proposes that WTO provisions be designed and interpreted to compensate for the economic inequality of WTO members in order to ensure equal access to WTO rights. Moreover, the principle of non-intervention should be applied in the WTO context to prohibit economic coercion. Unilateral environmental trade restrictions fail both tests. They use economic coercion to intervene in the internal affairs of sovereign States and are available in practice only to countries with significant market power. However, the doctrine of necessity may be invoked to excuse the non-observance of WTO and other international obligations to permit the use of trade restrictions to address urgent environmental problems with which the enacting country has a jurisdictional nexus.

The purpose of this thesis is to assess the effects of China???s growth, investment in higher education and trade liberalisation on China and its neighbouring East Asian economies. The study is conducted within the framework of a dynamic multi-sector, multi-region computational general equilibrium model, which incorporates endogenous capital and skill accumulation. China???s trade liberalisation induces substantial investment spending and accumulation of capital and skilled labour in China and East Asia. There is a positive wage outcome for skilled and unskilled labour in both regions. The expanded trade opportunities with China should compensate East Asia for the loss of exports to the rest of the world. Complementarity exists between the exports of China and East Asia with East Asia supplying China???s skill-intensive manufacturing sectors with components and parts which are then used as inputs into China???s exports. Furthermore, the simulation results indicate that China???s trade reforms will support the industrial upgrading process in China but the impact is more apparent in the long term. As China transforms into a more skill oriented, open and competitive economy, it will impose significant structural adjustments on itself and East Asia. A large increase in the output and exports of low tech manufacturing is seen in China, as well as in the high skill sectors of intermediate manufacturing, durables and traded services. China???s exports and imports surge, further rising its presence in the global trading system. The exports of East Asia to the rest of the world decline across the sectors except for the durables sector. However, the decline in the exports of several sectors in East Asia to the rest of the world was offset by the increase in the exports of these sectors to China.