Objective: To consider environmental dimensions of key issues in trade.
Overview: This module will show how specific environmental issues are shaped by trade law. A number of issues will be considered, including: the relationship between market access and environmental conditions; the relationship between exploitation of comparative advantage and a so-called race-to-the-bottom with respect to environmental management practices; the relationship between subsidies and natural resource depletion; the relationship between intellectual property rights, productive technologies, and biodiversity; and the relationship between increased investment and environmental matters. The topics of this module will be illustrated by available case law in each subject matter.
Lecturers: María Amparo Albán , Cesar Parga
Presentations: Market Access, Property Rights
Topics covered in this module include:
Market access
o Environmental standards and competitiveness
o Processes and production methods (PPMs)
o Eco-labeling and environmental certification programs
o Government procurement
o Environmental goods and services
Regulation of agriculture
o Reduction of trade barriers and the environment
o Subsidies: environmental costs and benefits
Intellectual property rights
o Technological innovation
o Biodiversity and natural resources
Investment and sustainable development
Required Readings:
New European Union Commission's Proposal on Novel Foods Regulations (UNCTAD, 2013), A preliminary overview from the perspective of biodiversity-based and traditional foods..
Market Access and Environmental Requirements, Trade and Environment at the WTO, The World Trade Organization (2004), pp. 14-21.
Read, Robert, Process and Production Methods and the Regulation of International Trade, The WTO & the Regulation of International Trade: Recent Trade Disputes Between the European Union & United States, N. Perdikis & R. Read (eds.) (2005), Chapter 11, pp. 239-266.
Opening Markets for Environmental Goods and Services. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), Policy Brief (2005).
Sell, Malena, Agriculture, Trade and Environment—A Resource Book, A. Najim, M. Halle and R. Meléndez-Ortiz (eds.), International Institute for Sustainable Development, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development and the Regional and International Networking Group (2007), Section II, Chapter 1, pp. 29-37.
Tarasofsky, Richard, Report on Trade, Environment, and Intellectual Property Rights, Concerted Action on Trade and Environment, European Commission (2005).
Peterson, Luke Eric, Investment, Trade and Environment—A Resource Book, A. Najim, M. Halle and R. Meléndez-Ortiz (eds.), International Institute for Sustainable Development, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development and the Regional and International Networking Group (2007), Section II, Chapter 12, pp. 135-144.
Suggested Readings:
Trade and Environment in the Multilateral Trading System, TrainForTrade, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Module 2 (2000).
Cosbey, Aaron, Trade-related environmental standards: make them better, meet them better, but don’t bother complaining, Lessons Learned on Trade and Sustainable Development: Distilling Six Years of Research from the Trade Knowledge Network, International Institute for Sustainable Development (2004), Chapter 3, pp. 13-24.
Bienes y Servicios Ambientales en América Central, Cuba y la República Domínicana, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2006).
Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Nathalie, Linsey Sherman and Mahesh Sugathan, Environmental Goods and Non-agricultural Market Access, Trade and Environment—A Resource Book, A. Najim, M. Halle and R. Meléndez-Ortiz (eds.), International Institute for Sustainable Development, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development and the Regional and International Networking Group, (2007), Section II, Chapter 6, pp. 77-85.
Pearce, David, Environmentally Harmful Subsidies: Barriers to Sustainable Development, paper presented at: Workshop on Environmentally Harmful Subsidies, Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development (2002).
Cosbey, Aaron,
The Road to Hell? Investor Protections in NAFTA’s Chapter 11,
International Investment for Sustainable Development, L. Zarsky (ed.),
Earthscan (2005), Chapter 6, pp. 150-171.