Book Presentation on “WTO: Text and Cases” Authored By Palle Krishan Rao

Brief Detail About Book ISBN-13: 978-8174464309 532 pages Publisher: Excel Books First Edition (April 30, 2005)

Contents From GATT to WTO General Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions Agreement on Agriculture The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement on the Implementations of Article VI of GATT 1994 Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement on Trade-related Investment Measures Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement on Safeguards Agreement on Textiles and Clothing General Agreement on Trade in Services

CASE STUDIES: The Banana War The Korean Soju A Matter of Semantics The Canadian Dairy Case The Case of the Codling Moth A Fishy Dispute? The Hormone Ban – An Issue of N&I The Bed Linen Dispute Privatising at Arm’s Length Sovereignty Issues Process or Product? Copy (right) Tales Better Basmati than Havana To TRIM or not To TRIM What’s a Sardine, but a Sardine! Of Shrimps and Turtles Fresh, Chilled or Frozen Lamb? A Woven Dispute

Disputes Covered in this book are The Banana War: European Communities –Regime for importation, sale and distribution of Bananas: panels were of the view that the dispute was about import preferences given by a member to partnership countries of a regional trade arrangement while denying them to other member countries involved in the trade of the same product.

The Korean Soju : Korea taxes on alcoholic beverages and Korea measures affected imports of fresh chilled and frozen beef; country should not have domestic tax laws that make comparable imported products costlier of the shelf in the domestic market, and thus inhibit potential competition from a comparable foreign product. This concept of national treatment was applied to Korean distribution regulations on imported beef.

A matter of semantics : India-Quantitative restrictions on import of the agricultural, textile and industrial products: the panels found untenable a quantitative restrictions regime that was based on a balanced of payments flaws in WTO agreement . Country can not take recourse to escape provision from meeting Marrakech commitments, when the facts are to the contrary.

Canadian Dairy Case : Canada-measures affecting the importation of milk and exportation of dairy products: the dispute was about the classification of a Govt. supportive action as subsidy and consequent determination of variance with the agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures.

The case of the codling moth : Japan-measures affecting agricultural products and a fishy dispute? Australia-measures affecting importation of salmon: countries can place Sanitary and Phytosanitary restrictions of import after taking into consideration scientific principles and after objective assessment of the advice from experts and stipulated international organization. Also, The SPS measures should be based on well reasoned risk assessment and should not be more trade restrictive than required.

Hormone Bane an issue of N&I :European Communities-measures concerning wheat and wheat products ( hormones):this case study has been selected to enable the readers to become acquainted with the issues of Nullification and Impairment (N&I) and process followed to estimate N&I. To put is colloquially, N&I is the cost that the losing party (a member who has implemented WTO-incompatible measures) has to pay to the winning one.

The bed linen dispute : European Communities- Anti Dumping Duties on imports of cotton type bed linen from India: the EC used the concept of zeroing in while calculating dumping margins of imports. Zeroing meant not taking into consideration, for overall calculation, the values of imports that were positively dumped, i.e., when there was no dumping at all. Naturally, a calculation of this type will put products and countries under anti-dumping investigation at a disadvantage.

Privatization at Arms length : United States-imposition of countervailing duties on certain hot Rolled laid and Bismuth carbon steal products originating in the UK: This dispute primarily addressed the issue of determining the point of a privatization transaction at which previous Govt. grants could be termed as no longer having the benefit of a subsidy. The issues raised in the dispute may the first of many to come as Govt. all over the world speed up the process of privatization.

Sovereignty issues : US measures treating export restraints as subsidies, US Anti-Dumping Act 1916 and US Tax treatment for foreign sales corporation: though matters like subsidy, dumping and taxation feature in these three disputes, the core theme running through the complaints is about member’s national laws: discretionary and mandatory and their compatibility are incompatibility with WTO agreement

Case Study on A fishy Dispute The issue in this dispute was Australian Policy of prohibiting imports of fresh, chilled or frozen adult, wild, ocean caught Pacific Salmon (uncooked )from Canada.

The Australian Policy was based on an quarantine assessment that import of uncooked Salmon would result in entry, establishment and/or spread of disease causing agents that had great potential to cause economic and environmental consequences. Australia put the no. of disease causing agents at 24. However Australia allowed imports of Salmon products after they go through a heat treatment of 350c for not less than 7 hours.

At the same time Canada argued that Australia allowed imports of ornamental fish and herring in whole, frozen form that was used as bait even if these products were know to be the host of harmful disease agents. Now the million dollar question in this case is “Is Dual Australian Import Policy is in conformity with Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures?”

The Appellate Body in its report of October 20,1998, was of the view that a member should not adopt different levels of protection under different situations and that the levels of protection should not be “arbitrary or unjustifiable” resulting in “discriminatory or disguised restrictions on international trade”. The Appellate Body asked the Australia to bring its quarantine measures in conformity with its WTO Agreements.

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