Trade and Human Health and Safety

Developing countries comprise the majority of the membership of the World Trade Organization. Many developing countries believe that the welfare gains that were supposed to ensue from the establishment of the WTO and the results of the Uruguay Round remain largely elusive. Though often aggregated under the ubiquitous banner “developing countries,” their multilateral trade objectives -- like their underlying policy interests and the concerns -- vary considerably from country to country and are by no means homogenous. Coming off the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the ongoing Doha Development Round, launched in that Middle Eastern city in the fall of 2001 and now on “life support” so to speak, was inaugurated with much fanfare as a means of addressing the difficulties that developing countries face within the multilateral trading system. Special and differential treatment provisions in the WTO agreement in particular are the focus of much discussion in the ongoing round, and voices for change have been multiplying, due to widespread dissatisfaction with their effectiveness, enforceability, and implementation.

This book gathers papers from distinguished experts discussing how health based trade restrictive measures have fared in WTO case law. With an analysis of applicable primary law (GATT, TBT, and SPS) and all case law in the area of trade and health, this book offers a comprehensive discussion on the standards established for the regulation of public health and safety issues. It aims to demonstrate how the world trading regime has come of age and accepted that trade liberalization cannot take place at the expense of nationally defined social values.