Face the Facts! 4 - The Anti-Environmental Record of the WTO
How the Global Economy Harms People and the Environment
#4, Wednesday March 31,1999
The Anti- Environmental Record of the WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO), created in 1994 to enforce international trade rules, has an anti-environmental bias. To date, every time a WTO member country has challenged another countries’ environmental or consumer protection law at the WTO, the WTO has sided against the environment. *1
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CASE |
RESULT |
The Venezualan Gas Case
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Venezuela challenged a 1990 amendment to the US Clean Air Act that required gasoline refiners to make cleaner gas. | A WTO panel ruled against the US law. The Environmental Protection Agency had to change the clean air rules . |
The Beef Hormones Case
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The United States challenged a European Union ban on the sale or import of beef from cattle that have been raised with certain growth hormones. | A WTO appellate panel ruled against the EU law. The EU has until May 13, 1999 to comply with the decision. |
The Shrimp & Turtles Case |
Four Asian nations challenged a US law banning the import of shrimp from countries whose fisherman catch shrimp with methods that kill endangered sea turtles | A WTO appellate panel decided that the US applied the law in a discriminatory way. The US is currently deciding how to change the shrimp import regulations.*2 |
*1 In addition to the three cases described here (United States - Standards for Reformulated and Conventional Gasoline, EC Measures concerning Meat and Meat Products, and United States - Import prohibition of certain shrimp and shrimp products), two other WTO dispute cases decided to date have a significant environmental component (EC - Regime for the Importation, Sale and Distribution of Bananas, and Australia - Measures Affecting Importation of Salmon.)
*2 Notice of Proposed Revisions to Guidelines for the Implementation of Section 609 of Public Law 101-162 Relating to the Protection of Sea Turtles in Shrimp Trawl Fishing Operations, Federal Register: March 25, 1999
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