National Treatment and WTO Dispute Settlement

Adjudicating the Boundaries of Regulatory Autonomy

Gaetan Verhoosel

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2002
• Print ISBN: 9781841132990
• eBook ISBN: 9781847311269
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: International Trade Law
• Index: Law

The perceived impact of WTO law on the domestic regulatory autonomy of WTO Members is increasingly becoming the subject of controversy and debate. This book brings together in an integrated analytical framework the main WTO parameters defining the interface between the WTO and domestic legal orders, and examines how WTO adjudicators, i.e. panels and the Appellate Body, have construed those rules. A critical analysis identifies the flaws or weaknesses of these quasi-judicial solutions and their potential consequences for Members' regulatory autonomy. In an attempt to identify a more proper balance between WTO law and regulatory autonomy, it develops an innovative interpretation of the National Treatment obligations in GATT and GATS, drawing upon compelling arguments from legal, logic and economic theory.

Table of contents

• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Title verso
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• 1. Defining the Interface between WTO and Domestic Legal Orders through the Interpretation of National Treatment
• 2. The Building Blocks: GATT Rules on Domestic Regulation and The 1994 Transplant to Services
• 3. How Ther Were Construed: The Case Law on National Treatment, Legitimate Policy Exceptions and Non-Violation under GATT and GATS
• 4. From Japanese Shoshu to Chilean Pisco: Two Ways to Think about WTO Assessment of Origin-Neutral Regulation
• 5. Why Equate Non-Discrimination with Necessity?
• List of Cited Cases
• Selective Bibliography
• Index