From GATTzilla to the Green Giant: Winning the Environmental Battle for the Soul of the World Trade Organization

Abstract:     
While American environmentalists are not of one mind as to the environmental implications of the rise of the World Trade Organization (WTO), one major response has been to suggests that the WTO is incompatible with environmental protection and that the United States should take unilateral action to systematically ban the importation of goods that are made in ways deemed to cause unnecessary harm to the environment. While recognizing many environmental criticisms of the WTO as valid, this article makes the case that it would not be wise to eliminate the WTO or to unilaterally ban foreign products in an attempt to influence offshore environmental policy. Rather, the author argues that the WTO has the potential to be an effective forum for the creation and enforcement of harmonized international standards relating to process production methods ("PPMs").

Number of Pages in PDF File: 53

Keywords: international law, environmental law, enivronment, environmental protection, world trade organization, wto

JEL Classification: K32, K33

Accepted Paper Series