The WTO, Self-Determination, and Multi-Jurisdictional Sovereignty
American Journal of International Law Unbound, June 2015
12 Pages Posted: 4 Sep 2015
Date Written: June 25, 2015
Abstract
In EC-Seal Products, the WTO Appellate Body held that the European Union (EU) Seal Regime banning the importation of seal products could be justified under GATT Article XX(a) as a measure necessary to protect public morals. It also held that the indigenous communities (IC) exception under the EU Seal Regime is inconsistent with GATT Article I:1 (Most-Favored Nation) because it discriminated against commercial fishers in Canada and Norway and was applied in a manner that favored the mostly Inuit seal hunters of Greenland, and thus ran afoul of Article XX’s chapeau. With a focus on Canada, I suggest that the dispute is about more than just the trade in seal products. This case brings into stark relief questions of self-determination of Arctic indigenous peoples and multi-jurisdictional sovereignty over the Arctic.
Keywords: Inuit, International Trade Law, Soveriegnty, Arctic Law, Self-determination
JEL Classification: K33, Q22
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation