Trade in goods : the GATT and the other agreements regulating trade in goods

541 Pages·2008·2.84 MB·English

by  Mavroidis

TRADE IN GOODS
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Trade in Goods
Th e GATT and the Other Agreements Regulating
Trade in Goods
PETROS C. MAVROIDIS
Edwin B. Parker Professor of Law, Columbia Law School, NY,
Professor at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Research Fellow at CEPR (Centre for Economic Policy Research)
1
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Mavroidis, Petros C.
Trade in goods : the GATT and the other agreements regulating trade in goods /
Petros C. Mavroidis.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–923903–0 (alk. paper)
1. Foreign trade regulation. 2. General Agreement on Tariff s and Trade (1947)
3. General Agreement on Tariff s and Trade (Organization) I. Title.
K4600.M393 2007
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ISBN 978–0–19–923903–0
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For Meritas
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Acknowledgements
Winston Churchill once said: ‘writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is
a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a mas-
ter, and then a tyrant. Th e last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled
to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fl ing him out to the public.’ A num-
ber of people should take credit for helping me to complete this book, although
they should not be held accountable for fl inging it out to the public; this is my
sole responsibility.
Th is book is the natural extension (and substantial revision) of my Commentary
on the GATT (Oxford University Press, 2005). Rob Howse asked me to write on
that subject, and I thank him for showing confi dence in me.
Bryce Bittner, Jorge Huerta-Goldman, Kevin Stemp, Anastasios Tomazos,
Arun Venkataraman, Edwin Vermulst, and Jasper-Martijn Wauters read parts
of the original manuscript, and corrected my misunderstandings on a host of
issues. Heinz Opelz shared with me his invaluable experience as Director of mar-
ket access issues of the GATT. At the WTO, Cato Adrian, Marc Bacchetta, Tessa
Bridgeman, Willie Chatsika, Edwini Kessie, Patrick Allison Low, Juan-Alberto
Marchetti, Julie Pain, Serge Stamnas, Gretchen Stanton, Luigi Stendardo, Joelle
Vuillemenot, and Erik Wijkstrom, never tired of responding to my (ever increas-
ing number of ) questions. Rhian-Mary Wood-Richards helped me identify doc-
uments important to my research, and bring the various chapters to their present
status. Th e same goes for Sarah Sladen who has helped me enormously to prepare
this book, and had to brush up her German on the way. My computer skills, or
lack of them, have betrayed me a number of times: Angay Vijayakumar, Ashley
Pineda, and Boris Niyazov, thank you so much for being such a help on this
score. My students on both sides of the Atlantic, through their comments, ques-
tions and overall class-participation, greatly contributed to the manner in which
I deal with the issues here. Teaching at CLS about the WTO for the past years
with my dear friends and colleagues Kyle Bagwell, George Bermann, and Jagdish
Bhagwati, has been a very enriching experience for me. At Neuchâtel, I benefi ted
from discussions with Yvan Fauchère, Pauline Lièvre, Panagiotis Delimatsis, and
Laurenz Sigismondi. Yvan, in particular, not only generously shared with me his
expertise on SPS issues, but helped me bring this book to its current shape.
I benefi ted from a series of talks with Marc Bacchetta, Chad Bown, Marc
Busch, Meredith Crowley, Bill Davey, Jeff Dunoff , Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, Bill
Ethier, Crawford Falconer, Joe Francois, Gary Horlick, Aaditya Mattoo, Niall
Meagher, Mattia Melloni, Damien J. Neven, Federico Ortino, Joost Hugo Bart
Pauwelyn, Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, Tom Prusa, Eric Reinhardt, Kamal Saggi,
viii Acknowledgements
Simon Schropp, T.N. Srinivasan, Mike Trebilcock, and Joseph H.H. Weiler who
generously shared their unique knowledge on GATT issues with me.
Bernard Hoekman, Doug Irwin, André Sapir, and Joel Trachtman read re-drafts
of my chapters and gave me very useful comments. Th ey also largely infl uenced
the approach taken in this book: Doug persuaded me that we have a lot to learn
by placing the GATT in its appropriate historical context, and I have certainly
immensely enjoyed my time reading the preparatory work of the GATT. Joel’s
comments were, as always, to the point. He has always been particularly generous
with his time and I have benefi ted a lot from my interaction with him over the
years. As is the case with the other people I thank in this note, there is unfortu-
nately no reciprocity involved, so far at least. Bernard and André are uniquely
positioned to discuss the law and economics of the world trading system. Th ey
have shared with me their vast knowledge of the institutions and the political
economy considerations of the key actors. Th ey have also corrected my many
misconceptions on issues of their expertise.
Ivan Crowley read the whole manuscript, and deserves a very particular men-
tion. His comments have been outstanding as they have been detailed: he spot-
ted numerous errors and inconsistencies in previous drafts, and brought them
to my attention; through his comments, he opened up new avenues for me. He
responded beyond the call of duty.
David Palmeter has been a great friend and mentor over the years. My under-
standing of the GATT has been deeply infl uenced by his work and our cooper-
ation. His continuous interest in trade issues and his ever-innovating approach is
a source of inspiration for me.
Lance Liebman put a wonderful group together (Kyle Bagwell, Gene
Grossman, Henrik Horn, Bob Staiger, Alan Sykes) to work on the American Law
Institute (ALI) project on WTO law, and asked me to participate in it. I have
learned so much participating in this group, it is simply impossible for me to
thank my colleagues and friends there enough.
I have already expressed elsewhere that my interest in the study of the GATT
is largely due to Frieder Roessler. He hired me for the GATT legal service a few
years ago, and through our discussions inspired my interest in the fi eld. I hope
that he will get some pleasure reading this book. Bernard Hoekman and Henrik
Horn picked up from where Frieder had left off . Bernard’s knowledge of the
world trading system is unique in so many respects. What is also unique is his
approach. He is a true social scientist. Henrik has been my steady co-author for
over 10 years. I owe him much more than I will ever be able to express, and hope
that, when reading this book, he will have the sense that his (ongoing) tutoring
was (is) not in vain.
While writing this book, I had the opportunity to revisit some of Bob Hudec’s
work and realize, yet again, that he had already assessed (in a much superior man-
ner) most of the issues I am dealing with. It is a pity he is not with us any more;
I would have loved to share this book with him.
Acknowledgements ix
My wife, Suja Rishikesh-Mavroidis, has still not given up trying to educate
me on market access issues, her area of expertise. She also undertook most of our
family tasks, providing me with precious time to work on this book. I will never
be in a position to thank her enough for all she has done for our family and me
over the years. Th is book, as is the case of all my work, is for her and our daugh-
ters, Meera-Natalia, Riya-Valentina, and Tara-Eleni.
Petros C. Mavroidis
Commugny, Switzerland
April 27, 2007