Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

In addition to being a versatile ingredient, shrimp have become the main course in an international trade debate. The controversy over the pint-sized crustaceans stems from Section 609 of Public Law 101-162, a United States measure which utilizes a shrimp embargo as a means of obtaining compliance with a program to decrease incidental capture of endangered sea turtles. While the measure's ultimate objective of protecting turtles has been praised, its compliance mechanisms have drawn harsh criticism from those seeking to promote multilateral agreements and from foreign nations seeking to export to the United States. But perhaps the most crushing criticism has come from the WTO Appellate Body which ruled in October 1998 that the embargo, as implemented, violated GATT/WTO free trade provisions.

The Appellate Body decision is but one of a number of recent events that has brought the tumultuous relationship between trade and environment to the forefront of the international agenda. In addition to a number of well-publicized legal and political battles, most notably the debate over dolphin-safe tuna, recent years have witnessed the development by prominent economic organizations of a number of specialized committees charged with evaluating trade and environmental concerns.3 In March 1999, representatives from transnational groups came together with representatives from over 130 nations and non-governmental organizations in a two-day symposium to examine trade and environmental policies, and the links between them.

But the debate has not been confined to boardrooms and conference centers. In late November 1999, emotion-laden protests which quickly erupted into violence shut down the city of Seattle, host of the WTO ministerial conference. The ensuing chaos contributed in large part to the talks being suspended without an agenda for the next session and sparked a media frenzy throughout the world.

Though the trade and environment relationship is still in its fledgling stages it is nevertheless clear that the question which must be addressed by future policy makers is not which aspect should prevail, but rather how to create harmony between the two. This endeavor is made no less difficult by the fact that trade specialists and environmentalists generally approach environmental matters from very different perspectives. For example, while economists tout free trade as a means of increasing standards of living and providing the means and desire to curtail environmental degradation,6 environmentalists point to the initial degradation and external environmental costs associated with that modernization. At the forefront of this dialogue are questions concerning the ability of nations to use trade measures, such as Section 609's embargo, as a means of obtaining compliance with environmental objectives.

This Note begins with a brief description of the basic elements and common forms of environmental trade measures, detailing both their function in environmental regimes and the major critiques of their use. Part II chronicles the debate over Section 609 from the measure's development, through the WTO review bodies, ending with the current implementation efforts by the Department of State. Part III then analyzes the implementation efforts and Section 609 as a whole, in light of the WTO critiques as well as the ultimate objectives of environmental trade measures. This Note concludes that though Section 609 has fallen far short of the majority of its objectives, the endeavor provides valuable insight into the future of environmental trade measures (ETMs) and the relationship between trade and environment.

Accessibility Requirements

1

Download

Share

COinS