Study On The Conflict Between Environmental Protectionand International Trade

Environment issues and trade issues belong to different scope, and they have specific organizations and rules of their own. Free trade is the object of the entire world, and GATT/WTO has been working for it. With the traditional trade limited measures disappear, the trade liberalization is coming. However, trade-related environmental measures appear. The relation between environmental issues and trade issues has become a hot issue. In fact, they affect each other. For one hand, trade liberalization can bring the polluted substance to another country, and which also bring the product and technique which is helpful to environment. On the contrary, environment protection not only limits or prohibits the product and technique which is harmful to environment, but also can promote the efficient distribution of the natural resources. During the past half century, multilateral trading system has accelerated the development of international trade and the growth of international economy. The growth of international economy has resulted in an unprecedented pressure in environment. In the process of solving global environmental problems, because trade measures which are important instruments of overcoming market failure and governmental failure affect environmental protection, environmental protection is connected with trade liberalization.Under multilateral trading system, how to harmonize the relationship between environmental protection and trade liberalization, how to make trade-environmental measures and policies not hinder trade liberalization and environmental protection, these issues have been problems considered and studied by multilateral system since 1970's. The Dispute Settlement Body of multilateral system has been trying to find out some solutions in its practices. These practices develop the rules of GATT/WTO. The rules related of environment and trade are GATT's Article 20th (b).(g) . the meaning of"necessary"in this sector is considered of"without the satisfying alternative"at the beginning, then of"the least trade limit", and of"the idea of the importance of the protection object and value". The scope of resources in this sector is limited in the signori of the country that cites this sector, and then this limit is abolished in the panel report in the subsequence. All of the panel reports and appellate reports indicate a trend: the interpretations are more helpful to environmental protection and looser than before. The current international trade rules,Say mainly the WTO rules,will not accommodate them unless they conform with the conditions provided by Article XX(b)or(g)of the GATT. This dissertation analyses and expounds on Article XX rather intensively,based on several cases decided by the GATT or WTO. Trade-related environmental measures are adopted by a dozen of multilateral environmental agreements. These agreements,together with WTO...