Green Trade Barriers Legal Research

Trade liberalization and environmental protection have been generally focused as global key issues emerging with the economic globalization. Along with the weakening of traditional tariff and non-tariff barriers, developed countries are seeking for new means of trade protection, and green trade barrier is one approach included within the catalog. Green trade barrier, with its distinct epochal characters, is gradually replacing traditional measures of trade protection, and becomes the main barrier with the world trade development, heavily influencing the foreign trade of developing countries. P.R. China is considered to be the largest developing country and one of the largest exporting countries. Hence it is inevitable that green trade barrier affects the sustainable development of the foreign trade and national economy of P.R. China. This paper begins with the conception of green trade barrier, and then induces and expounds the juridical basis of it, followed by a focused analysis on its influence on Chinese foreign trade. Finally, aiming at the existing problems of current solutions towards green trade barrier, this paper proposes the juridical strategy accordingly, and furthermore recommends that the country should build its own green trade barrier moderately.This paper comprises of four chapters. The first chapter mainly introduces the definition, the causes and major characters of green trade barrier. The international regulations of it are induced and clarified in the perspectives of relevant WTO regulations and international convention for environmental protection in the context of international legislation. The second chapter illustrates the content of green trade barrier, and systematically compares its different systems among the major developed countries and regions. The third chapter analyzes the influences the green trade barrier caused to Chinese foreign trade from both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, it weakens the international competitive power of Chinese export commodities, and has been an obstacle to the rapid growth of Chinese foreign trade. On the other hand, it accelerates the internationalization of Chinese environmental protection rules towards international convention, and improves Chinese environmental protection technology and the development of green industry, contributing significantly to the sustainable development of Chinese national economy. Finally the last chapter proposes the legislative countermeasures confronting and utilizing green trade barrier, and suggests that China construct green trade barrier system.