Article 115 EEC Treaty enables a member state to block indirect imports of goods stemming from countries outside the Community which have first been imported by another member state, and thus helps to preserve the existence of national commercial policies as opposed to a uniform Community...

"The flow of goods, services, capital, current payments and other transactions of trade across frontiers … is fundamentally free …" - with these words begins the German Außenwirtschafts-Gesetz - AWG (Foreign Trade Act), Article Number One. After this Law had been passed in 1961, many...

The importance of non-tariff barriers in restricting free trade has risen during recent years. Due to their selectivity non-tariff barriers may distort trade even more significantly than tariffs. Developing countries and economies in transition are often most negatively affected.