This article addresses an important and complex subject relating to the link between international law and economic development. There is broad agreement that trade liberalization and participation in foreign markets play an important role in economic development. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa...

The panel and the Appellate Body have recently examined one of the national tobacco control measures (US – Measures Affecting the Productions and Sale of Clove Cigarettes). The dispute, which emerged between the United States and Indonesia, concerned the US ban on the use of certain flavouring...

State capitalism is reemerging today. Some governments, notably newly emerging economies such as China and Russia and oil producing countries in the Middle East are placing much emphasis on state-led economic development, and they are making much use of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to achieve...

The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions), adopted on 20 October 2005, has breathed new life into the ‘trade and culture' debate. Witness the fact that several scholars have discussed the...

This paper argues that GSP labour rights conditionality is in conformity with WTO law. This hinges on the critical question of whether the realisation of labour standards can meet a ‘development need,' a term considered by the WTO Appellate Body report in the EC – Tariffs Preferences case,...

It is common to find in the texts of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) around the globe, provisions incorporated mutatis mutandis from the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. The incorporation of a WTO provision under this expression makes it necessary to determine the likely effects of such...

Private-sector standards are the standards developed and adopted by different types of private entities such as industry associations, NGOs, large retailers and commercial companies. Nowadays, these standards are widely applied on a voluntary basis by main market players in developed and some...

The latest generation of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) features a diversity of ‘deep integration' provisions, which mandate a wide range of border and behind-the-border regulatory and institutional reforms in areas such as food safety and technical standards, customs administration,...

Recently, it has become apparent to developing countries in the WTO that their limited bargaining power has, in fact, been a stumbling block to obtaining desired negotiation outcomes in the multilateral trade system. Thus, to execute any fundamental changes to the status quo, there was a need to...

This paper explores and analyses the position of South Africa in relation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute Settlement system, especially as the most active African WTO member in the application of WTO rules to disputes in the municipal (domestic) context. Despite being a relatively...