This contribution aims to provide an authoritative interpretation of one of the most important GATS provisions, namely the General Exceptions provisions. Drawing parallels with relevant interpretations under the GATT and critically assessing relevant case-law under both GATT and GATS allows the...

This commentary on the security exception provision embedded in the GATS pioneers in that it discusses issues of national security relating to trade in services in a dynamic manner taking into account current threats and contentious issues relating to WTO Members' essential security interests....

The paper deals mainly with the emerging legal issues related to climate change and their interlinkages with the WTO law, human rights law, investment law and environmental law. While the comprehensive international legal regime for climate change is still not established, the guidance in...

Trade, investment and migration are strongly intertwined, being three key factors in international production. Yet, law and regulation of the three has remained highly fragmented. Trade is regulated by the WTO on the multilateral level, and through preferential trade agreements on the regional...

This paper explores the feasibility of devising a new form of intellectual property (IP) protection that would recognize the social value of traditional knowledge (TK) and promote its integration into domestic and international trade regimes while respecting and preserving local autonomy and...

This article looks at intellectual property rights (IPRs) issues relevant to the past and the future: the exploitation of genetic and other biological resources. As genetic resources are becoming more scarce as a consequence of environmental degradation, and as industry is investing large sums...

This paper addresses conceptual problems of special and differential (Samp;D) treatment of developing countries (DCs). Observing that past and present avenues have largely failed, it suggests the concept of progressive regulation in the field of prescriptive rules. Based on the idea of...

The structure and operation of the WTO have not been at the forefront of attention of negotiations ever since the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was introduced in 1947. The modus operandi of negotiations has essentially remained unchanged despite the turn towards non-tariff barriers in...