The role of science in international trade law

Abstract

While the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade addressed overt barriers to international trade, the current focus of international trade rules has shifted to less obvious, but in many cases no less restrictive, barriers to trade, such as protectionist measures adopted under the guise of health and safety standards. The new agreements established under the World Trade Organization (“WTO”), including the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (“ SPS Agreement”), the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (“ TBT Agreement”), provide important tools that can be invoked by governments and used by stakeholders to address regulatory barriers that were once thought outside the purview of international trade rules. Non-science based regulations can be and have been successfully challenged under the SPS and TBT Agreements, which prohibit WTO Members from maintaining laws or regulations that adversely affect trade unless such measures are scientifically justified. Stakeholders should use to the fullest extent possible international trade rules to eliminate non-science based regulations that adversely affect trade in the goods that they produce.