Trade Legislation Research Articles

Invasions Through the Amphibian Trade: A Comparative and Unifying Framework for Species Assignments of Cryptic Brown Frogs

The wildlife trade increases the risk of global biological invasions and accurate species assignment is critical. Here, using cross-study comparisons, we quantified the efficiency of species assignment methods and confirmed the higher sensitivity of coalescent-based methods in isolating cryptic operational taxonomic units (OTUs). We then provided a framework incorporating morphometry, phylogenetic trait, species delimitation modelling and phylogeography to improve the accuracy of species identification of brown frogs (Rana) imported into the Republic of Korea. We identified three non-native species: R. chensinensis, R. amurensis and R. kukunoris, and the presence of 12 OTUs from the trade. The combined model-based OTUs and 16S phylogeny on traded and control specimens (n = 230) revealed the widespread and likely wild-harvested origins of traded Rana individuals. Our results also highlight the independent evolution of toe-webbings in Rana for the last 12.0 Mya, a key trait for species identification. With the framework for broad-scale species identification developed herein, we urge the development of trade monitoring and legislation on Rana species in northeast Asia.

Business Improvement Districts y sostenibilidad urbana. A propósito de la regulación de las áreas de promoción de la actividad económica urbana en Cataluña

This paper analyzes environmental problems caused by commercial activities in the dispersed city model, and the contribution of the Business Improvement Districts (BID) in this matter. A Business Improvement District is a public-private partnership in which business of a defined area decide to pay a levy in order to provide supplemental services to those provided by the municipality. BID’s action contributes to urban generation and helps to fight against decentralization. The first BID was established in Canada but nowadays there are so many European countries with BIDs, and it is expected that Spain will have a complete regulation of BIDs very soon. Catalan trade legislation has been the first to contemplate an equivalent figure –the Urban Economic Activity Promotion Areas- and, currently, the Parlament of Catalonia is currently considering a Bill.

To act or not to act. Debating the climate change agenda in the United States Congress

ABSTRACT Most climate change actions take place in the international context in terms of multilateral negotiations and accords or in bilateral agreements between heads of the state. Parliaments or legislatures such as the United States Congress are in a crucial position when it comes to converting agreements or aims to action in domestic politics. The United States has played a volatile role in international negotiations on climate change. From categorically rejecting the Kyoto protocol during the George W. Bush administration, President Barack Obama announced that the United States would join the Paris Climate Accord prior to President Donald J. Trump's announcement of the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Accord. In domestic politics, too, efforts to address climate change have likewise varied. This article explores the complexity of climate change as a political question in the United States and considers the problematic issue that explains why the United States Congress has not have similar momentum to address climate change since the House of Representatives passed cap and trade legislation in 2009. The focus will be on theoretical discussions on congressional inaction and the United States Congress members' views on how and to what extent that institution should play a role in addressing climate change.

Killing the Deal

ABSTRACT On October 2nd, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist and critic of the Saudi Arabian regime, disappeared after a visit to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey nd was most likely murdered shortly afterwards. After this incident, a period of uncertainty started about whether or not a major arms deal that was signed between the United States and Saudi Arabia would still going to be approved by Congress or in turn will be rejected. The main findings presented in this study clearly demonstrate that the uncertainty surrounding the deal caused a significant drop in the daily return on the equity prices of US defense firms. This result suggests that investors believe that it is very likely that the major arms deal will be blocked by Congress in the short-run thereby reducing the business perspectives of the US defense-related industry. Besides these findings also imply that investors expect that the US president will not use its veto power or make permanently use of the exemption clause provided in the US arms trade legislation.

Trade and Country Legislation as a Roadmap for Economic Integration: Focus on Balkan Countries

Purpose: This paper focuses on identifying the role of trade and legislation of a country for economic integration. Every Balkan country has claims to integrate into the large family of the European Union- EU. This context besides foreign trade legal infrastructure is one of the main determinants of this process. It is imperative that laws related to the process of economic integration should comply with EU legal directives. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data processing design (for legislation as a roadmap for economic integration) is in line with established international standards. It focuses on data published by the governing institutions of the relevant countries using deductive methods. It also compares data obtained from research in analytical and synthetic terms with direct access to literature, scientific journals, as well as official reports published locally and abroad. Findings: Today, economic integration has become a necessity of recent times. They are influenced by a large number of relevant factors and are received by political actors on the basis of whose political actions will bring about liberal or protectionist policies. Each state has its own legal acts and other legal provisions regulating the functioning of the country's legal system. Free trade and the implementation of economic integration are closely linked to "Fiscal Policy" as part of the overall economic system. Adoption of restrictive fiscal laws that impede the international movement of goods and services has detrimental effects on the development of international trade and impedes the development of good relations between sovereign states. Practical Implications: The elaboration of this paper is based on the legal analysis of contemporary economic integration as well as the economic aspects and modalities for the practical realization of regional integration. The paper presents data - on market performance and legislation that determines economic integration - which shows the current state of affairs of the Western Balkan countries in the context of such integration. Originality/Value: The data in the paper present the real state of commercial economic developments and legislation as determinant of economic integration in the Western Balkan countries. The focus is on the creation of adjacent legislative spaces of these countries, which enables accelerated integration with the ultimate aim of joining the EU.

Policing printers and booksellers before and after 1789: a case study in Bordeaux

Abstract This article examines the Bordeaux bookseller and printer Arnaud-Antoine Pallandre’s two censorship trials in 1775 and 1790 to compare state–media relations during the late Bourbon monarchy and the French Revolution. An entourage of protectors kept Pallandre in business even though he flouted pre-revolutionary book trade legislation. After 1789, his printing and bookselling shop became a centre of pamphlet sales and counter-revolutionary gatherings that came under intense scrutiny by patriots in the clubs, the National Guard and the crowds, who pressured the municipal governments to end Pallandre’s trade in counter-revolutionary pamphlets. He eventually went to the guillotine in 1794. This article suggests that members of formerly privileged groups continued to wield considerable influence over printers and booksellers in France after 1789, making them objects of both government and popular censorship. In the struggle to achieve limits on a free press, printers and booksellers came to be regarded as individuals with public (potentially dangerous) political affiliations in a new way, a development that may help explain the high levels of media repression in the French Revolution.

COMMERCIAL (FIRM) NAME AS A MEANS OF INDIVIDUALIZATION

A commercial designation along with the trade name is usually attributed to the means of individualization of the participants of economic turnover. The fundamental rules of protection and use of commercial (firm) names are reflected in commercial, civil and othercodes, the trade legislation, unfair competition prevention laws and so forth.The means of individualization are designed to distinguish both the producers and goods and services of one producer from the homogeneous goods and services of another producer. Therefore, a indispensable prerequisite for the protection of the means of individualization is the correct consolidation of rights. Otherwise, company, firm etc becomes vulnerable and can be seriously affected by the actions of unscrupulous competitors.Each commercial organization, that is, an organization with the intention of its activities to make a profit, tries to distinguish its products from many similar products, providing it with unusual packaging, shape, special qualities, conducting advertising campaigns, exhibitions, fairs and so on. At the same time, a legal or natural person holds itself out in a certain sector of the market, by acquiring abusiness reputation, by concluding long-term agreement, in other words, individualizing itself as a participant to a civil transaction. Mere commercial (firm) name, as a means of individualization, comes first.A commercial (firm) name is the individualizing name of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs and by which industrial or commercial activity is carried out.A commercial (firm) name is a means of identification of the person and its activity and is used in transactions, on signages, in announcements, in documentation, in advertising and so forth.Collision of similar means of individualization occur more often. Certainly, much of these conflicts arises unintentionally. However, a significant number of disputes occupy, where one of the parties intentionally caused uses other people's means of individualization,trying to increase their competitive advantages.The aim of this article is to consider the issues of positioning of a legal entity or a natural person in a certain sector of the market, the acquisition of business reputation, that is, individualizing itself as a participant of civil transaction.

The public plate in the transnational city: Tensions among food procurement, global trade and local legislation

Local food systems are crucial to sustainability, and one of the most effective ways to develop them is to harness the buying power of large public institutions, such as hospitals and universities. Steering public funds toward local food systems, however, is not as easy as it might appear. Institutions must navigate a maze of regulations that can become significant barriers to effecting change. In Ontario, for example, public institutions are squeezed between two contradictory policies: the Broader Public Sector Directive, which mandates a level playing field and prohibits preferential buying based on geography, and the Local Food Act, which aims to increase the consumption of local food (with a specific focus on procurement in Ontario public institutions) and to foster successful and resilient local food economies and systems. Adding to this tension, global trade treaties are drilling down to the local level, proscribing preferential procurement of local food as “protectionist” and a barrier to trade. 
 
 Public institutions are caught in the middle, wanting to purchase more local products but unwilling to risk reprisals. This paper investigates these tensions by reporting on a recent study of institutional buyers and government officials in the Toronto area to understand more thoroughly these barriers to operationalizing a local food system, while recognizing that sustainable food systems require a judicious combination of ‘local and green’ and ‘global and fair’ (Morgan 2008).

The 2018 American and Chinese Trade Wars Risk Undermining the World Trading System and Constitutional Democracies

The American and Chinese trade wars of 2018 risk undermining not only the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO, section I). As tariffs tax and restrict domestic citizens and redistribute their income, illegal import tariffs (e.g. as imposed by US President Trump) - and the collective undermining of the WTO Appellate Body and dispute settlement system - also run counter to the democratic mandates given by parliaments when they approved the 1994 WTO Agreement and incorporated it into domestic legal systems, as illustrated by trade laws and policies in the USA (section II) and in the European Union (EU, section III). Multilevel governance of global public goods (PGs) - like the WTO trading system, which has helped to lift billions of people out of poverty by promoting unprecedented economic welfare, transnational rule of law and compulsory third-party dispute settlements - cannot remain effective if citizens and democratic institutions fail to hold their governments democratically and legally accountable for violating ‘PGs treaties’ (section IV). This contribution uses the example of the USA and the EU for arguing that constitutional democracies - including Asian democracies like India, Korea and Japan - must adopt more specific trade legislation protecting the WTO legal system. Multilevel governance of transnational PGs requires empowering citizens, parliaments and courts of justice to limit populist abuses of trade policy powers to tax and restrict citizens in manifestly illegal ways reducing general consumer welfare, non-discriminatory competition and rule of law.

Acaricidal properties of essential oils from Moroccan plants against immature ticks of Hyalomma aegyptium (Linnaeus, 1758); an external parasite of the spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca)

ABSTRACTHyalomma aegyptium (Linnaeus, 1758) is a hard-tick species of the Ixodidae family with the main adult hosts being Palearctic tortoises of the genus Testudo. In Morocco, it is commonly found infecting Testudo graeca that has a wide geographic distribution and is subject to protection through international illegal trade legislation. This tortoise tick has been reported as an important vector of various human and animal pathogens. Unfortunately, to date, there are no strategies to control this hematophagous ectoparasite. The present study was conducted in laboratory to evaluate the acaricidal activity of essential oils (EOs) extracted from six plants of Moroccan origin as an alternative against H. aegyptium. All EOs tested displayed toxic effects on different life stages of H. aegyptium. Mentha suaveolens subsp. timija (LC50 = 0.910 µL/mL and LC90 = 1.465 µL/mL) and Satureja calamintha EOs (LC50 = 0.927 µL/mL and LC90 = 1.347 µL/mL) exhibited higher activity against hatching eggs, whereas Chenopodium ambrosioides EO was comparatively more toxic to larvae (LC50 = 0.444 µL/mL and LC90 = 0.918 µL/mL). Juniperus thurifera var. africana (LC50 = 0.0045 mL/cm2 and LC90 = 0.0118 mL/cm2) and Lavandula pedunculata subsp. atlantica EOs (LC50 = 0.0036 mL/cm2 and LC90 = 0.0110 mL/cm2) caused high mortality in nymphs. The effect of different EOs is discussed according to their chemical composition and bioactive components.

Developing forensic tools for an African timber: Regional origin is revealed by genetic characteristics, but not by isotopic signature

Combatting illegal timber trade requires forensic tools that independently verify claimed geographic origin of timber. Chemical and genetic wood characteristics are potentially suitable tools, but their performance at small spatial scales is unknown. Here we test whether stable isotopes and microsatellites can differentiate Tali timber (Erythrophleum spp.) at the level of forest concessions. We collected 394 wood samples from 134 individuals in five concessions in Cameroon and Congo Republic. The nearest neighbour concessions were 14 km apart and the furthest pair 836 km apart. We constructed genetic profiles using eight nuclear microsatellite markers and measured concentrations of δ18O, δ15N and δ13C. We differentiated provenances using PCA (microsatellites), ANOVA and kernel discriminant analysis (isotopes). Next, we performed assignment tests using blind samples (n = 12, microsatellites) and leave one out cross validation (LOOCV, isotopes). Isotopic composition varied strongly within concessions and only δ13C differed significantly between two concessions. As a result, LOOCV performed only marginally better than random. Genetic differentiation among provenances was also relatively low, but private alleles were commonly found. Bayesian clustering analysis correctly assigned 92% of the blind samples, including those of nearby concessions. Thus, Tali timber can be successfully assigned to the concession of origin using genetic markers, but not using isotopic composition. Isotopic differentiation may be possible at larger spatial scales or with stronger climatic or topographic variation. Our study shows that genetic analyses can differentiate the geographic origin of tropical timber at the scale of forest concessions, demonstrating their potential as forensic tools to enforce timber trade legislation.

The wild origin dilemma

The sustainable production and trade of plants, animals, and their products, including through artificial propagation and captive breeding, is an important strategy to supply the global wildlife market, particularly when the trade in wild specimens is restricted by CITES or other wildlife trade legislation. However, these production methods can become a potential mechanism for the laundering of material illegally collected from the wild, leading to recent calls for the development of traceability methods to determine the origin of traded products. Currently, identifying wild origin can be complex and may require expert knowledge and/or resource intensive molecular techniques. Here we show, using CITES Appendix I slipper orchids as a model system, that production times can be used as a threshold to identify plants in trade that have a high likelihood of being of wild origin. We suggest that this framework could be used by enforcement officers, online vendors, and others to flag material of potential concern for orchids and other high value plants in trade. Specifically, this knowledge combined with nomenclature and the list of CITES Trade Database species could be used to construct a species watch list and automate online searches. The results suggest that had this been applied, questions would have been raised regarding online sales of three recently described species.

Exiting Congressional-Executive Agreements

Some commentators have argued that, even if the President has the unilateral authority to terminate Article II treaties concluded with the Senate’s advice and consent, the President lacks the unilateral authority to terminate “congressional-executive agreements” concluded with majority congressional approval, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This paper challenges that claim. If one accepts a presidential authority to terminate Article II treaties, this paper contends, there is no compelling reason to conclude differently with respect to congressional-executive agreements. Congressional-executive agreements have become largely interchangeable with Article II treaties as a matter of domestic law and practice, and, thus, for example, either instrument can be used to address matters relating to international commerce and trade. Moreover, while presidents do not have the authority to unilaterally terminate statutes, congressional-executive agreements are not mere statutes; they are, like Article II treaties, binding international instruments that can be concluded by the United States only through presidential action. These agreements also typically contain withdrawal clauses similar to the ones contained in Article II treaties that presidents have long claimed the authority to invoke unilaterally, and Congress has never indicated that it views presidents as having less withdrawal authority for such agreements. Indeed, in its trade legislation, Congress appears to have accepted that presidents may invoke such clauses unilaterally.

The ‘Development’ Discourse in Multilateral Trade Lawmaking

AbstractThe impact of the idea of ‘development’ in multilateral trade lawmaking is often reduced to the principle of ‘special and differential treatment’, which exempts developing countries from certain obligations imposed by the trade regime. The article shows that ‘development’ has always presented a much wider challenge to the vision of the trade regime championed by the major trading nations. The development discourse has conceived the trade regime's historical significance, the regime's aims, and the relationships among its members in ways that were often fundamentally at odds with the conception preferred by most developed countries. The article explores how the development discourse has informed lawmaking initiatives by developing countries throughout the history of the trade regime. While not all of these initiatives were successful or necessarily fruitful, they show that the pursuit of development in trade lawmaking has always been more than an effort to seek exemption from trade rules.

Balancing Multiple Goals: Analyzing Votes on Free Trade Agreements in the U.S. House of Representatives

Despite increasing polarization in the House of Representatives, preferential trade agreements (PTAs) often pass not only with, but often because of, support from both parties. What explains these patterns? When do members cross party lines to support (or oppose) trade legislation? We argue that members are both ideologically and electorally motivated. Further, we argue that the relative balance of these incentives varies across the membership in meaningful ways. We examine House votes on 11 PTAs and find that ideology and district trade position have independent effects on support for free trade. We also find that the effect of trade position is conditioned by the ideology of the legislator; moderates are more responsive to their constituents' interests on trade.

Trading Spaces: The Changing Role of the Executive in U.S. Trade Lawmaking

Since the earliest days of the republic, the U.S. executive has wielded a significant but constitutionally bounded influence on the direction of U.S. trade law. In the twenty-first century, the growth of free trade agreements has led to an institutionalization of trade norms that permits the executive many more spaces for engagement with trading partners. In addition, other types of quotidian lawmaking extend the power of the executive in both public and hidden spaces beyond congressional delegation, even as that power remains substantially bounded by congressional control. This Article analyzes the dynamics between the branches that will direct future U.S. trade lawmaking.

The Next Generation of U.S.-Africa Trade Instruments

This essay examines the challenges and opportunities for regional trade lawmaking in the U.S.-Africa relationship. On the eve of the conclusion of an African continental free trade agreement, the U.S. trade law relationship with the continent remains focused on regional groups. Questions remain as to whether the existing trade law regime offers the flexibility necessary to accommodate alternative models to free trade agreements that may best serve the needs of African and U.S. constituencies. The essay proceeds in four parts. First, I sketch the current state of play in U.S.-Africa trade relations. Next, I outline how the U.S. and African approaches to trade lawmaking have differed. I then turn to two sets of challenges—one domestic and one international—that may impede innovation in developing a U.S.-Africa trade law relationship consistent with African interests. Finally, the essay concludes with an exploration of possible alternatives and issues not yet considered in the transcontinental dialogue on trade.

Value and exchange in multilateral trade lawmaking

The multilateral trading system privileges a perspective in which trade policies are appraised primarily in terms of their exchange value — their capacity to be exchanged for modifications in other countries’ trade policies — rather than their use value — their utility for the country that has adopted them. The article traces the marginalisation of use value in multilateral trade lawmaking and explores the ramifications of treating trade policies themselves as tradable commodities.

Disputes over land and water rights in gold mining: the case of Cerro de San Pedro, Mexico

ABSTRACTThis article analyzes different visions and positions in a conflict between the developer of an open-pit mine in Mexico and project opponents using the echelons of rights analysis framework, distinguishing four layers of dispute: contested resources; contents of rules and regulations; decision-making power; and discourses. Complexities in this study manifest how communities’ land and water rights are circumvented by governmental bodies and ambivalent regulations favouring the large mining company. This process is importantly reinforced by international trade legislation. Multi-actor, multi-scale alliances may offer opportunities to foster environmental and social justice solutions.

Debate of Genetically Modified Organisms Used in Food

The debate of genetic or transgenic modified food concerns scientific and factual issues, ethical and value issues, legal issues, institutional issues, risk assessment issues, societal issues, safety issues, lack of forum to debate, genetically modified organisms (GMO) benefits (what they are, what they do), barriers to GMO (are they real or based on promise or Hysteria). This article analyzes the legal issues by discussing decisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO), legislation and cases of the United States and the European Union and find that at the end of this debate all positions will or already have solidified without any type of legal synergy.