INTRODUCTION
The overall purpose of this case note is to highlight the
relevance for international environmental law of the
recent World Trade Organization (WTO) decision on
the use of ?positive' conditionality in the Generalized
System of Preferences (GSP) of the European Community
(EC).
1
Although the
India-EC GSP
dispute was not
directly concerned with environmental conditionality
per se
, this WTO ruling has, nevertheless, broader
implications for the EC's capacity to use unilateral trade
preferences as an incentive to promote developing
countries' compliance with international environmental
regimes. This was recognized in the subsequent
GSP reform proposed by the European Commission.
2
More generally, this note will argue that the jurisprudential
approach of the Appellate Body opens the way
for WTO-consistent use of unilateral trade
incentives
linked to international environmental norms, in addition
to the environment-related unilateral trade
restrictions
already permitted under the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT), Article XX, general exceptions.
3
The first part of this case note provides an introduction
to the current structure of the Community's GSP,
paying particular attention to the so-called ?GSP Environment'.
The second part presents the main conclusions
of the Appellate Body's decision in the
India-EC
GSP Case
, underscoring its relevance for the provision
of additional trade preferences to developing countries
complying with international environmental agreements.
The third part concentrates on the environmental
component of the new ?GSP-plus' proposed by the
Commission following this WTO ruling. The case note
will ...