Emily Reid

Free Trade: What is it Good for? Globalization, Deregulation, and 'Public Opinion'

Deliberation is an essential element in legitimate and sound decision making. The deliberative ideal has much resonance with ideas of ‘localization’, employing the value of local and applied knowledge. Participation is also of particular value under globalization. We argue that the capacity of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to absorb and reflect participatory aspects of decision making is crucial to its future legitimacy and status. Should the WTO be seen as one of the darker forces of globalization? Or as an emerging institution of global accountability? The latter depends upon recognition that the potential deregulatory effect of the WTO is contingent, and that the liberalization of international trade should enhance welfare, rather than be a goal in its own right. Deliberative solutions require a strong public sphere, and we therefore consider whether solutions based on ‘empowered consumer choice’, rather than public deliberation, are unsatisfactory responses to the deregulatory impact of international trade disputes and their outcomes.

Risk assessment, science and deliberation: managing regulatory diversity under the SPS agreement?

Abstract: the adoption by WTO Members of measures relating to the protection of health and life of animals, plants and humans is regulated by the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement. A fundamental question in the application of this agreement concerns the distinction to be drawn between legitimate regulation and unlawful restriction of trade. This distinction can be difficult to discern, particularly since different communities have different levels of tolerance for risk, which leads to varying national regulatory decisions. This paper critically examines the approach taken to this question in rulings of the WTO dispute settlement panels and Appellate Body, highlighting and analysing three emergent issues: the role attributed to science, the two stage review process adopted and the application of the principle of mutual recognition. The importance of deliberative decision-making in this context is emphasised, as is the need for recognition and acceptance of the regulatory diversity that this will bring.