Content and objectives
There is a broad consensus among economists and policy-makers that economic globalisation in general, and international trade in particular, may offer an unprecedented opportunity to eradicate poverty and hunger worldwide. In 2001, the World Bank estimated that abolishing all trade barriers could increase global income by 2.8 trillion US dollars and lift 320 million people out of poverty by 2015. However, to ensure that this opportunity is realised, economic globalisation and international trade has to be managed and regulated at the international level. If not, economic globalisation and international trade are likely to be a curse, rather than a blessing, to humankind, aggravating economic inequality, social injustice, environmental degradation and cultural dispossession. The World Trade Organization and its law are at the heart of the international community’s current efforts at managing and regulating economic globalisation and international trade.

This course gives an introduction to the institutional and substantive law of the World Trade Organization. During the course, students will:

• Examine the role of law in international trade;
• Become conversant with the mandate, the institutions, the membership and the decision-making procedures of the WTO, with special attention for the position of developing country Members and the role of NGOs in the WTO;
• Become acquainted with the WTO system for settling trade disputes;
• Acquire an in-depth understanding of the WTO rules on non-discrimination, market access and unfair trade;
• Become familiar with the WTO rules on the conflict between trade liberalisation and other societal values and interests (such as public health, national security, environmental protection, employment, economic development, etc.); and
• Be informed on the challenges facing the multilateral trading system.

Literature

• Van den Bossche, P. (2005), The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization: Text, Cases and Materials, Cambridge University Press.
• Text from the website of WTO, DG Trade of the European Commission, ICTSD and the Financial Times.