In the Shadow of the DSU: Addressing Specific Trade Concerns in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees

Henrik Horn, Petros C. Mavroides and Erik N. Wijkström
Additional contact information
Petros C. Mavroides: EUI, Postal: Florence; and University of Neuchâtel
Erik N. Wijkström: World Trade Organization, Postal: Geneva

No 960, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics

Abstract: The paper argues that focusing only on disputes formally raised in the WTO Dispute Settlement system underestimates the extent of trade conflict resolution within the WTO. Both the SPS and TBT Committees address a significant number of ‘specific trade concerns’ (STCs) that in the overwhelming majority of cases do not become formal disputes. The STCs address differences between Members concerning the conformity of national measures in the SPS and TBT areas with these agreements. It appears as if Committee work on STCs significantly helps defuse potential trade frictions concerning national policies in the covered areas.

Keywords: WTO; Specific trade concerns; SPS and TBT Committees; Dispute settlement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 K32 K33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2013-03-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.ifn.se/wfiles/wp/wp960.pdf Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0960

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Elisabeth Gustafsson ().