The Burden of Proof in National Treatment Disputes and the Environment

Henrik Horn

No 791, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics

Abstract: The basic legal instrument in the WTO Agreement regulating domestic environmental policies is the GATT National Treatment (NT) provision. The practical ambit of this clause is largely determined by the allocation of the burden of proof (BoP) in NT disputes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of this burden for trade liberalization and for the environment, in a situation where imports may cause environmental damage. The paper finds that there may be a tension between NT and environmental concerns, but that this is not likely to arise in the context of severe threats to the environment. In any event, relieving regulating countries of the BoP will have fundamentally unclear implications for the environment.

Keywords: National treatment; Burden of proof; Environment; GATT; WTO; Trade agreements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2009-03-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Developing Countries in the WTO Legal System, Thomas, Chantal, Trachtman, Joel (eds.), 2009, pages 1-1, Oxford University Press.

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Burden of Proof in National Treatment Disputes and the Environment (2009)
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