Research handbook on the WTO and technical barriers to trade / edited by Tracey Epps and M. J. Trebilcock.

Includes index

Contents:ForewordMichael J. Trebilcock 1. IntroductionRobert Howse 2. The TBT Agreement in ContextArkady Kudryavtsev 3. Conformity Assessment ProceduresArthur E. Appleton 4. Transparency Obligations under the TBT AgreementDenise Prevost 5. Standard of Review in TBT CasesMichael M. Du 6. Moving Out of the Shadows: Bringing Transparency to Standards and Regulations in the WTO's TBT CommitteePetros C. Mavroidis and Erik N. Wijkstroem7. International StandardsMarkus Wagner 8. Mutual Recognition Agreements and Equivalence AgreementsHelen Churchman9. The Limits of PTAs: WTO Legal Restrictions on the Use of WTO-Plus Technical Regulations in PTAsJoel P. Trachtman10. The TBT Agreement and Developing CountriesGraham Mayeda 11. Contemporary Problems of Climate Change and the TBT Agreement: Moving Beyond Eco-LabellingMichael Cardwell and Fiona Smith12. The REACH Regulation and the TBT Agreement: The Role of the TBT Committee in Regulatory ProcessesLukasz Gruszczynski13. Consumer Information, Consumer Preferences and Product Labels under the TBT AgreementTania Voon, Andrew Mitchell and Catherine Gascoigne14. The TBT Agreement and Private StandardsAlessandra Arcuri15. Technical Barriers to Trade in Information and Communication TechnologiesBranislav Hazucha16. ConclusionTracey EppsIndex

'Congratulations on an outstanding book on the WTO TBT Agreement! International regulations and standards reflect societies' fundamental choices. Regulating and monitoring them is complex, and the renowned editors of this book have well understood the multi-faceted matters at stake. In this book, world experts have seized a unique opportunity provided by the wealth of recent TBT jurisprudence to analyse the different dimensions of the TBT Agreement, a WTO agreement little discussed up to now. WTO experts as well as anyone interested in the reach of WTO law into the balance between national sovereignty and the need for international co-operation must read this book.' -- Gabrielle Marceau, WTO, Legal Affairs Division, UNIGE and Graduate Institute, Geneva, Switzerland. A relatively new frontier for legal and policy analysis, technical barriers to trade (TBT's) have become more common as traditional border barriers have been reduced. This comprehensive Handbook comprises original essays by eminent trade scholars exploring the implications of the WTO's TBT Agreement. The TBT Agreement imposes disciplines on the manner in which WTO member countries adopt and maintain technical measures, recognizing the importance of such measures to advance legitimate domestic policy goals such as health, safety and environmental objectives, but also the potential for technical measures to constitute barriers to trade. The contributors to this volume provide an in-depth examination of the text of the Agreement and how the WTO's dispute settlement system, the TBT Committee, WTO members, and other international organizations have engaged with and been affected by it. The book's comprehensive and accessible approach makes it a first point of reference for all trade law practitioners, policymakers and regulators. For scholars and students, the Handbook will prove essential reading for a deeper understanding of trade law