Green Options » WTO

Seal Products Banned in EU, Canada Protests

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:17:03 +0000

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Seal hunting has long been known as a cruel practice by animal rights activists and conservationists. Yesterday, the European Union took steps to ban seal products including “fur skins, organs, meat, oil and blubber.” An exception is made for seal products originating from indigenous people and “marketed on a not-for-profit basis”. The Environment News Service explains:

In its announcement of the new regulation, the Council said that several EU member states have adopted or intend to adopt legislation prohibiting trade in seal products, and the regulation “will harmonize rules concerning the marketing of seal products so as to avoid fragmentation and distortion of the internal market.”

The Climate Exchange: WTO and UNEP Team Up to Launch Climate Report

Ruedigar Matthes — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:35:44 +0000

June 29, 2009 - For the first time, the World Trade Organization (WTO) teamed up with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to release a report outlining the relationship between trade and climate change. The report describes the multitude of ways in which climate change and trade intersect.

Using current scientific knowledge as well as current literature and a survey of national policies, the two organizations worked together to create a report that summarizes concerns regarding existing and projected climate change, impacts of climate change, and on possible responses, through adaptation and mitigation, to the challenges posed by climate change.

The report states that climate change is “unequivocal.” The evidence, gathered through a review of thousands of scientific publications, is compelling, and describes that human activities are “very likely” the cause of such global warming.

The biggest concern that the report denotes is that; barring major changes in policy, law, action, and attitude, global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to increase over the coming decades, with emissions increasing anywhere from 25 to 90 percent by 2030. It is also anticipated that a greater proportion of greenhouse gases will be emitted from developing countries.

EU Slaps Anti-Subsidy Biodiesel Tax on US Producers

Clayton B. Cornell — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:23:01 +0000

On March 13, the European Union will impose a counter-subsidy tax on U.S. biodiesel producers for “dumping” biodiesel on the European market.

European producers have been complaining about cheap imported biodiesel for quite a while, and it looks like a key European trade panel finally took action. The tax will be specific to each biodiesel producer:

ArcherDaniels Midland: 86 cents per gallon;
Cargill: 90 cents;
Imperium Renewables: 96 cents;
Green Earth Energy Fuels: 93 cents;
World Energy Alternatives: 96 cents;
Peter Cremer North America and remaining biodiesel producers will pay $1.36 per gallon.
Read more of this story »

Ending Global Poverty? Seriously?

Puspa Sharma — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:11:04 +0000

Ensuring food safety and protecting health is one of the prime duties of every government, whether in a developed country or in a developing one. Accordingly, the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) has conferred upon every sovereign member of the WTO the right to set its own standards in the import of animal and plant products. However, the Agreement has stipulated that “the regulations should be based on science and should not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between countries where identical or similar conditions prevail.” But there are apprehensions that countries have been increasingly using these measures for trade protection by setting standards for imports that are higher than the international standards.