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European Communities--Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of SEAL Products. WT/DS400/AB/R, WT/DS401/AB/R. At http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_ e/dispu_e/dispu_e.htm. World Trade Organization Appellate Body, May 22, 2014 (adopted June 18, 2014). On May 22, [...]

The World Trade Organization Appellate Body upheld U.S. restrictions on the import of shrimps caught by countries which did not use devices to protect sea turtles from shrimp nets. Four Asian nations had challenged the restrictions as a violation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The World Trade Organization Appellate Body decided, in European Communities - Measures Affecting Asbestos and Asbestos-Containing Products, that a French ban on the importation of asbestos is justified. Canada had charged that the ban was in violation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The Appellate Body found that it fell under the article 20 exception which allows such bans to protect public health.

The author reviews the eight articles in a symposium on the linkage of non-trade issues to the World Trade Organization. He examines the theoretical underpinnings of this kind of linkage and why it may succeed or fail.

The author critiques five articles dealing with the linkage of non-trade issues and the World Trade Organization. She agrees that the scope of the WTO should not be changed, but favors some modification of article 20 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to reflect current standards on human and labor rights.