Search

Trade liberalization took the cultural community in Latin America by surprise, forcing a defensive reaction that took years to generate adequate public policy responses. However, cultural policy has changed unevenly in the region. Two issues became the center of culture and trade debates after the 1990s: cultural industry production and traditional indigenous knowledge. Mexico, by far the largest producer of audiovisual content on the continent, has been reluctant to adopt defensive approaches or red lines during trade negotiations. In fact, Chile is the only country that negotiated a 'cultural reserve' in its FTA with the United States. Regarding traditional knowledge, only states with large indigenous populations like Guatemala, Panama but especially Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador in the Andean Region dedicated significant efforts to fight for intellectual property protection for traditional knowledge, including benefit-sharing for the commercial use of genetic resources, derived through indigenous collective knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If the Internet were a national economy, it would rank in the world's top five. In the coming years, online economies will play an even larger role in the economies of both developed and developing countries. In this booming economy, Internet domain names play an important role as they reflect the business and activities of all companies. Domain names are assets that belong to economic actors and for which they fight. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Article 18.28 imposes certain requirements on each Party with respect to the management of its country- code top level domain (ccTLD) names which will be analyzed in this Article. These requirements include ensuring there is available a low cost, fair and equitable, and not overly burdensome dispute settlement procedure that does not preclude resort to court litigation. The Article also requires each Party to provide, in connection with a Party's system for the management of ccTLD names, appropriate remedies when a person registers or holds a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark with bad faith intent to profit. There is already a great number of disputes which can only increase in number and magnitude. For a decade, the ICANN has adopted administrative proceedings for resolving domain name disputes outside of the court system-the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy. This Article also reviews recent development of the case-law, in respect to cases that involve a party from a developing country, with regard to three elements: (1) the domain name registered is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark; (2) rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and (3) the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore detention and bilateral free trade constitute hallmarks of Australia's international policy. This paper explores how these policy directions were originally justified in the Pacific Solution and the Australia‐US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA). In the literature both policies are theorised as security offerings but whilst the Pacific Solution is obviously exclusionary, AUSFTA aimed at including Australia in the US's orbit. This suggests that security as a justification for policy is flexible, complex, and warrants closer observation of its practical articulations. Reviewing the speeches with which the relevant Ministers introduced their legislation, I argue that offshore detention and bilateral free trade derive from a specific language of security in which policy‐makers view individual actors as the basis of national threats. The language of security invokes a threatening international environment by focussing on the selfish and amoral components of human behaviour whilst diminishing social institutions and collective structures. Vague anarchy and simplified individualism position the state as a righteous protector rather than a rational policy‐maker. I conclude by questioning whether this is a sound basis for policy and canvass options for escaping the language of security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary international trade politics is primarily focused on deep integration - that is, the removal of regulatory barriers to trade. The EU, in particular, has long been one of the main proponents of the use of trade agreements to promote regulatory disciplines on issues such as intellectual property regulation, procurement, services, competition and investment protection. This so-called 'EU regulatory agenda' has rapidly gathered pace over the past decade and culminated, more recently, in attempts to conclude mega-regional trade agreements such as the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Such agreements have, however, proved highly contentious and are being fiercely contested - both because of their potential impact on the regulatory autonomy of the EU and its Member States, and their potential adverse effect on third countries and the multilateral trading system. This Article discusses the evolution of the EU regulatory agenda, the manner in which the agenda has been contested from a constitutional and policy perspective, and the extent to which the EU has (or has not) responded to such contestations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines whether labor unions punish incumbent Democrats who vote for free-trade bills in Congress. We theorize that punishment is a risky strategy for interest groups that prefer one party over the other. Therefore, interest groups must be substantially affected by decline in party support to punish. Consistent with our theory, we find important differences between public- and private-sector unions in their willingness to punish. Although publicsector unions articulate opposition to free trade, they do not follow through with either deterrence (withholding contributions to send a signal) or incapacitation (withholding contributions to replace the wayward candidate with a more supportive one). Private-sector unions, specifically unions that organize trade-vulnerable industrial workers, do attempt to punish Democrats via deterrence. The estimated deterrence effect is a 6 percent reduction in contributions. This study improves on previous studies by modeling punishment across several congressional sessions and multiple trade votes. The results reveal new insights into labor's approach to declining protectionism among congressional Democrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although scholarship in law and development that explores the relationship between law and social and economic progress has evolved over the last four decades, this area of inquiry remains unfamiliar to many legal scholars, lawyers, and policy makers. Scholars have not yet been able to develop a theory that systematically explains the interrelationship between law and development, which would establish law and development as a robust and coherent academic field. This Article attempts to fill this gap by presenting a general theory that defines the disciplinary parameters of law and development, and explains the mechanisms by which law impacts development. This Article also demonstrates the validity of this general theory by applying it to an empirical case and also by explaining the development process of South Korea (1962-1996) under its analytical framework. The concept of development, which has traditionally been associated with developing countries, may also be extended to address economic problems in developed countries today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was carried out to analyse the effect of trade liberalization policies on agricultural output growth in Nigeria, using time series data from 1960-2014.The objectives were to; estimate the differences in agricultural output before and after trade liberalization period and estimate the long and short-run effect of agricultural trade policies on agricultural output in Nigeria. Data for the empirical study were sourced from various issues of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin and publications of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The estimation procedure was the co-integration and error correction model. The analysis reveals that the mean agricultural output after trade liberalization (AGR GD2) was different from that of the pre-trade period (AGR GD1) and also the t-test result confirms that there exist a significant difference between agricultural output during the pre-trade and post-trade liberalization period given that the tcal (4.5146) was greater than the tcrit (2.0484) at 5% level of significance. The long-run and short-run regression results shows that trade openness and exchange rate had a negative effect on agricultural output in the three models meaning that trade openness will lead to reduction in agricultural output both in the long and short-run. The study therefore recommended that monetary authorities should adopt policies that will reduce the volatility of the exchange rate. Also the institution of import quota could curb the negative effect of trade openness on agricultural output growth in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper by adopting the Software on Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade assessed the ex-ante impact of tariff elimination under the European-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA) on Vietnam's pharmaceutical imports from the EU based on two scenarios. The results showed that although Vietnam's tariff removal for the EU's medicines would not result in a significant increase in Vietnam's imports from the EU, Vietnam's deeper integration with ASEAN + 3 and TPP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership) nations would affect quite slightly on its imports from the EU. Therefore, the EU would be still the most important and biggest source of pharmaceuticals for Vietnam in the near future. In addition, there might be an uneven distribution in Vietnam's import increases by the EU nation, pharmaceutical group and product. The simulation results also pointed out that the EVFTA's trade creation effect would be higher than trade diversion effect and therefore the agreement would improve welfare of Vietnam. When Vietnam extends its coverage of tariff elimination to also TPP and ASEAN + 3, Vietnam's welfare would potentially increase more but Vietnam would face with the relatively high increases of pharmaceutical imports from not only the EU but also the US, Australia, South Korea, Thailand and China. Bases on these results, the paper argued that both the Vietnamese government and pharmaceutical enterprises should not neglect the EVFTA and its impacts on the pharmaceutical sector, and perceive clearly the uneven distribution of Vietnam's import changes from the EU by nation and by product to design appropriate business and investment strategy. In addition, Vietnam should take measures to diversify its European import markets to be less dependent on the traditional ones in the current context of the EU. Finally, Vietnam should promote the integration in the pharmaceutical sector with all three groups of nations, especially ASEAN and ASEAN's key partners, to reduce trade diversion effect and raise the welfare of Vietnam, given that Vietnam should consider carefully the point of time to remove tariff for each group to avoid the sudden increase in its pharmaceutical imports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Decision No 1/95, EC-Turkey Association Council put the Customs Union between Turkey and the EU into effect, and there have been questions concerning its scope and functioning since then. With the increasing liberalization of trade at global scale, the EU has concluded trade agreements with third countries and blocs, which in turn jeopardize Turkey's rights and privileges gained by the Customs Union. In this respect, this paper analyzes the current problems of the Customs Union with reference to the primary documents of EU-Turkey relations and offers recommendations. The first part presents some details of the Ankara Agreement, which constitutes the basis for EU-Turkey relations. The following part analyzes challenges derived from the structure of the association relations. Turkey's absence within the consulting and decision-making processes and gaps in the dispute resolution mechanisms are the two main challenges that complicate EU-Turkey relations. This paper argues that free trade agreements with third countries, the question of visa for Turkish nationals, and transport quota implemented to Turkish vehicles constitute the main obstacles against the proper functioning of the Customs Union. Therefore, the inclusion of Turkey to the decisions related to the customs union is necessary for a viable solution. Furthermore, this study stresses the importance of abolition of the visa regime for business purposes. Last but not least, this paper assesses that transportation quotas are in strict contradiction with the idea of a common market. In short, all these issues should be covered by a revision agreement since EU-Turkey relations has a sociological perspective as well as its economic and political aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free trade is one of the ultimate purposes of the free trade agreements currently negotiated over the world. Two of these trials are represented by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The common feature of these two trade deals is represented by the United States, a global actor that is making sure that it will be able to trade in best conditions on both of its geographical shores: on the Pacific and on The Atlantic. The negotiations are still ongoing, but results are expected on both sides. An important issue for the third parties, but not only, is represented by the secrecy of the negotiations undertaken and the lack of transparency shown by the negotiating Governments. If the agreements are concluded, a major global impact on trade and investments is expected, with significant positive implications for the TPP and TTIP negotiating states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the evolution of rural tourism in Hongdong Town, Korea, and its links to agricultural change, and traditional small farm survival, as part of sustainable rural development. The study is informed by cross-disciplinary literature in rural development, specifically, multi-functional agriculture and nested markets. Results show a complex, dynamic terrain where new strategies are emerging within an agricultural sector struggling to survive global free trade policies and neoliberalism. Here, rural tourism is neither a simple, business-orientated project nor a step-by-step process of tourism “development”. It emerges, together with nested markets, in the rural agricultural domain. Farmers, residents and newcomers draw upon historical practices and cultural knowledge to create innovative, quality products and educational experiences that contribute to the sustainability of local agricultural livelihoods and cultural traditions. However, shifts in public sector roles and structural changes in the growth and power of the agriculture cooperatives exacerbate the tensions and conflicts evident within the community in this struggle for rural survival. The study offers possibilities for new forms of “local tourism experience” and nested markets that can contribute to sustainable rural development, and has links to universal key issues of empowerment, control, understanding, markets and product development in rural tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the costs and benefits of alternative monetary policy rules is important for economic welfare. Within the context of a small open economy model and building on the work of Mihov and Santacreu (2013), the author analyzes the economic implications of two monetary policy rules. The first is a rule in which the central bank uses the nominal exchange rate as its policy instrument and adjusts the rate whenever there are changes in the economic environment. The second is a standard interest rate rule in which the central bank adjusts the short-term nominal interest rate to changes in the economic environment. The main finding of the analysis is that, if the uncovered interest parity condition that establishes a tight link between the interest rate differential in two countries and the expected rate of depreciation of their currencies does not hold, the exchange rate rule outperforms the standard interest rate rule in lowering the volatility of key economic variables. There are two main reasons for this: First, the actual implementation of the exchange rate rule avoids the overshooting effect on exchange rates characteristic of an interest rate rule. And second, the risk premium that generates deviations from the uncovered interest parity condition is smaller and less volatile under an exchange rate rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end of World War II, the United States has entered into many free trade agreements. These agreements have not only been offered as a reward to U.S. allies, but have also been entered into with countries that routinely violate basic human rights standards that the United States holds dear. Policymakers have often claimed, as was the case with the U.S.-Vietnam free trade agreement negotiated in the 1990s, that these agreements would encourage improvements in human rights conditions. However, in Vietnam and elsewhere, such agreements have almost universally failed to yield any improvements. Now, as the United States considers approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement ("TPP"), members of both political parties must reevaluate this failed approach and take a meaningful stand for human rights. This Essay argues that specific, measurable human rights commitments should be a necessary prerequisite before any trade deal is consummated. Unless the United States requires enforceable commitments from counterparties that they will respect human rights, it should not reward countries with the economic and political benefits that accompany free trade. In other words, the United States must chart a new course in trade negotiations, by linking free trade benefits to human rights progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been widely accepted as representing the legalisation of world trading rules. However, it is important to reflect on the limits of this legalisation thesis in terms of the interface between international and domestic policy processes. By locating trading disputes in a political analysis of policy implementation, it is argued that it is difficult to establish conceptually how the WTO dispute settlement system could have authority separate from and above the conventional international politics of trade policy relations. Instead, the article argues that case outcomes should be expected to be largely the product of domestic political institutions and policy processes, and how these intersect with developments in the WTO dispute settlement system. Brief studies of the Australian government's dispute settlement strategy and two high-profile WTO disputes—the US upland cotton and European Union sugar cases—serve to suggest that the authority of international trade law is not as significant as assumed by the legalisation thesis. Rather, domestic politics and institutions have an important impact on the outcome of trade disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article compares the public policy exception to free movement of goods, services, persons and capital (the four freedoms) with the public policy exception to free movement of judgments (the fifth freedom). A comparison is made on the basis of the following elements: types of public policy (domestic, international, purely international; European; substantive and procedural), restrictiveness of interpretation, variability, content, nature and the addressees of protection. The conclusion is that there is only one concept of public policy that varies from time to time and from Member State to Member State, although there are some differences in the operation of the uses in the two areas of public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast track procedures have been key institutional mechanisms for U.S. trade policy making for nearly three decades. In April 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives made a small change to rules for considering the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement that significantly undermined fast track. However, these actions are really the culmination of the erosion of the utility of fast track in managing U.S. trade policy in the context of the challenges brought by increased openness in the global economy. Those challenges were laid bare with the first major bilateral agreement considered under fast track rules, the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in the late 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a close examination of the origins and implementation of the Unified Grain Procurement and Food Rationing policy beginning in 1953 which banned free trade in grain, abolished the tradition of "depositing grain with people,' and established a system of food distribution which favored urban areas. It argues that 1953 was the defining moment, which led to the great famine of 1959-1961, because it started the long process in which the state deliberately reduced the per capita grain intake of the rural population and rendered them weak, exhausted, and vulnerable. The Chinese and foreign scholars have focused on several other factors that contributed to the Great Famine of 1959-1961, such as the nation-wide natural disaster that served as the precipitating trigger. This study, however, reveals that the chronic starvation and vulnerability in rural areas since 1953 were the most pivotal factors in shaping the famine's magnitude and in causing such a high death toll. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the inconsistencies and problems of neoliberalism in the international economy, and particularly in United States (U.S.) relations with Latin America. Conflict between the free markets and particular U.S. interests; Imperial and regional rivalries; Political disputes where ideological principles come into conflict with tactical needs.

In this article, we analyse whether Zimbabwe's structural adjustment programme (ESAP), implemented from 1991 to 1995, contributed to an increase in total factor productivity in the manufacturing sector. To evaluate productivity, we first estimate indexes of total factor productivity for 31 manufacturing sub-sectors for the period 1980-1995. We then use econometric methods to test for the effects of trade reform and other variables related to ESAP. In general the growth rates vary greatly both over time and across sectors. The overall impression is that there was no growth in total factor productivity on average during the whole period of ESAP, although during the last two years most sub-sectors experienced increases in total factor productivity. The main result of the econometric analysis is that none of the variables used as direct measures of trade liberalisation influenced productivity growth, but import growth had some influence. An interesting finding is that foreign aid inflows had a strong, positive impact on productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the flaws on the policy of the United States on organic food. How the mandated uniformity policy on organic food will impact on free trade agreements the country is advocating; Discussion on the social aspect of the policy on organic food; Jews way of labeling food; Contention that the market should be the one to determine the standard on food labelling.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including support for free trade policies in the U.S. House of Representatives varying, the fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the immigrant rights movement of 2006.