The TBT Agreement and Global Environmental Concerns: Re-evaluating LDC’s Reaction to Eco-Labeling Programs

Abstract

Concerns of environmental protection are at the forefront of numerous global forums. Especially in the context of international trade and other development practices, the subject attracts huge debates among scholars, interest groups and policy makers aligning themselves in to differing positions. The TBT agreement is one of the WTO laws which turn out to be at the heart of the trade and environment debates. There are different perceptions about the relationship between the agreement and the global environmental protection efforts. Eco-labeling programs are one of the typical tools widely adopted to ensure environmental protection and natural resource conservation. There is no debate as to whether eco-labeling practices can fall under the TBT agreement. Much of the controversy arises in relation to the scope of application of the agreement in relation to eco-labeling. Developing countries, as opposed to developed trading partners, are seriously concerned about whether or not the agreement covers production process methods that does not impact the final output of a commodity. Developing countries choose the agreement’s narrower scope. In this article I will disprove the argument that non-product related process and production methods are outside of the scope of the TBT agreement. I will divulge, based on analysis of relevant laws, that the TBT agreement governs eco-labeling programs regardless of whether or not the relevant production-process method affects the environment only through the final product. I will also argue and try to demonstrate why the agreement’s wider scope is in the best interest of developing countries. Finally, I will recommend developing countries to re-evaluate their position concerning the TBT agreement.