TY - JOUR
T1 - Slaughtered at the altar of free trade
T2 - are WTO rules hindering the progression of animal welfare standards in agriculture?
AU - Hooton, Victoria
N1 - Note from Chris Martin: 'The editor confirms that we are free to make open access on publication.' No embargo period for Manchester Review of Law, Crime and Ethics. Post-print can be set to "open" on day of publication.
Article does not have a DOI
Appendix is supplementary
PY - 2019/11/1
Y1 - 2019/11/1
N2 - This article analyses the WTO legal framework to determine whether trade liberalisation, particularly through the definition of ‘like products’, and the exceptions to free trade rules found in GATT Article XX, are accommodating enough to permit advancements in animal welfare legislation. Sovereign legislatures have taken steps to promote higher standards for animal welfare within their territories. The European Union in particular is a frontrunner for promoting high animal welfare regulation, in order to provide safer products, greater human health and consumer-friendly regimes. The steps that have already been taken, domestically and in bilateral trade agreements, may be seen as a move towards an international recognition that animal welfare is an important factor in the production of food from agriculture. It is therefore important for WTO law to accommodate for the increasing concern around animal welfare. This article will argue that the current framework does not accommodate for these concerns, and may in fact prove to be a strong deterrent against import bans and other trade restrictions that would prevent low animal welfare goods being imported and marketed in territories with otherwise very strong animal welfare values.
AB - This article analyses the WTO legal framework to determine whether trade liberalisation, particularly through the definition of ‘like products’, and the exceptions to free trade rules found in GATT Article XX, are accommodating enough to permit advancements in animal welfare legislation. Sovereign legislatures have taken steps to promote higher standards for animal welfare within their territories. The European Union in particular is a frontrunner for promoting high animal welfare regulation, in order to provide safer products, greater human health and consumer-friendly regimes. The steps that have already been taken, domestically and in bilateral trade agreements, may be seen as a move towards an international recognition that animal welfare is an important factor in the production of food from agriculture. It is therefore important for WTO law to accommodate for the increasing concern around animal welfare. This article will argue that the current framework does not accommodate for these concerns, and may in fact prove to be a strong deterrent against import bans and other trade restrictions that would prevent low animal welfare goods being imported and marketed in territories with otherwise very strong animal welfare values.
UR - https://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/law/research/student-research/
UR - https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/manrvlce8&id=152&collection=journals&index=
UR - http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/schools/law/main/research/student-review/student-law-review-vol8-final-web.pdf
M3 - Article
SN - 2399-4649
VL - 8
SP - 152
EP - 178
JO - Manchester Review of Law, Crime and Ethics
JF - Manchester Review of Law, Crime and Ethics
M1 - 0
ER -