Addresses the role of international trade regulation in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and outlines the balance of interests and obligations at stake. Discusses a number of illustrative cases with regard to: 1) national policy space, 2) the scope of the general exceptions in GATT and in GATS, 3) the public morals exception in particular, 4) flexibilities with regard to preferential trade agreements, and 5) special and differential treatment flexibilities. It concludes with the analysis of regulatory mechanism for preferential treatment of sustainably produced palm oil in the specific recent case of the EFTA-Indonesia economic partnership agreement. Goes together with mandatory reading and the following questions to be addressed in class:
What is the regulatory goal of the general exceptions in GATT and GATS? To what extent are the exception clauses reconcilable with sustainable development?
Can you think of another product which would be suitable for preferential treatment along the lines of the EFTA-Indonesia regulatory mechanism for sustainably produced palm oil?