International-Business-Dr-R-Chandran-E-book

Environmental Issues
159
International Business- Dr. R. Chandran
The WTO has no specific agreement on environment; it has a “Trade &
Environment Committee’, which plays a limited role. There is increasing
pressure by environmentalists on the WTO to take proactive measures to
protect the environment. The US banned import of tuna fish from Mexico in
accordance with its Marine Mammals Law, which has the mandate like
dolphins. At that time Mexico appealed to GATT whose verdict went
against the USA.
Trade experts fear that free trade will be undermined in the guise of
protecting the environment, if such issues find a place and are emphasized in
the WTO. There are more than 200 Multilateral Environmental Agreements
(MEAs) on various aspects of the environment. Twenty of these include
provisions that can affect trade e.g., the Montreal Protocol for Protection of
the Ozone Layer, the Basel Convention on Trade or Transportation of
Hazardous Goods. The WTO is off the view that the most effective way of
dealing with environmental issues is through international agreements.
Dilemma of Developing Countries-
Exports from developing countries continue to face significant market access
impediments. Recent UN studies confirm that tariff peaks and tariff
escalation still hamper developing country exports and their attempts to
export new products such as beef, cigarettes, clothing, footwear and wooden
articles.
To gain access to new markets in developing countries, the developed
counties are acting in the interests of transnational corporations. They have
rapidly imposed new agreements in telecommunications, information
technology, and financial services. The Millennium Round talks paved the
way for further economic liberalization in both the traditional and new
sectors, which is contrary to the interests of developing countries.
For example, Washington has interpreted WTO agreements to protect key
industries. For example the U.S. has selectively opened its markets in the
field of textiles and clothing, but this liberalisation has proved of little
benefit to the developing nations. Similarly, the U.S. has misused the
measures designed to safeguard domestic industries from a sudden increase
in imports. It has also introduced its own Rules of Origins, rules used to
identify where textiles or clothing products come from, changing the
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