First International Conference on MOLDAVIAN RISKS – FROM ...

<strong>First</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on MOLDAVIAN RISKS - FROM GLOBAL TO LOCAL SCALE
16-19 May 2012, Bacau, Romania
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF
GLOBALIZATION. ANALYSIS OF THE REGULATIONS OF
THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
Gheorghe Durac, Nicolae-Horia Tit
„Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Faculty of Law
Corresponding author: Nicolae Horia Tit horia.tit@gmail.com
Abstract: The effects of the phenomenon of globalization are, on the one hand, an
unprecedented dissemination of the production factors (there are situations when the final
product is the result of a production performed on the territory of over twenty countries),
and on the other hand, a true “explosion” of the services provided at a world level.
Globalization is manifested at an economic, social, cultural, and educational level. From an
institutional point of view, globalization implies the appearance of entities with
competences at a world scale, through which rules and disciplines are regulated and
applied, which influence the socio-human activities. Such international institutions are the
World Trade Organization, the <strong>International</strong> Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The
fundamental objectives of the World Trade Organization, established through the Preamble
to the Marrakesh Agreement of April 15th 1994, refer to increasing the standard of life, the
integral use of the labor force, increasing real income and demand, enhancing the
production and trade with goods and services. However, meeting these objectives must
take into account the need to protect the environment and the special needs of the
developing countries. The Preamble also stresses the importance of sustainable economic
development, respectively an economic development taking into account the natural and
social environment, and the integration of the developing countries and especially the less
advanced in the world economic system. Fulfilling the objectives shown above implies two
sets of rules: some concentrated around the fundamental principles of international trade,
respectively the treatment of the most favored nation, national treatment and rules
concerning the access to the market; the others, built for exceptional situations and meant
to insure the flexibility of regulations in case it is necessary to protect certain fundamental
values, such as the protection of the life or health of people, animals or plants, or the
environment. This article aims to analyze the manner in which the regulations of the World
Trade Organization reflect the balance between the commercial interests and those
referring to the protection of life and the environment, in the direction of the sustainable
development of human society, also stressing the criticism brought to the organization
from this perspective.
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