The System of World Trade Rules and the Environment

Abstract

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the agreements of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, subsumed within the charter of the World Trade Organization (WTO), are the single most important set of rules governing international trade and, hence, are likely to be the focus of continued attention in the resolution of controversies arising from the relationships between trade and environmental policies. The conclusion of the Uruguay Round further liberalized world trade and extended the scope of the rules governing it. Because of the present and future importance of these rules and institutions, it is natural to examine how they have affected environment-trade questions and some of their implications.