an embargo on tuna caught by mile-long nets that kill hundreds of thousands of dolphins. Mexico claimed this was a way for America to protect trade by closing markets to foreign competitors and sued them. The law was declared illegal under WTO rules and America eliminated the embargo. (americanlands) A judge on the dispute panel was from a corporate front group that lobbied on behalf of the Mexican government for NAFTA. (globalexchange)The WTO is being used by big corporations to discredit environmental protections, which are said to be “barriers to trade”. (globalexchange) In 1993, America created the US Clean Air Act. A provision of this act required foreign and domestic producers of gasoline to make cleaner gasoline. (Sforza, Wallach) The very first WTO panel stated that this was illegal. (globalexchange) Another issue was the Shrimp-Turtle ruling. The US required toaht foreign and domestic shrimp fishers use nets with turtle excluder devices to protect this endangered species. The lwa was said to be illegal by the WTO. Several Asian nations who did not use these nets were unable to sell their shrimp in the US, therefore sued claiming that the US could not use import bans to influence fishing behavior. The WTO agreed. (americanlands) They are also currently negotiating an agreement dealing with tariffs on wood products. By eliminating these tariffs, the demand for timber would increase and as a result, the process of deforestation would also rapidly increase. (Sforza, Wallach) Another negative aspect of the WTO is that it ignores issues dealing with human rights. This issue if very important when dealing with labor rights. Countries that violate them disadvantage countries that enforce labor rights. Developing countries claim labor standards are a “barrier to free trade” for countries whose competitive advantage in the global economy is cheap labor. Solutions to abused human and labor rights a...
