Do WTO rules and dispute rulings menace the environment, health, and safety?
Because these claims are often thrown at the WTO together, they will also be dealt with together here. But they need to be disentangled. Let s look first at what really happened in a number of widely and sometimes inaccurately reported WTO dispute cases, and then at what the rules say on the issues of environment, health and safety. Let s consider also whether the WTO is the right or wrong place to handle these burning issues. In doing so, we should also remember that well-publicized disputes between members make good headlines. The vast majority of disputes are settled without fanfare, or public contention. Moreover, only 1 per cent of trade between the United States and the European Union, for example, has been the subject o Color f disputes. The WTO and the environment Three separate dispute cases have been brought against the United States by developing countries who felt they were being unfairly treated by the way in which US laws to protect the environment were being applied agai
