Serie de documentos. Facultad de Jurisprudencia N° 71. Aspectos prácticos del proceso ante el órgano de solución de diferencias de la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC) y del procedimiento interno colombiano para la adopción de medidas en el ámbito internacional

La Organización Mundial del Comercio es una organización internacional que cumple una doble función. Como lo sugiere su nombre, busca la apertura en materia comercial sirviendo como foro a los Estados, para que estos puedan negociar la eliminación de barreras técnicas y económicas para el comercio. Cuenta también con un Órgano de Solución de Diferencias, fruto de un proceso de casi cinco décadas de ensayos, errores y reformas que son de vital importancia para que los Estados, sin importar su tamaño o la asimetría en temas de desarrollo, puedan participar del comercio mundial en condiciones de igualdad relativa1. Se habla de igualdad relativa y no absoluta, porque la OMC comprende que los países en vías de desarrollo necesitan tiempo, asesoría y recibir inicialmente un trato diferenciado en razón de su condición, para poder entrar a hacer parte de la cadena de comercio internacional. La Organización Mundial del Comercio se basa en la creencia firme de que el comercio internacional abierto conlleva al desarrollo, dado que incentiva la inversión extranjera directa y la expansión de las oportunidades comerciales de los productores y empresarios locales.

Evolución del derecho internacional de inversiones: hacia un régimen global estable (Tema Central)

En los últimos años, los flujos de inversión han crecido a nivel mundial y junto con estos se ha producido un desarrollo normativo que comprende la creación de más de 3.000 tratados bilaterales y regionales. Estos tratados comparten similares estándares sustantivos de trato, así como procedimientos similares de solución de controversias. Por esta razón, se ha conceptualizado a este conjunto de normas en el derecho internacional como un régimen emergente global de inversiones, el cual está generando constantes tensiones entre estados. La creación de este régimen emergente no es espontánea, ya que proviene de un complejo proceso de evolución que se desarrolla a través de la historia del derecho internacional. El presente trabajo analiza la historia y evolución del Derecho Internacional de Inversiones, e identifica los puntos clave que deben ser considerados en la construcción de una regulación integral de la inversión extranjera.

La legalidad de las inversiones como un requisito para la protección de los tratados internacionales de inversiones (Tema Central)

Un gran número de acuerdos internacionales de inversiones (AII) contiene la formulación “inversiones realizadas de conformidad con las leyes nacionales” o una enunciación similar. En términos generales, la tendencia ha sido considerar que esta formulación hace referencia a la legalidad y a la validez de la inversión. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar en qué medida las inversiones extranjeras realizadas ilegalmente pueden beneficiarse de la protección de los AII y de su mecanismo de solución de controversias. Para ello, la primera parte identificará las posibles localizaciones de esta formulación y sus implicaciones. La segunda examinará qué sucede con las inversiones que se tornan ilegales, si la ilegalidad debe ser tratada como una objeción jurisdiccional o como una cuestión de fondo y, finalmente, si la ilegalidad es consecuencia de la violación de normas substantivas o también de meras formalidades.

De caminos y controversias: el MERCOSUR a diez años de la entrada en vigor del Protocolo de Olivos (Coyuntura)

The ten years since the Olivos Protocol entered into force represent a milestone in Mercosur’s dispute-resolution system. In this sense, this paper aims to analyze the antecedents of the present system (Annex III of Asuncion Treaty and Brasilia Protocol), and evaluate the present conflict-resolution mechanisms, with special reference to the innovations introduced in this respect and disputes resolved under the Olivos Protocol. Finally, the article analyzes some of the possible paths that the dispute-resolution system might take in the future.

Curbing agricultural exceptionalism: The EU's response to external challenge

From 1948 to 1994, the agricultural sector was afforded special treatment in the GATT. We analyse the extent to which this agricultural exceptionalism was curbed as a result of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, discuss why it was curbed and finally explore the implication of this for EU policy making. We argue that, in particular, two major changes in GATT institutions brought about restrictions on agricultural exceptionalism. First, the Uruguay Round was a 'single undertaking' in which progress on other dossiers was contingent upon an outcome on agriculture. The EU had keenly supported this new decision rule in the GATT. Within the EU this led to the MacSharry reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 1992, paving the way for a trade agreement on agriculture within the GATT. Second, under the new quasi-judicial dispute settlement procedure, countries are expected to bring their policies into conformity with WTO rules or face retaliatory trade sanctions. This has brought about a greater willingness on the part of the EU to submit its farm policy to WTO disciplines.

Potential WTO challenges to the CAP

Since the early 1990s the EU's CAP has undergone considerable change with, first, a switch from market price support to direct payments in 1992 and, second, a further decoupling of support with the creation of the single payment scheme in 2003. Nonetheless, whether the current Doha Round of WTO trade negotiations is successfully completed or not, the CAP will come under renewed scrutiny, as a result either of negotiated reductions in support or of litigation through the WTO's dispute settlement process. This article discusses CAP market price and income support in the context of these likely WTO constraints.

Historicizing counterurbanization: in-migration and the reconstruction of rural space in Berkshire (UK), 1901-51

This article uses census data for Berkshire to argue that large-scale counterurbanization began much earlier than is generally recognized in some parts of southern England. This was not just movement down the urban hierarchy, which as Pooley and Turnbull have demonstrated was a long-term feature of England’s settlement system, but in some cases at least amenity-driven migration to rural areas of the kind increasingly recognized as a core component of recent counterurbanization. Despite a reduction of acreage Berkshire’s rural districts saw a 54% rise in population between 1901 and 1951. The sub-regional pattern of growth is assessed to gauge whether ‘clean break’ migration to the remote west of the county (which remained effectively out of commuting range from London throughout the period) was taking place, or whether counterurbanization was confined to the more accessible eastern districts. However, whilst population did increase in both west and east, it was in fact the central districts that grew most impressively. Three case study parishes are investigated in order to gauge the nature and consequences of counterurbanization at a local level. Professional and business migrants figure prominently, seeking to preserve and promote the rural attributes of their new communities, without however cutting their ties to urban centres. It is argued that migration to rural Berkshire in the first half of the twentieth century cannot adequately be described either as a form of extended suburbanization or an anti-metropolitan ‘clean break’. Rather, early counterurbanization marks the first stage on the long road to a post-productivist countryside, in which countryside becomes detached from agriculture, there is socio-economic convergence between town and country, and the ‘rural’ increasingly becomes defined by landscape and identity rather than economic function.

EU membership of the WTO: international trade disputes and judicial protection of individuals by EU Courts

The European Union (EU) is embedded in a pluralistic legal context because of the EU and its Member States’ treaty memberships and domestic laws. Where EU conduct has implications for both the EU’s international trade relations and the legal position of individual traders, it possibly affects EU and its Member States’ obligations under the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO law) as well as the Union’s own multi-layered constitutional legal order. The present paper analyses the way in which the European Court of Justice (ECJ) accommodates WTO and EU law in the context of international trade disputes triggered by the EU. Given the ECJ’s denial of direct effect of WTO law in principle, the paper focuses on the protection of rights and remedies conferred by EU law. It assesses the implications of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) – which tolerates the acceptance of retaliatory measures constraining traders’ activities in sectors different from those subject to the original trade dispute (Bananas and Hormones cases) – for the protection of ‘retaliation victims’. The paper concludes that governmental discretion conferred by WTO law has not affected the applicability of EU constitutional law but possibly shapes the actual scope of EU rights and remedies where such discretion is exercised in the EU’s general interest.

Haircut undone? The Greek drama and prospects for investment arbitration

As a result of the sovereign debt crisis that engulfed Europe in 2010, investors are much more likely to pursue dispute resolution options when faced with losses. This paper seeks to examine the position of investors who suffered losses in the Greek haircut of 2012 in the context of investment treaty arbitration. The paper evaluates arguments that investments in Greek sovereign bonds have been expropriated by the introduction of retrofit CACs and that compensation is payable as a result of the protections offered by BITs. The paper investigates whether sovereign bonds come within the definition of protected investment in BITs, assesses the degree to which CACs act as a jurisdictional bar to investor-state claims and attempts an evaluation of whether claims could be successful. The analysis uses as an illustration recent cases brought against Greece at ICSID. The paper concludes by considering whether the Greek haircut was expropriatory and reflects on the possible outcome of current arbitrations.

Concorrência no Mercosul: para além do Protocolo de Fortaleza

We address specific problems to be considered once the Protocolo de Fortaleza becomes a fully recognised agreement. Elimination of anti-dumping measures a la WTO, services competition and the interrelationship between the regulatory agencies and the competition offices, issues regarding the concept of relevant market and, in a broader view, harmonisation of rules, criteria, institutions and regional competitive environments, are discussed. The European experience, if properly adapted, can be of value. In this context, two important principles are singled-out: acknowledgement of an acquis Mercosul – which allows a realistic and constructive perspective when facing the integration challenges, and the wise use of subsidiarity, for faster developments with lighter central institutions. Dispute settlement, in the competition framework, is not tackled, though – in this case – we are favourable to the creation of a supranational organism. All these points do not naturally encompass everything required for the full implementation of a competition policy in Mercosul.

Acordos preferenciais de comércio e a OMC: um estudo sobre seus mecanismos de solução de controvérsias

Este trabalho analisa os Acordos Preferenciais de Comércio (APCs) com ênfase em seus Mecanismos de Solução de Controvérsias (MSC). A partir da seleção de alguns APCs bilaterais celebrados por Estados Unidos e União Europeia com outros parceiros comerciais, o trabalho objetiva (i) explicar como funcionam os MSC previstos pelos APCs para, em seguida, (ii) testar a hipótese de que a forma como os MSC são negociados nos APCs possibilita, em alguma medida, sua coexistência com o Órgão de Solução de Controvérsias (OSC) da Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC). This paper analyzes Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) focusing in its Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (DRM). Bilateral agreements signed by the United States and the European Union with other countries were selected with the aim to (i) explain how the DRMs stablished by PTAs work and, aftwards, (ii) test the hypothesis that the way the DRMs are negotiated in the PTAs enables its coexistence with the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization.

A defesa comercial dos BICs: Brasil, Índia e China: algumas lições para a política brasileira: pesquisa do comercio global apoiado pelo IPEA

O objetivo do presente artigo é de analisar a Política de Defesa Comercial dos BICs nos últimos 15 anos, destacando semelhanças e contrastes. Após exame dos principais elementos da regulação dos instrumentos de defesa, como apresentados no GATT e na OMC, é avaliada a evolução das investigações iniciadas e das medidas aplicadas para cada um dos parceiros dos BICs. Tendo em vista a importância das decisões do mecanismo de solução de controvérsias na área, são também examinados os principais painéis abertos pelos BICs, bem como os painéis em que foram acionados. O artigo é concluído com algumas implicações da análise da defesa comercial dos BICs para a Política de Defesa Comercial do Brasil, no momento em que a indústria brasileira enfrenta sérios desafios.

Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2001-2002

Includes bibliography

Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2004: 2005 trends

Includes bibliography