WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: CURRENT ISSUES THE GMOS DISPUTE Interpreting WTO Law and the Relevance of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in EC-Biotech

The briefing analyzes the EC-Biotech dispute, where a WTO panel rejected the obligation to consider the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety because they were not ratified by all WTO Members. The author argues this narrow interpretation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties creates 'clinical isolation' for WTO law and deviates from the Appellate Body's approach in US-Shrimp, which integrated sustainable development and MEAs into its analysis. The document emphasizes that the WTO's own Committee on Trade and Environment and the Doha Mandate support 'mutual supportiveness' between trade and environmental goals.

• The EC-Biotech Panel adopted a narrow interpretation of Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention, concluding it was only required to consider rules of international law applicable to all WTO Members.
• The Panel determined that while it was not obligated to use MEAs under Article 31(3)(c), it could voluntarily consider them under Article 31(1) as 'informative' tools, similar to dictionaries, to establish the 'ordinary meaning' of treaty terms.
• The International Law Commission (ILC) criticized the EC-Biotech Panel's reasoning, suggesting it could lead to the isolation of multilateral agreements as 'islands' and contradicts the intent of treaty-makers.
• The author contrasts the EC-Biotech decision with the US-Shrimp case, where the Appellate Body used the CBD and other MEAs to interpret GATT Article XX, regardless of whether all parties had ratified them, by linking them to the WTO's objective of sustainable development.
• The concept of 'mutual supportiveness' between trade and environment is established in the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, the WTO Ministerial Decision on Trade and Environment, and the Doha Ministerial Declaration.

APA

Bernasconi-Osterwalder, N. (2007). WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: CURRENT ISSUES THE GMOS DISPUTE Interpreting WTO Law and the Relevance of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in EC-Biotech. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/BIICL_ECBiotech_7Jun07.pdf

Chicago

Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Nathalie. WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: CURRENT ISSUES THE GMOS DISPUTE Interpreting WTO Law and the Relevance of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in EC-Biotech. Center for International Environmental Law, 2007. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/BIICL_ECBiotech_7Jun07.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bernasconi-Osterwalder |first1=Nathalie |title=WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: CURRENT ISSUES THE GMOS DISPUTE Interpreting WTO Law and the Relevance of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in EC-Biotech |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=22 May 2007 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/BIICL_ECBiotech_7Jun07.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bernasconiosterwalder2007wto, author = {Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Nathalie}, title = {{WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: CURRENT ISSUES THE GMOS DISPUTE Interpreting WTO Law and the Relevance of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in EC-Biotech}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2007}, month = may, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/BIICL_ECBiotech_7Jun07.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }