Search Climate Insights Directory

This amicus curiae brief, submitted by a coalition of NGOs including the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), supports the WTO Panel's finding that Brazil's import prohibition on retreaded tyres is necessary under Article XX(b) of the GATT. The brief argues that the Panel correctly identified the health and environmental risks associated with tyre waste accumulation and that the measure is capable of reducing these risks, emphasizing a life-cycle approach to environmental policy and the prerogative of member states to set their own levels of protection.

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law analyzes proposals from the European Communities (EC) and the NAMA-11 group to establish a 'facilitative mechanism' for resolving non-tariff measures (NTMs) within the WTO. The author argues that such a mechanism would move the WTO away from its rules-based dispute settlement system toward a confidential, non-binding process focused solely on trade impacts, potentially undermining environmental and public health regulations and leaving developing countries vulnerable to power politics.