International
Trade Law Sources on the Internet
To a large extent, intergovernmental negotiations
make global trade a reality. As a result, legal documents
from international and regional trade organizations
are essential for international trade law research.
Unfortunately, there is not a codified publications
system or central database developed for international
law researchers. For those who are accustomed to researching
on Westlaw or Lexis, international law research could
be time-consuming, sometimes even frustrating.
Thanks to the internet, most organizations devoted
to liberalizing international trade make a great number
of legislation available on the web. Internet resources
have thus become an important source, if not the only
one, to retrieve updated information on international
trade law. For general search strategy, please click
on this Powerpoint file.
This guide provides links to major international and
regional trade organizations with brief annotations.Some
primary legal documents
on trade law are linked with full text. There are
5 sections in this guide:
The United States and International Trade
International Organizations World
Trade Organization (WTO) |Report
on Doha | G8
| Hague Conference on International
Private Law | International Chamber
of Commerce (ICC) | Juries International
| UN Commissions on International
Trade Law (UNCITRAL) | International
Labor Organization (ILO) | International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) | UN
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
| World Customs Organization (WCO)
| Trade and Development Center
| Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) | International
Monetary Fund (IMF) | World Bank
Dispute Settlement
Regional Trade Organizations
North America | Europe
| Asia/Pacific | Africa
| South America
Trade Statistics
News Sources on International Trade
Links (NYU's
Globalex is an excellent source)
U.S.
and International Trade
Texas and International Trade
Texas Economic Department
U.S. Governmental International Trade
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
The USTR was created by Congress in the Trade Expansion
Act of 1962. It was authorized to set and administer
overall trade policy. As a chief trade negotiator,
USTR represents the United States in the major international
trade organizations.
U.S. International
Trade Administration (ITA)
As a lead unit for trade in the Department
of Commerce, the ITA promotes U.S. exports of
manufactured goods, nonagricultural commodities
and services. ITA provides U.S. business with information
on market access to the international market and
protects U.S. business from dumped and subsidized
imports.
The ITC was established by Congress in 1916 as the
U.S. Tariff Commission. The Trade Act of 1974 renamed
it as the U.S. International Trade Commission. It
has broad investigative powers on trade issues and
serves as a national resource where trade data is
gathered and analyzed. The ITC provides both the
President and Congress with trade information on
which U.S. trade policy is based.
U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT)
CIT was established in 1980 as the successor to
the Court of Customs. It provides judicial review
of any final determinations by the ITA and ITC.
(Folsom, International Trade and Investment in a
nutshell 2ed. West Group 2000 p.147.)For more explanation
of the ITC and its publications please see LLRX
Research Guide on CIT.
U.S. Export/Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) was created
in 1934 to aid in financing and to facilitate U.S.
exports.
U.S. Treaties in Force from U.S.
Department of State site, provides a list of
treaties and other international agreements of the
United States in Force as of January 1, 2000. Agreements
on trade issues are available.
Legislative histories
of the acts on international trade passed by the
Congress are important sources for research. The
following two sites provide comprehensive materials
on legislative history
Congressional
Information Service (CIS)
Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet
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International
Trade Organizations
World Trade Organization
(WTO)
WTO official site is a comprehensive source
for doing international trade law research. However,
since this site contains a huge amount of documents
and the navigation is very complicated, sufficiently
surfing this site may not be as easy as flipping
a real book. So for new viewers, it is recommended
to read How
to find your way around www.wto.org first.
For experienced viewers, a good starting point is
A-Z
list or site
map which is much easier to navigate than its
graphic version. In general, there are three sections
in this site:
To understand the structure of the
the organization, who's who and the mechanism
of how the WTO works, see What
is the WTO? To locate documents on trade
issues, see Trade
Topics which includes rules and regulations
on trade in goods, services, intellectual property
and trade dispute settlement and other issues
such as investment, e-commerce. To
search for economic data of world trade, WTO publications,
documents, legal
texts, see Recourses.
Report on Doha Round of Multilateral Negotiations
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP produces a periodic
report on the status of Doha Round of negotiations.
This is the latest update of the report. Courtesy
of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP.
Selected links (Prof. Zamora's
Class) on Trade in Goods and Services from WTO site:
Trade in Goods:
Antidumping
Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
Import licensing
Technical Barriers to Trade
Trade in Service:
GATS: objectives, coverage and disciplines
GATS
(full text in pdf)
Telecommunication Service
Financial Service
Maritime Transport
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G8 Information Center
G8
member countries
From G7 to G8
Hague
Conference on Private International Law The
Hague Conference
is an intergovernmental organization, its purpose
is "to work for the progressive unification of
the rules of private international law." As of
October 2002, t here
are 62 Member States (including the U.S.)
participating in the Hague Conference.
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) .
ICC is a world business
organization founded in 1919. It promotes international
trade and investment and market economy. ICC lays
out rules governing cross border trade. The rules
are observed by international businesses on a voluntary
basis.
The ICC international Court of Arbitration is
a leading organization for international trade dispute
settlement.
ICC Member companies
ICC Institute of World Business Law Conference Reports
Introduction to the ICC international Court of Arbitration
Arbitration
Rules
Model
Clause (Full text)
Appointing Authority Rules
Model
Clause (Full Text)
Pre-Arbitral Rules
Model
Clause (Full Text)
Juries
International A database
on international trade law aimed at lawyers and legal
counsel in developing and transition economies.
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UN
Commissions on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
is the core
legal body within the United Nations system. It
promotes the progressive harmonization and unification
of international trade law.
Introduction
to the UNCITRAL
UNCITRAL Text and Statues
UNCITRAL Case Law
International Labor
Organization (ILO) Labor standards
are hot issues that are often raised in international
trade disputes. The ILO is the UN specialized
agency that promotes social justice and internationally
recognized human and lab our rights. It was founded
in 1919.
ILO
Constitution
FAQ on International Labor Standards
ILO
Reports
ILO
Legislative Information
International Program on Elimination of Child
Labor Child
Labor Statistics
International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) The
source of ISO 9000
and more than 13 000 International Standards
for business, government and society. Site
Map
LLRX
WTO Research
UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Established in
1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD
is the principal organ of the United Nations General
Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development
issues.
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World
Customs Organization (WCO)
WCO is an independent intergovernmental body
promoting the harmonization of international customs
systems. When it was established in 1952 in Brussels,
the name was the Customs Cooperation's Council
(CCC). The organization adopted its current working
name as WCO in 1994.
Customs
Topics includes harmonized system, valuation,
origin, cross border crime, facilitation and
customs procedures, customs moderation and integrity,
information technology. Customs
Web sites a comprehensive source for searching
customs in different
countries.
Trade
and Development Center
As a joint initiative of the WTO and World Bank,
this site provides "information on trade as it
relates to social and economic development." It
is a good source for officials in developing countries
or former planned economies to get information
on WTO and World Bank training.
Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The OECD was established on 14 December 1960.
It was developed from the European Economic Co-operation
(OEEC), which was formed in 1948 to administer
aid under the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction
of Europe after World War II. One of the objectives
of the OECD was to foster international economic
co-operation and trade liberalization.
International
Monetary Fund The idea
of establishing IMF was conceived in 1944 at a
United Nations Conference which was held in Bretton
Woods, New Hampshire. It came to official existence
in 1945. Now the IMF has 184 member countries.
The objective of the IMF is to promote international
monetary cooperation and to foster economic growth
and high levels of employment.
World
Bank Founded in 1944,
the World Bank Group is one of the world's largest
sources of development assistance. The Bank provided
US$19.5 billion in loans to its client countries
in fiscal year 2002, is now working in more than
100 developing economies.
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Global Trade:
Dispute Settlement
WTO:
Dispute settlement
World
Bank: International Center for Settlement of Investment
Disputes (ICSID) was created in 1966 to facilitate
the settlement of investment disputes between
governments and foreign investors.
Permanent
Court of Arbitration (PCA) PCA was founded
in The Hague in 1899 during the first Hague Peace
Conference. The 1899 Convention, which provided
the legal basis for the PCA, was revised at the
second Hague Peace Conference in 1907. There are
currently 97 States which are parties to one or
both of the Conventions.
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Regional
Trade
Regional
Trade-North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
NAFTA
Secretariat
Related Sites on NAFTA:
West
Hemispheric Trade Information Center
Hosted by Texas A&M University.
Foreign Trade Information System (SICE for
short from its Spanish acronym) It is a valuable
source for searching trade policies form central
and south American countries. It includes policies
on Anti-Dumping,
Competition
Policy, Dispute
Settlement, Electronic
Commerce, Intellectual
Property Rights, Investment
and Services.
Most of the texts are in Spanish.
SICE
Site Free Trade Agreements Provides trade
agreements (full text) between Central and South
America Countries as well as with the U.S. ,
Canada and the European Union.
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Regional Trade-Europe
European
Union (EU) The European integration process
was launched in 1950's.
European
Free Trade Association (EFTA)
The EFTA was established in 1960 based on a Convention
signed in Stockholm. Now the Association includes
4 member states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
and Switzerland, with headquarters in Geneva and
offices in Brussels and Luxembourg.
The main objective of the EFTA is to provide a
framework for the liberalization of trade in all
forms among its member countries. The EFTA countries
also maintain close trade relations with EU countries.
Here is the update
EFTA convention (pdf).
EFTA Convention (Founding treaty)
EEA (European Economic Area) Agreement (full text)
EFTA History
Central Europe
Free Trade Area
CEFTA was based on the Central European Free
Trade Agreement, which was signed on 21 December
1992 in Krakow, Poland. The CEFTA consists of 8
central European countries: Poland, Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Hungary Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria.
As a preparation for full EU membership, the major
objective of the CEFTA is to remove trade barriers
and promote fair trade among member states. All
the 8 CEFTA states will hopefully join the EU in
2004.
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Regional Trade-- Asia/Pacific
Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC)The
APEC was established in 1989 with a goal of advancing
Asia-Pacific economic corporations and trade. The
U.S. is a member of the APEC.
Member
list
Economic
Indicators for APEC Member Economies Provides
a quick look of the APEC's member countries' basic
economic and trade data.
Apectariff
APEC U.S.
Australia Apec Studied
Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN)
A regional organization to promote economic
growth, social progress, culture development and
regional peace.
Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC)
The OPEC is an international Organization of countries
which rely heavily on oil revenue. It was created
at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, by Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Currently the
OPEC has 11 members--Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. The 11 Members
of the OPEC collectively supply about 40 % of the
world's oil output, and possess more than three-quarters
of the world's total proven crude oil reserves.
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Regional
Trade-Africa
Economic Community of West African
States The ECOWAS is a regional group of fifteen
countries, founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration
in all fields of economic activity.
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Regional Trade-Central and South
America
Free Trade Area
of the Americas (FTAA) The objective of FTAA is to integrate the economies
of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade arrangement. It will progressively
eliminate barriers to trade and investment among its member
countries. The FTAA agreement was signed in 1994 in Miami, Florida. This
site is one the most valuable sources for searching economic and
trade information about south and central countries.
Organization of American States (OAS)
The OAS was established in 1948. According to the
Charter of the OAS, the objective of the OAS is to achieve an order of
peace and justice, to promote solidarity, to strengthen collaboration, and
to defend sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence.
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