Beyond WTO: Meeting the challenges of the new trade and environment regime perspectives from the Philippines and the ASEAN

• Main Author: Intal, Ponciano S., Jr.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 1996
• Subjects: Philippines—Commerce—Environmental aspects; Southeast Asia—Commerce—Environmental aspects; Sustainable development; Environmental Studies; International Economics
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/7316
• Institution: De La Salle University

The paper reviews the current discussion in the WTO on reconciling environment-related trade measures and trade-related environment measures with the rules of the multilateral trading system, using the principle of subsidiary and the general rule of optimal intervention. It presents the view that while the debate at the WTO CTE is critical, the most far-reaching trade and environment issues go beyond the current concerns of the WTO. These issues involve domestic economic and environmental reforms, institutional capacity building, and technical cooperation among countries which would enable the developing countries to minimize the trade off between economic growth and environment protection as well as allow them to adjust to the ongoing "greening" of the international trading environment. In the end, the contribution of setting the framework on the relationship between trade-related environmental measures and multilateral trade disciplines is that the WTO can facilitate, complement and encourage the needed domestic policy reforms and institutional capacity building efforts primarily in the developing countries as well as encourage joint international cooperative activities among countries in the light of the "greening" of the international trading system.