The TBT Agreement and Global Environmental Concerns: Reevaluating LDC’s Reaction to Eco-Labeling Prog

Abstract

Abstract
Concerns of environmental protection are at the forefront of numerous global forums.
Especially in the context of international trade and other development practices, the subject
attracts huge debates among scholars, interest groups, and policymakers aligning themselves 
to differing positions. The TBT agreement is one of the WTO laws which turn out to be at the
heart of the trade and environmental debates. There are different perceptions about the
relationship between the agreement and the global environmental protection efforts. Ecolabeling programs are one of the typical tools widely adopted to ensure environmental
protection and natural resource conservation. There is no debate as to whether eco-labeling
practices can fall under the TBT agreement. Much of the controversy arises in relation to the
scope of application of the agreement in relation to eco-labeling. Developing countries, as
opposed to developed trading partners, are seriously concerned about whether or not the
agreement covers production process methods that do not impact the final output of a
commodity. Developing countries choose the agreement’s narrower scope. In this article, I will
disprove the argument that non-product-related processes and production methods are outside of
the scope of the TBT agreement. I will divulge, based on analysis of relevant laws, that the
TBT agreement governs eco-labeling programs regardless of whether or not the relevant
production-process method affects the environment only through the final product. I will also
argue and try to demonstrate why the agreement’s wider scope is in the best interest of
developing countries. Finally, I will recommend developing countries to re-evaluate their
position concerning the TBT agreement.