This is an opinion piece of mine in the Globe & Mail (Toronto), 20 April 2021, commenting on how private sector actions – such as guidelines, standards and certifications – can affect international business and trade. These are developments that don’t depend on, and are separate from, governmental actions like statutes or treaties. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-reshoring-initiative-targets-behaviours-not-laws/
This article was done by me and Alexander Herman, Institute of Art and Law, London, U.K., in commemoration of the 50th anniversary, in November 2020, of the groundbreaking UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export & Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. UNESCO Convention at 50
Peace in the Trade Valley-FP Comment 13 Aug 2020 This is a comment in the Financial Post, 13 August 2020, explaining how privately-driven trade disputes (like dumping and subsidy complaints) will continue even if Washington and Beijing conclude some kind of trade armistice. The WTO Agreement plus countless investment treaties worldwide allow private parties to… Read More »
Some thoughts of mine in a commentary published by the Financial Post on May 19, 2020, suggesting a new post-pandemic agenda for the WTO, giving it a new item to tackle and helping to get it out of its current political torpor, made more difficult by the Trump administration’s attacks on the Organization. https://bit.ly/2Zlhg9h
Here is a short discussion paper I prepared for the World Refugee Council on how WTO trade rules could be harnessed to alleviate some of the burdens on refugee host countries. This paper doesnt deal with complex issues of integration – rather, it looks at how short or medium term trade and tariff measures can at… Read More »
The huge multinational tobacco conglomerate, Philip Morris (PM), was bounced out of court on 14 July 2016, in a highly controversial investment claim against tiny Uruguay, a country with a population of 4.5 million and GDP a fraction of the US$80 billion annual revenues of the US-based tobacco giant (Philip Morris v, Uruguay, Award: http://www.italaw.com/cases/460) Although… Read More »
In the 1970s, as a young diplomat, I was a member of the Canadian delegation to the UN Law of the Sea Conference. Later in private law practice, I was on the Canadian legal team in the Gulf of Maine Case before the International Court of Justice. I have advised governments and international organizations on… Read More »