Posted: September 13th, 2017

Intl Trade Law

Intl Trade Law

Order Description
PROBLEM
Utopia is a small country hoping to accede to the WTO. Utopia was a former colony of Great Britain and declared its independence in 1974. After independence Utopia slipped into decades of military dictatorship during which time the state controlled every aspect of the economy. The situation got so bad that almost half of the population left due to war, famine and internal displacement. Most of the educated and well to do have left the country and have continued to do so particularly in the 1990s.
Utopia is rich in natural resources but still has little industrial/manufacturing capacity and a broken infrastructure system, with bad roads, water and electrical systems. Half of the population do not have access to clean water or electricity. In the capital of Utopia and other cities there are brown outs between 4-6 hours a day.
In December 2014, “free and fair” elections were successfully held in Utopia, and for the first time a democratic and civilian government is now in power and is trying to move towards a market economy.
As a result of the 2014 elections, President Fagan has become the first freely elected President of Utopia. Fagan has spent over 25 years in prison in the 1980s and the rest in exile, before returning in 2007. Historically, he subscribed to Marxist/socialist views.
President Fagan’s new government is comprised of many political activists and “freedom fighters” that fought the military dictatorship. None of them however has any background in the rules of international trade or business. None of the members of the new government were involved in prior negotiations for membership in the GATT by the prior government.
You are an associate in an international law firm in Washington D.C. This morning the senior partner of the law firm has informed you that the Minister of Trade & Industry of Utopia is visiting Washington D.C, and is going to visit the firm this afternoon. The Minister is looking for a law firm to help Utopia gain admission to the WTO. During his visit to Washington D.C, he is going to interview a handful of law firms.
The Senior Partner tells you that he is very anxious to get Utopia as a client in their accession negotiations and wants you to make the presentation to the Minister to show your expertise in WTO/GATT law. The Senior Partner himself has no background in Trade, but is very good friends with President Fagan and in fact helped him write his acceptance speech on the eve of his electoral victory.

In preparing the presentation to the Minister, you should take into account the:
1. Relevant WTO institutions, procedural, organizational issues;
2. Areas of WTO law that are either very significant to the understanding of the international trade regime; and
3. Issues that are or should be of particular interest to Utopia in their accession negotiations.
4. In addition, Outline questions that you would like to ask the Minister or alternate sources, if necessary and make clear the assumptions you have made
COURSE MATERIALS

1. John H. Jackson, William J. Davey & Alan O. Sykes, Jr., Legal Problems of International Economic Relations: Cases, Materials and Text (SIXTH EDITION 2013).

2. John H. Jackson, William J. Davey & Alan O. Sykes, Jr., Documents Supplement, 2013 (SIXTH EDITION).