What is it about?
Animal welfare is becoming recognized as a global value with some status in international law and policy. The WTO Seal Products case raises the status of animal welfare as an aspect of "public morals" under the general exceptions to basic trade commitments. While this is often seen as a contest between local, particular moral choices and international obligations, the picture is incomplete without taking into account the international aspect of animal welfare.
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Why is it important?
The article originally appeared prior to the WTO Panel Report in EC-Seal Products. When the decision came out, the panel did recognize that animal welfare was a global issue, and that recognition played a part in the Panel's determination that animal welfare is an aspect of public morals and a legitimate regulatory purpose for WTO members.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Sealing animal welfare into the GATT exceptions: the international dimension of animal welfare in WTO disputes, World Trade Review, October 2013, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1474745613000232.
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Resources
Permitting Pluralism: The Seal Products Dispute and Why the WTO Should Accept Trade Restrictions Justified by Noninstrumental Moral Values
Article by Rob Howse and Joanna Langille on the non-instrumental, expressive aspects of a ban based on moral condemnation of cruel sealing practices.
WTO dispute page for EC-Seal Products
Full information about the case including links to the Panel and Appellate Body Reports.
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