商品詳細

Health, safety and environmental regulations have been traditionally perceived as distinct entities from trade policy, yet today they have become intertwined on a global scale. In this work, David Vogel integrates environmental, consumer and trade policy, and challenges the conventional wisdom that trade liberalization and agreements to promote free trade invariably undermine national health, safety amd environmental standards. Vogel demonstrates that liberal trade policies often produce precisely the opposite effect: that of strengthening regulatory standards. A comprehensive account of trade and regulation on a global scale, this book anlayzes the regulatory dimensions of all major international and regional trade agreements and treaties, including GATT, NAFTA, the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States, and the treaties that created the European Community and Union. He explores in depth some of the most important trade and regulatory conflicts, including the GATT tuna-dolphin dispute, the EC's beef hormone ban, the Danish bottle case, and the debate in the United States over the regulatory implications of both NAFTA and GATT. This work unravels the increasingly important and contentious relationship between trade and environmental health and safety standards, paying particular attention to the politics that underlie trade and regulatory linkages. "Trading Up" should be useful reading for the business community, policymakers, environmentalists, consumer interest groups, political scientists, lawyers and economists.