World Trade Law Final Essay Assessment

World Trade Law Final Essay

The final essay topics have two parts. The law students are required to choose a topic from Part I to write a final essay and the business students or non-law students are required to choose a topic from Part II to write a final essay.

Part I

For Law Students, including students who have enrolled in the DHLA, DHLD, DBLA, and DBLD programs, please choose one of the following two topics to write your final essay.

Part I.1

COVID-19 and TRIPS Agreement

The world has been hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19, and the access to COVID-19 vaccine is very important for the whole human being to combat against the rampage of the virus for the protection of public health.

The Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) requires members to provide minimum standards of patent protection for either products or processes inventions developed in all fields of technology, including pharmaceutical products.

Any vaccines against COVID-19 developed by any companies are likely to be patented. As a consequence of the patent protection, these companies can control the price of the vaccines, which in turn may hinder access to the vaccines, especially to those poor people who cannot afford the vaccines.

Recently, due to the rampage of the Covid-19 pandemic, the USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai has released a statement on behalf of the United States of America to support a temporary waiver for patent protection under the TRIPS Agreement for the Covid-19 vaccines.¹ The Director General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, welcomed the proposal and suggested to have negotiations among the members to find a pragmatic way to promote access to vaccines by developing countries.² The temporary waiver proposal has also provoked controversy over

the intellectual protection of Covid-19 vaccination among governmental agencies ³ and private industries⁴.4

The TRIPS Agreement itself provides substantive flexibilities in its system that are relevant to pursue public health goals.

Please draw upon the recent literature in law and write an essay to argue whether WTO should give temporary waiver to patent of Covid-19 vaccines under the TRIPS Agreement. The refence of the research essay should include proper legal journal articles.

Part I.2

Anti-dumping

On 24 June 2021, China requested consultations with Australia with respect to anti-dumping and countervailing measures imposed by Australia on imports of certain products originating in China, inter alia, wind towers, deep drawn stainless steel sinks and railway wheels.

China claimed that the anti-dumping measures on wind towers, deep drawn stainless steel sinks and railway wheels appear to be inconsistent with:

• Articles 1, 2.2, 2.2.1.1, 2.2.2, 2.4 and 9.3 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement; and

• Articles VI:1 and VI:2 of the GATT

China claimed that the countervailing measures on deep drawn stainless stell sinks appear to be inconsistent with:

• Articles 1(a)(1),1.1(b), 2.1(c), 11.1, 11.2, 11.3 and 14(d) of the SCM Agreement.

Please rely on WTO jurisprudence to write an essay to give an interpretation to Articles 2.1, 2.2,

2.2.1.1 , 2.2.2 and 2.4 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement. The refence of the research essay should include proper legal journal articles.

Part II

For Business Students, including students who have enrolled in the DBBN program, and students enrolled into other programs other than law programs, please choose one of the following two topics to write your final essay.

Part II.1

Covid-19 and Access to Medical Goods and Services

The world has been hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19, and the access to COVID-19 vaccine is very important for the whole human being to combat against the rampage of the virus for the protection of public health.

The WTO has provided some flexible mechanism to deal with the pandemics. For example, the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) requires members to provide minimum standards of patent protection for either products or processes inventions developed in all fields of technology, including pharmaceutical products.

Any vaccines against COVID-19 developed by any companies are likely to be patented. As a consequence of the patent protection, these companies can control the price of the vaccines, which in turn may hinder access to the vaccines, especially to those poor people who cannot afford the vaccines.

The TRIPS Agreement itself provides substantive flexibilities in its system that are relevant to pursue public health goals.

Please write an essay to discuss the flexibilities offered by WTO in relation to access to covid-19 vaccines and what international trade policy should Australia take to promote the access to covid-19 vaccination? 

Part II.2

Trade and Environment

Sustainable development and protection and preservation of the environment are fundamental goals of the WTO. They are enshrined in the Marrakesh

Agreement, which established the WTO, and complement the WTO’s objective to reduce trade barriers and eliminate discriminatory treatment in international trade relations. While there is no specific agreement dealing with the environment, under WTO rules members can adopt trade-related measures aimed at protecting the environment provided a number of conditions to avoid the misuse of such measures for protectionist ends are fulfilled.

The WTO contributes to the protection and preservation of the environment through its objective of ensuring sustainable development and avoiding protectionism, through its rules and enforcement mechanism, and through work in different WTO bodies.

Please write an essay to discuss how WTO deals with environmental issues and what trade policy should Australia take to balance the interests between trade liberalization and environmental protection.