Interpreting WTO Agreements

The case law of the World Trade Organization is now extensive, running into over one hundred cases and thousands of pages. The interpretative process involved in this jurisprudence constitutes a form of legislative activity, and is therefore of great significance not only to the parties to disputes, but to the membership of the WTO.

Qureshi sets out here to identify some of the underlying problems of interpreting WTO agreements, within the context of different issues, problems, objectives and disciplines, and to comprehensively examine the underlying conditions for the interpretation of WTO agreements. He focuses on: the apparatus of interpretation in the WTO; the manner of interpreting institutional norms, national measures, and exceptions; the manner of facilitating the development objective; the manner of reconciling conflicting norms through interpretation; and finally the manner of interpreting the trade remedies agreements. Various perspectives on interpretation are proffered, particularly that of justice and development.

• Engages with key problems in interpreting WTO agreements, making it an essential tool for WTO trade specialists as well as government and judicial officers concerned with interpreting these agreements
• Analytical, original, provocative and comprehensive in its approach to understanding the manner of interpreting WTO agreements
• Offers a broad understanding of the subject, by offering different perspectives on the problems involved in interpretation