Power and purpose of ecolabelling: an examination based on the WTO disputes Tuna II and COOL
- Ecolabels are frequently presented as consumer information tools that efficiently promote environmental aims such as the sustainability of fisheries. Two recent WTO dispute settlement cases -- Tuna II and COOL -- have called into question the characterisation of labels as ‘consumer information tools’ by illuminating the regulatory power and purposes of labelling. Tuna II moreover clarifies that WTO law does not necessarily privilege ecolabelling over more openly interventionist government measures aimed at environmental protection. In this contribution I first sketch two views of ecolabelling -- one that depicts ecolabelling as primarily aiming at consumer information and another that stresses the regulatory function of labelling. I then turn to the dispute settlement reports in Tuna II and COOL in order to specify the government authority involved in many labelling schemes. I conclude this contribution with the call for a critical assessment of ecolabelling. The power of ecolabelling may be employed to reshape markets and promote green growth. At the same time, however, it may consolidate a trend that places the consumer at the centre of initiatives for societal change and loses sight of potentially more radical transformations through the engagement of human beings as citizens.
Author: | Isabel Feichtner |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-362576 |
Parent Title (German): | Arbeitspapier / Fachbereich Rechtswissenschaft, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main = Research paper / Faculty of Law, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Nr. 2015,2 |
Series (Serial Number): | Arbeitspapiere / Fachbereich Rechtswissenschaft, Goethe-Universität = Research paper / Faculty of Law, Goethe University (2015, 2) |
Publisher: | Goethe-Univ., Fachbereich Rechtswiss. |
Place of publication: | Frankfurt am Main |
Document Type: | Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2015/04/22 |
Date of first Publication: | 2015/04/22 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2015/04/22 |
Tag: | WTO; ecolabelling; governance through information; sustainable fisheries; technical barriers to trade; ‘dolphin-safe’ labels |
Page Number: | 32 |
Last Page: | 32 |
HeBIS-PPN: | 359086861 |
Institutes: | Rechtswissenschaft / Rechtswissenschaft |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 34 Recht / 340 Recht |
Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
Licence (German): | Deutsches Urheberrecht |