ILAP633-16S2 (C) Semester Two 2016

Problems in International and Regional Trade

18 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 11 July 2016
End Date: Sunday, 13 November 2016
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 24 July 2016
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 9 October 2016

Description

The course examines selected problems in international and regional trade from a New Zealand perspective. Alternate year offering.

While the World Trade Organisation (WTO), covered in ILAP608, constitutes the framework agreement of the world trading system, and is therefore of systemic importance, New Zealand's trade is increasingly governed by bilateral and regional rules, thus tying the NZ economy even closer to its principal trading partners. The NZ Government has been very active in this regard: it has negotiated free trade agreements (FTAs) with, inter alia:
• Australia (Closer Economic Relationship) and
• The ASEAN Member States (AANZFTA);
• Brunei, Chile and Singapore (P4 Agreement);
• China and
• Korea
It is negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (with, inter alia, Japan and the NAFTA countries) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (with, inter alia, Indonesia, India and China). This results in a spaghetti bowl of international trade rules made up of WTO, regional and bilateral rules, rules with concomitant risks of forum shopping and potential clashes of jurisdiction.

Typically, bilateral and regional FTAs go beyond the standards agreed on the WTO with respect to trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, government procurement and regulatory cooperation. This being the case, a second component of the course will be to contrast these disciplines with the respective WTO standards set out in the agreements on Safeguards; Subsidies and Countervailing Measures; Anti-dumping; Technical Barriers to Trade; Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; and Government Procurement.

The course thus combines comparative trade law with an examination of the state of integration achieved in the Asia-Pacific region. Together with ILAP608 (World Trade Law) and ILAP634 (International Investment Law and Arbitration), this course belongs to the broader area of International Economic Law.

Learning Outcomes

  • Students will be expected to gain expert knowledge of the relevant legal framework as well as to develop their capacity to critically analyse issues and developments in this field. The present course will be of interest to students wanting to know more about the trading system from a New Zealand perspective and to broaden their knowledge of international law. Furthermore, the course is of interest to students studying the European Union and wanting to contrast the European integration model with the course of action pursued in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Upon successful completion of this course and in accordance with the graduate profile, students will be able to:

  • Carry out independent research
  • Communicate the extent of their knowledge, understanding and critical evaluative skills
  • Understand, explain and apply  the principal features of relevant legal instruments
  • Understand and explain the interplay between regional trade rules and other rules of international trade law
  • Relate their knowledge to current matters of international concern
  • Locate primary materials relevant to international/regional trade law
  • Subject those primary materials to critical analysis and use them to create an argument based on international law
  • Identify legal issues in factual scenarios and to construct international legal responses to those issues
  • Read, understand, interpret and critique treaties and the rules relating to their operation
  • Reflect on their experience and performance and plan further development of their skills

Prerequisites

Subject to the approval of the Programme Director. RP: A course on International Trade

Restrictions

Recommended Preparation

A course on International Trade

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Christian Riffel

Assessment

Assessment will be by means of a research project. The research project will be on a trade-related topic chosen by the student in conjunction with the lecturer. This assessment is designed to allow students to pursue their own interests within the parameters of this course. All students are encouraged to discuss their topics and research plans with the lecturer throughout the course.

The maximum length of the research project is 10,000 words, including footnotes, but excluding the bibliography.

All essays must be submitted electronically in order to be run through plagiarism detection software.

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Bossche, Peter van den. , Zdouc, Werner; The law and policy of the World Trade Organization : text, cases and materials ; 3rd ed. ;

Trebilcock, M. J. , Howse, Robert, Eliason, Antonia; The regulation of international trade ; 4th ed; Routledge, 2013.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,088.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

Minimum enrolments

This course will not be offered if less than 1 person applies to enrol.

For further information see Faculty of Law .

All ILAP633 Occurrences

  • ILAP633-16S2 (C) Semester Two 2016
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