Global Tobacco Control as a Health and Human Rights Imperative

Abstract

As the World Trade Organization ("WTO") enters its third decade, it can chronicle a growing list of achievements and challenges. In particular, its dispute settlement mechanism has become a consequential tool of global governance. Early on, the WTO marked an important milestone when the Appellate Body clarified that the WTO Agreement should not be read in "clinical isolation from public international law." By so saying, the WTO broke free of the narrower focus that had characterized the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT"), announcing instead that the world's trade rules and institutions would henceforth operate within the broader framework of evolving international law.