Global News Journal
Beyond the World news headlines
Can export bans be challenged at the WTO?
Russia’s ban on grain exports as a heat wave parches crops in the world’s third biggest wheat exporter has raised questions whether such export curbs break World Trade Organization rules. Russia is not a member of the WTO, and it remains to be seen how its new grain policy will affect its 17-year-old bid to join. But other grain exporters, such as Ukraine, which is also considering export curbs, are part of the global trade referee.
WTO rules are quite clear that members cannot interfere with imports and exports in a way that disrupts trade or discriminates against other members. But in practice most WTO rules aim to stop countries blocking imports – shutting out competitor’s goods to give their own domestic producers an unfair advantage.
from FaithWorld:
Sarkozy says Muslims should not feel singled out by full veil ban
A veiled woman in Nantes, western France, on April 26, 2010/Stephane Mahe
France attempted the arguably impossible on Wednesday by presenting a bill to ban Muslim face veils and asking Muslims not to feel it was singling them out in the process.
President Nicolas Sarkozy made a brave effort of it at the cabinet meeting that approved the government's draft "burqa ban" that we reported on here. Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, who Sarkozy's UMP party always seems to call on when things get tough, did her best in an interview (here in French) that got the part about Mecca wrong. There will be more of this in the months ahead as the bill moves through the National Assembly and Senate.
It's hard not to single out Muslims when they're the only ones who wear full face veils. The bill avoids mentioning them as such, saying only that the ban applies to "concealment of the face in public." But nobody's fooled, a fact Sarkozy acknowledged in his comments to the cabinet: "This is a decision one doesn't take lightly. It's a serious decision because nobody should feel hurt or stigmatised. I'm thinking in particular of our Muslim compatriots, who have their place in the republic and should feel respected. Laïcité means respect for all beliefs, for all religions.
"But we are an old nation united around a certain idea of personal dignity, particularly women's dignity, and of life together. It's the fruit of centuries of efforts. The full veil that fully conceals the face violates these values that are so fundamental for us, so essential to the republican contract. Dignity cannot be divided and in the public sphere, where we meet each other, where we are with others, citizenship should be lived with uncovered faces. So ultimately there can be no other solution than a ban in all public places."
To critics who say the ban would victimise women who want to wear the veil, Alliot-Marie - seen at left leaving the cabinet meeting (photo: Jacky Naegelen) said: "As we see it, these women are victims. It would be ideal if these sanctions didn't have to be imposed on them."
One of the most fundamental short-comings of the WTO rules is that they prohibit import restrictions on ethical grounds. For example, in 2012 EU will make it illegal to keep chickens in battery cages because of the extreme cruelty involved. Switzerland did so in 1992. However, imports of eggs from countries with much lower standards, such as US, cannot be stopped.