Beef-Comment

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION DISPUTE SETTLEMENT PROCEEDING EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES -- MEASURES CONCERNING MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS (HORMONES) Comments on behalf of Cancer Prevention Coalition Public Citizen Institute for Trade and Agricultural Policy SIERRA CLUB LEGAL DEFENSE FUND Patti Goldman J. Martin Wagner 180 Montgomery Street Suite 1400 San Francisco, CA 94104 USA Tel: 1-415-627-6700 e-mail: scldfintl@igc.apc.org October 4, 1996 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION.................................................. 1 BACKGROUND.................................................... 2 Growth Hormones.......................................... 2 The EU Ban............................................... 4 The Codex Alimentarius Commission's Decision Concerning the Use of Growth Hormones in Livestock Production..... 6 The EU's 1995 Scientific Conference...................... 10 LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE BAN..................................... 11 I. THE EU BAN ON TRADE IN HORMONE-TREATED MEAT IS NOT DISCRIMINATORY AND THEREFORE DOES NOT VIOLATE GATT....... 13 II. THE EU BAN ON TRADE IN HORMONE-TREATED MEAT IS SUPPORTED BY INTERNATIONAL LAW AND GATT AS A LEGITIMATE SANITARY MEASURE......................................... 15 A. Customary International Law: The Precautionary Principle.............. ...