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In 2003, the United States launched one of the most awaited cases in WTO history. European Communities – Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products (EC – Biotech) was anticipated, with eagerness or trepidation, by national governments all over the world, environmentalists, consumers, farmers, biotech companies, and many others. While the potential significance of its effects was clear, however, only with the first US submission, presented on April 21st, 2004, did the legal contours of the case begin to be elucidated.
The present note will briefly examine some of the arguments presented by the United States, particularly in light of WTO jurisprudence and other relevant mles of international law.Section II will provide an overview of the first US submission. Section III will focus on the US arguments regarding Articles 2.2 and 5.1 of the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement), as well on Article 5.7 of the SPS Agreement, which was not addressed by the United States but
could be pivotal in the case. Section IV will then look at the potential role and influence of the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety (Biosafety Protocol) on the case.