The Law of Subsidies under the GATT/WTO System Kluwer Law International, The Hague, London, New York.
Hardbound, ISBN 90-411-9827-X
March 2002, 424 pp.
This comprehensive work on the law of subsidies has been long awaited by many actors in international trade. With its introduction of the concept of ‘attenuation’ of entitlement, Marc Benitah’s completely new analysis alters our understanding of the international economic law of subsidies - and its future invocation and jurisprudence - forever. The issue of subsidies is arguably the predominant theme, at this moment, in international economic law (Airbus, Boeing, FSC, agricultural subsidies, Embraer, Bombardier, USA-Canada United-States lumber dispute, countervailing duties), and a consistent approach to the legal treatment of subsidies is urgently needed. In Professor Benitah’s view, the answer lies in the recognition that entitlements granted to a party seeking to defend itself against the ‘adverse effects’ of subsidies must be ‘attenuated’ in order to avoid undesirable economic and social consequences for the subsidizing country. In the various techniques of attenuation - thoroughly described and analyzed in this book - may be found the unifying thread on which a logical, coherent law of subsidies may be strung. This book explains:
hy techniques of attenuation are intimately linked to the birth of past and future legal disputes relating to subsidies;
By referring to the legal materials of both the GATT 1947 and the WTO systems at each point in his demonstration, Professor Benitah lays a substantial groundwork for determining innovative WTO norms. This fresh and challenging book examines even the most complex aspects of the law of subsidies. Rooted in case law, it takes a highly pragmatic approach that will amply satisfy the needs of legal practitioners, government officials, and academics concerned with international economic law.
hy techniques of attenuation are intimately linked to the birth of past and future legal disputes relating to subsidies;
- Why significant techniques of attenuation (e.g. taking into account the positive impact of a subsidy on consumers) have not arisen in the GATT/WTO context;
- Why much recent theoretical debate on the concept of ‘distortion’ has not led to a breakthrough in the law of subsidies;
- Why attenuations favoring developing countries are surprisingly legally vulnerable in practice;
- Why deliberate recourse to techniques of attenuation necessitates their continuing clarification through a case law process.
By referring to the legal materials of both the GATT 1947 and the WTO systems at each point in his demonstration, Professor Benitah lays a substantial groundwork for determining innovative WTO norms. This fresh and challenging book examines even the most complex aspects of the law of subsidies. Rooted in case law, it takes a highly pragmatic approach that will amply satisfy the needs of legal practitioners, government officials, and academics concerned with international economic law.
