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7 Asia Pac. J. Envtl. L. 1 (2002)

handle is hein.journals/apjel7 and id is 1 raw text is: The Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity: Trade Liberalisation, the WTO, and the Environment Troy Anderson Solicitor, Michell Sillar, Australian & International Attorneys Abstract World trade is now governed by a detailed set of inter-related laws creating different rights and responsibilities for nations and the manner in which they trade. Sitting at the apex of this system is the World Trade Organization (WTO), an international organisation that not only promotes an agenda of trade liberalisation, but which is responsible for enforcing the international laws of free trade. However, the laws of international trade are not sacrosanct and new treaties can challenge the role of the existing regime. The 2000 Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Biosafety Protocol), a multilateral environment treaty, has such potential. It is submitted that the adoption of many multilateral environment treaties, including the Biosafety Protocol, if ratified, has the capacity to undermine the meaning and effectiveness of the WTO. If this occurs, then the benefits created by the WTO's trade liberalisation agenda and its laws promoting free trade will be severely compromised. Key Words Trade and Environment, World Trade Organization, Biosafety Protocol, Australia This article reflects the law up until 1 July 2001. ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, VOL 7, ISSUE I @ Kluwer Law International, 2002 1