Trade, environment, and the millennium /

What are the key issues in current disputes about environmental protection and the conduct of international trade? For the most part, contributors to this edited volume provide a clear and informative answer to this salient question. As well, this work delves into a number of related issues such as the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization (WTO); the ways in which agreements on sanitary and phytosanitary standards might be improved upon; why environmental labeling schemes are often opposed by developing nations; and the meaning and usefulness of the precautionary principle. The genesis of these issues is discussed, their contemporary relevance explicated, and ways conflicts about these issues might be prevented are interestingly examined. Although there are a few weaknesses involving the discussion of price-taking behavior and the distinction between the concepts of risk and uncertainty, in general this book contains a lucid account of the contemporary relevance of international organizations such as the WTO. Therefore, this reviewer unreservedly recommends this book to general readers and undergraduate and graduate students who would like to get acquainted with significant contemporary issues at the interface of international trade and the environment. A. A. Batabyal Rochester Institute of Technology