The integrated programme for commodities: An assessment of negotiations on minerals and metals
Abstract No agreement has yet emerged from the negotiations on mineral commodities held under the Integrated Programme for Commodities (IPC), and there is little, if any, prospect for one in the near future. This article examines the reasons for this standstill and the underlying assumptions on which the IPC is based. The following points are raised: the premise that problems of individual commodities are mutually exclusive and can be dealt with in a single framework of measures is shown to be doubtful; the principle of a commodity-by-commodity approach can no longer remain unchallenged; and structural flaws in the negotiating machinery are manifest. However, results of negotiations have not been entirely negative: the need for two-tier preparatory negotiations has been accepted and a case for a permanent consultative body, perhaps covering several commodities, has been made out. Lack of substantive reciprocity, hence political discord, remains the stumbling-block.
The International Sugar Agreement 1977 -- Market regulator and instrument of international policy
Abstract The 1977 International Sugar Agreement is one of several contemporary agreements designed to regulate the international market in specific commodities. A commodity agreement at the same time serves as an instrument through which nations international policies are carried out, and defines the rights and duties characterizing the relations between importing and exporting countries. The author examines the 1977 International Sugar Agreement in this context, discussing its regulatory mechanisms, its relation with the ‘New International Economic Order’ and the extent to which the interests of both importers and exporters are protected.
The EU Legal Framework for the Enforcement of Consumer Law
The European Union (EU) is special in that it is a multi-level system in which, principally, consumer law can be adopted at the EU level but it is enforced at the level of the Member States. Nevertheless, the EU has over time developed an ever denser legal framework for the enforcement of consumer law by the Member States. It is this legal framework that this contribution focuses upon.