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It is undisputed that precedent is not legally binding in international adjudication; yet it is used extensively. This study argues that Article 38(1)(d) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice - containing a rule generally applicable to international dispute resolution - requires international adjudicators to reason from precedent for the determination of rules of law. Reasoning from precedent is a form of legal reasoning that provides a solution to a problem based on how a similar legal question was previously resolved. Thus, the "default" position is that an adjudicator will naturally apply the solution found in a previous similar case. However, the "default" position is not absolute. An adjudicator must engage with relevant precedent but not necessarily follow it provided that it duly explains the reasons for departing from a previous decision. This approach to precedent is underpinned by the legal principles of formal justice (equality), consistency, and legal certainty.
 

This paper investigates the dynamic interactions among global economic policy uncertainty, food prices, and maritime freight rates, focusing on changes in the global food landscape since China's WTO official accession. Using a time-varying parameter vector autoregressive model with stochastic volatility, it analyzes the impacts of economic policy changes, environmental policy, geopolitical risks, and global public health events on food and transportation markets. In addition, it explores how fluctuations in maritime freight rates may affect food prices and, consequently, global economic development. Finally, the paper offers recommendations for food import and export countries to enhance food security and promote sustainable development in food transport firms.
   Cet article & eacute;tudie les interactions dynamiques entre l'incertitude des politiques & eacute;conomiques mondiales, les prix des denr & eacute;es alimentaires et les taux de fret maritime, en se concentrant sur les changements intervenus dans le paysage alimentaire mondial depuis l'adh & eacute;sion officielle de la Chine & agrave; l'OMC. & Agrave; l'aide d'un mod & egrave;le vectoriel autor & eacute;gressif & agrave; param & egrave;tres variables dans le temps et & agrave; volatilit & eacute; stochastique, nous analysons l'impact des changements de politique & eacute;conomique, de la politique environnementale, des risques g & eacute;opolitiques et des & eacute;v & eacute;nements de sant & eacute; publique mondiaux sur les march & eacute;s de l'alimentation et du transport. En outre, nous explorons la mani & egrave;re dont les fluctuations des taux de fret maritime peuvent affecter les prix des denr & eacute;es alimentaires et, par cons & eacute;quent, le d & eacute;veloppement & eacute;conomique mondial. Enfin, nous proposons des recommandations aux pays importateurs et exportateurs de denr & eacute;es alimentaires afin de renforcer la s & eacute;curit & eacute; alimentaire et de promouvoir la soutenabilit & eacute; au sein des entreprises de transport de denr & eacute;es alimentaires.

China and Australia signed the Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) in 2015, which aims to eliminate or reduce trade barriers between countries through tariffs or quotas. Eliminating trade barriers has expanded China's agricultural imports from Australia. ChAFTA will strengthen the trade relationship between the two countries, enabling agricultural product imports to have a trade creation effect. This article systematically evaluates the trade effects of ChAFTA on the scale of China's agricultural product imports based on data from 2000 to 2020. Two statistical methods, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) are applied to estimate the trade effects of agreements. Empirical studies have shown that ChAFTA has a significant trade creation effect on China's agricultural product imports, while the trade diversion effect is insignificant. When time fixed effects and export country fixed effects are controlled, the PPML method exhibits stronger explanatory power compared to OLS and the estimated trade creation effect is more significant. The empirical research results remain robust even after considering the impact of WTO. There are no endogeneity issues in the results after adding lead variables. By incorporating lagged terms, we find there is no phase-in effect. Empirical research on heterogeneity analysis of agricultural product classification found that ChAFTA had the most significant impact on the import of forest products and aquatic products, followed by textiles and agricultural products.
 

In international adjudication, the choice of what is to be included in the reasoning of a judgment is a complex operation. While the rationale behind inserting obiter dicta in international judicial decisions is influenced by many factors, which are not necessarily legal in nature, this article will shed light on how the structural peculiarities of judicial organs, their mandates and institutional roles, influence that rationale. Two dispute settlement fora, which present different if not opposite features, will be the object of the investigation: the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the organs established on the basis of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU). Rather than providing a new theoretical definition of what constitutes an obiter, the article will offer a taxonomy of "non-essential" dicta, thus identifying their nature and decoding the various purposes they pursue.
 

The article examines factors and problems of Russia's access to non-CIS countries product markets (by the example of E7 countries). General factors including WTO membership, granting most-favored-nation treatment, providing market economy status and membership in integration blocs (or preferential trade agreements), are considered more or less favorable. Unlike unfriendly countries, in case of non-CIS countries there have been no fundamental changes in general factors after 2022 - no open discrimination against Russia takes place, but some problems exist. Factors of the first order that are directly related to foreign trade policy, are outlined. Tariff and non-tariff barriers for Russia's access to E7 countries different groups of markets (agricultural products, fuels and mining products, high-technology products) are revealed, comparative analysis with G7 countries is conducted. Practice of liberalizing tariff measures in E7 countries is monitored, conclusion on its more frequent nature than in G7 counties is made. Problem of tariff peaks is outlined, which is more acute than in unfriendly countries. Different types of non-tariff barriers on E7 countries markets are revealed and calculated, including administrative, quantitative restrictions, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Features of these non-tariff barriers application in comparison to G7 countries are demonstrated. Intensity of non-tariff barriers against Russia (number of non-tariff barriers per one billion dollars of Russian exports to a particular country) for E7 countries is estimated, which is twice higher than for G7 countries. Factors of the second order related to other types of economic policy (besides foreign trade policy), including industrial policy, protection of the environment, are analyzed by the example of China. They are considered more favorable than in unfriendly countries, but cause certain concerns in the future. Possible ways to improve Russia's access to non-CIS countries markets are suggested, including using WTO instruments. The most important way is considered acceleration in conclusion of preferential trade agreements, where Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union lag far behind non-CIS countries, especially unfriendly ones.
 

A recurrent challenge in the design of appellate mechanisms in international dispute settlement is how to enable meaningful supervision while preventing a complete repetition of proceedings. This article assesses the use of standards of review as a tool to restrain appellate review. It discusses the standards applied in the WTO, the ICJ, and a potential future investor-state appeals tribunal. The article finds that restrictive standards of review are not frequently used in second-tier mechanisms of international dispute settlement, and identifies two reasons for this absence. First, restrictive standards of review may interfere with the appellate reviewer's objective of ensuring consistency among first-instance decisions. In addition, standards of review rarely provide clear benchmarks indicating when an appellate reviewer should overturn a decision. This may increase the complexity of second-tier proceedings as parties will engage in preliminary debates about the correct interpretation and application of the standard of review.
 

The European Union (EU) discourages the use of environmentally unsustainable biofuels in the transport sector. On 26 April 2024, the World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted a panel decision in EU and Certain Member States - Palm Oil (Malaysia) regarding the legality of the EU's measures that gradually exclude palm oil-based biofuels from its renewable energy targets by 2030. While the panel accepted the concept of origin-neutral differentiated treatment of biofuels based on varying levels of indirect land-use change (ILUC) risk, gaps in the EU's implementation led to violations of certain multilateral trade rules, disadvantaging palm oil-based biofuels compared to rapeseed oil- and soybean oil-based biofuels. Moreover, a French tax scheme incentivising fuel blending with sustainable biofuels was found to be discriminatory but not an illegal subsidy. As the first WTO ruling addressing national responses to biofuel-induced global deforestation and associated GHG emissions, this landmark decision reaffirms that the right of States to regulate in the public interest must be exercised in a manner that respects their trade obligations. It also underscores the equal importance of both the design and implementation of trade regulations - even well-intended climate-related measures - in avoiding unjustified trade barriers.
 

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) of the European Union (EU) is considered one of the pivotal pillars of the European Green Deal, with the aim of reducing carbon leakage and promoting sustainable development. However, the CBAM, with other unilateral initiatives under the EGD framework, including 'Renewables Energy Directive Recast' to 2023 (RED II) and 'European Regulation on deforestation-free products', received various negative reactions from EU partners globally, particularly in Southeast Asia. Indonesia and Malaysia, two significant exporters of palm oil to the EU, have initiated claims against the EU's RED II under the World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism. In this context, the EU's response to concurrent criticism and disputes within the WTO framework demonstrates clear and consistent strategies aimed at establishing itself as a leader in sustainable development in both global and transcontinental regional trade.Recent literature also acknowledges that CBAM can be considered the most well-designed EU measure compared to RED II. This is attributed to the EU's strategic use of the WTO's temporary impasse and its potential to establish "new norms" through the inclusion of chapters on sustainable development in regional trade agreements. Nevertheless, there is a global debate regarding the compatibility of the CBAM with WTO principles, as it creates disguised trade restrictions and imposes inequitable burdens on developing countries.In addition, the EU's implementation of the CBAM imposes regulatory standards beyond its borders, potentially encroaching on other countries' sovereignty and self-determination in tackling their environmental issues. Notably, the additional carbon tax levied on high-emission imports would nullify the preferential benefits for products from Vietnam from negotiating and signing the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and thereby reduce the competitiveness of Vietnamese product exports to the EU market.This article provides a comprehensive analysis of CBAM regulations, focusing on the development of CBAM from opposition to reluctant acceptance in Southeast Asia, including in Vietnam. Through the lens of the CBAM as a green tax measure and the potential impact of the implementation of CBAM on Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, this article clarifies the compatibility of CBAM with WTO legal principles and the justification under Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and discusses the challenges Vietnam may encounter under the sustainable development chapter of the EVFTA once the CBAM is implemented to draw important insights and implications for future developments in 

Introduction Institutional openness is becoming increasingly important for agricultural trade between China and Central Asian countries.Methods This study employs a time-varying stochastic frontier gravity model to investigate the influence of institutional openness on the trade efficiency of China imported agricultural products from Central Asian countries under uncertainty, and further computes the import potential from 2000 to 2022.Results The research reveals that the impacts of different aspects of institutional openness on trade efficiency vary. Firstly, in terms of border opening measures, the joint accession to the WTO and the signing and implementation of the "Belt and Road Initiative" have effectively enhanced China's import trade of agricultural products from Central Asian countries. Secondly, regarding the impact of infrastructure, a higher efficiency of trade logistics clearance and a lower tariff are more beneficial for improving the trade efficiency. Thirdly, as for the degree of openness of the socio-economic system, a higher level of economic freedom in Central Asian countries societies are more conducive to promoting the export of agricultural products to China. Additionally, a higher uncertainty of China's economic policies may enhance the trade efficiency. However, the outbreak of the COVID19 and the Russia-Ukraine war have significantly diminished the trade efficiency. Fourthly, from 2015 to 2022, China's average export trade efficiency to Central Asian countries range from 0.3 to 0.6, with an import potential value of approximately 2.1 to 2.2 billion US dollars, indicating substantial import potential, especially for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.Discussion It is recommended to implement the "Belt and Road Initiative", enhance the logistics infrastructure, improve the efficiency of trade clearance, reduce the tariff burden on agricultural products, and stabilize the trade expectations of Central Asian countries under the unstable external economic environment, thereby enhancing the efficiency of agricultural trade between China and Central Asia countries.
 

China's engagement with global governance has evolved significantly since 1949, transitioning from outright rejection during its revolutionary isolation (1949-1971) to strategic engagement with key institutions such as the United Nations, IMF, and WTO (1971-2000), and more recently to the creation of parallel institutions like the AIIB and Belt and Road Initiative (2000-present). This paper traces these historical phases to analyze how China has navigated and reshaped global norms, balancing its integration into existing frameworks with efforts to build alternative governance structures. While Hegemonic Stability Theory and Power Transition Theory offer insights into China's evolving strategy, neither fully encapsulates its pragmatic, adaptive approach. China's domestic regulatory innovations, such as the Social Credit System and its promotion of cyber sovereignty, increasingly influence its global governance initiatives, reflecting a deliberate effort to export its governance models. Rather than fully integrating into or replacing the U.S.-led liberal order, China employs a dual-track strategy: engaging with global institutions where advantageous while promoting state-centric alternatives to liberal norms. This study argues that China's historical trajectory underscores its pivotal role in shaping a multipolar world order, where competing governance frameworks coexist and challenge the dominance of Western-led institutions.