Voluntary Eco-Labels in International Trade Law: A Case Study of the EU Eco-Label

Du, M

Abstract

One category of voluntary approaches to environmental governance is ecolabels used to nudge consumers towards purchasing environmentally friendly products. The purpose of this article is to critically review the trade law implications of voluntary ecolabels, with special reference to the EU Ecolabel. For a long time, the lack of trade disputes related to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) before the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body rendered research on the legality of voluntary ecolabels in trade law unavoidably speculative. Consequently, the existing scholarship has failed to inform the environment law community clearly how trade law views voluntary ecolabels. This article aims to fill the gap in the literature by evaluating the consistency of the EU Ecolabel with the TBT rules. The article concludes that it is highly unlikely that the EU Ecolabel may be found inconsistent with the TBT Agreement. Nevertheless, there remains some legal risks.

Citation

Du, M. (2021). Voluntary Eco-Labels in International Trade Law: A Case Study of the EU Eco-Label. Journal of Environmental Law, 33(1), 167-193. https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqaa022

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 23, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 13, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Deposit Date: Sep 24, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 13, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Environmental Law
• Print ISSN: 0952-8873
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-374X
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 167-193
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqaa022
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1255591