GATT panel says U.S. can’t protect dolphins
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1994:
On May 23, one week before the U.S.
Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibition on the
import of tuna netted “on dolphin” took full effect,
a General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs panel
ruled for the second time that the prohibition vio-
lates GATT because GATT does not allow trade
bans based on commodity production methods.
As in 1991, the U.S. ignored the GATT
ruling, bringing the ban on non-dolphin-safe tuna
into place as scheduled on June 1. The previous
ruling was brought on behalf of Mexico, which
did not seek enforcement to avoid jeopardizing the
North American Free Trade Agreement, then
before Congress for approval. The May 23 ruling
was brought on behalf of the European Union,
and was slightly more favorable than the 1991 rul-
ing in that it did recognize––in theory, if not in
practice––the legitimacy of national attempts to
mandate international environmental protection.