Canadian Expert Says U.S. Ban Illegal Under GATT

A professor of International Law from the University of Victoria has concluded that the general U.S. import embargo on marine mammal products is illegal under the GATT. The report from Ted McDorman, commissioned by the High North Alliance, finds that the prohibition on importations in the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act violates Article XI(1) of the GATT "and is not justified by any of the exemptions." The report was peer-reviewed by another law professor at the University of British Columbia. The non-discriminatory nature of the U.S. ban does not save it, according to the author of the report, because the exception in question (Article III(4)) only applies to internal measures and not to border measures.

A copy of the report can be obtained from the High North Alliance, P.O. Box 123, N-8390 REINE, Norway, fax: +47 760 92450, e-mail: highnor@online.no