International Trade Law: Semester Two 2015
In-Semester Assignment
Assessment Task Background Information and Instructions
On 6 March 2015, the United States requested consultations with India with respect to the prohibitions imposed by India on the importation of various agricultural products, primarily poultry products from the United States purportedly because of concerns related to Avian Influenza (AI).
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) AI, also commonly known as “avian flu” or “bird flu”, is an infectious viral disease of birds (especially wild water fowl such as ducks and geese), often causing no apparent signs of illness. AI can sometimes spread to domestic poultry and cause large-scale outbreaks of serious disease, and some AI viruses have also been reported to cause disease or subclinical infections in humans and other animals. AI has a variety of subtypes that are classified according to the two components that make up the virus – haemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). Consequently, the various subtypes of AI that have been identified are labelled as some form of the “HxNy” combination.
All AI subtypes are classified into one of two groups according to their ability to cause disease, or “pathogenicity”, in birds: (i) highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI); and (ii) low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI). HPAI is an extremely infectious, systemic viral disease of poultry that produces high mortality and various types of lesions in multiple visceral organs, the brain, and skin. By contrast, infection with LPAI may be asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms, consisting of ruffled feathers, reduced egg production, or mild effects on the respiratory system.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (formerly, Office International des Epizooties) (OIE) is the international organization responsible for establishing health standards for international trade in animals and animal products, including standards relating to AI. The members of the OIE annually adopt the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (OIE Code13), which contains recommendations that, when correctly applied, provide for safe trade in animals and animal products while avoiding unjustified sanitary barriers to trade.
OIE members are required to notify the OIE of any occurrence of HPAI and of certain types of LPAI in their territories. To this end, the OIE Code definition of “notifiable avian influenza” (NAI) covers both highly pathogenic notifiable avian influenza (HPNAI) and low pathogenicity notifiable avian influenza (LPNAI).
The United States has raised concerns about India's measures prohibiting the import of various agricultural products from members that had reported outbreaks of low pathogenic notifiable avian influenza (LPNAI) and complained that India's AI measures amounted to an import prohibition that was not based on the relevant international standard (OIE Code 13) or on a scientific risk assessment. The products that were allegedly banned included poultry and live birds, live pigs, eggs and egg products. The United States claimed that India imposed these measures through:
• the Livestock Importation Act 1898;
• orders issued by India's Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, pursuant to the act; and
• other executive instructions, including SO 1663(E), which was published in the Official Gazetteon July 19 2011.
The United States claims that the measures appear to be inconsistent with certain provisions pursuant to:
• Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and Annex B, paragraphs 2, 5 and 6 of the SPS Agreement; and
• Articles I and XI of the GATT 1994
The United States also claims that the measures appear to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to the United States directly or indirectly under the cited agreements.
On 11 May 2015, the United States requested the establishment of a panel.
Questions to be answered in your assignment
Are India’s AI measures in violation of the GATT articles? (10 marks) Examine any defence that India may have in this regard (5 marks). (Total 15 marks)
Explain whether the measure is within the purview of the SPS Agreement. If so, analyse whether India’s AI measure is in violation of the SPS articles? (15 marks)
The assignment should be written in the form of a legal memorandum giving dispassionate advice to the Indian Government.
Important Information Regarding the Assessment Criteria
This assessment task is a research assignment relevant to the materials introduced in Topic One: The International Trading System. We expect students to conduct research and further reading around the topic of animal product exports as well as the relevant provisions of the nominated WTO agreements. Appropriate sources of research include textbooks, peer reviewed scholarly journals, and case commentaries or summaries (eg. from the WTO’s own website: www.wto.org or from other websites such as www.worldtradelaw.net).
The task is designed to test your knowledge and understanding of the relevant law, your ability to research and identify the relevant laws, your knowledge and understanding of those laws and your ability to apply those laws to the facts provided. It will also assess your ability to communicate clearly, articulate arguments with support from the unit materials and your research and draw conclusions appropriate to your discussion.
Please ensure that your response is in paragraphs, uses full sentences and that your work is referenced, proof-read and spell checked before submission. Good use of paragraphs, clear writing, correct spelling and grammar as well as correct citation of disputes and WTO Agreements/cases, international materials and legislation will be rewarded.
Marks for this Assignment
This assignment is worth 30% of your final mark for the unit.
Deadline for this Assessment
Friday, 18th of September 2015 before 12.00 noon.
Hand-in Instructions
Hardcopies: Please place your assignment with cover sheet in the appropriate Assignment Collection Box at Level 5, Building 6, Monash University Sunway Campus. You are reminded to keep a copy of your assignment for your own records.
PLEASE USE ONLY THE PRESCRIBED METHOD OF SUBMISSION
Formatting Instructions
The following rules should be observed
Please use a minimum 12pt font
Leave a 2.5cm margin on both sides of the page for marker comments
Staple on top left hand corner
Do not use plastic covers or folders
Don’t forget the Coversheet

Hard Copy: The attached cover page must be completed, signed where indicated, and stapled in the top left hand corner to your response.
Referencing
Work submitted for this assessment must follow the Faculty Style as outlined in the Faculty Q Manual. Copies of this Manual can be obtained at the bookshop or on line at: http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/publications/qmanual/
Word Limit

Your response should not exceed 2,000 words. This limit excludes footnotes (unless where they have been used to present additional text). Responses which exceed the word limit by more than 10% will be penalised. Please indicate on Coversheet the total number of words. Students failing to do so risk being penalised based on the marker’s estimate of word count.
Plagiarism & Collusion

Your answer to this assignment must be you own independent work. Please note the warning regarding plagiarism and collusion set out on the assignment cover page. Please consult the Unit Outline for further information on plagiarism and collusion.
Penalty for late submission of answers

An assignment submitted after the due date, or the expiry of an extension period will be penalised by a deduction of 3 marks for each day or part thereof by which the answer is late.
Submissions will not be accepted after the assignments that were received on time have been marked and returned. Students who submit after this time or who fail to submit will receive a mark of 0.
Extensions
1. All applications for an extension of time must be made by completing the application form found at URL http://www.buseco.buseco.monash.edu.au/student/exams/speccon.html.
2. Forms must be submitted to Dr Haemala Thanasegaran. Check your Unit Guide.
3. Extensions will only be granted for a VERY good reason. Students should commence work on the assignment following week one of lectures.
4. Extensions will not be granted on grounds of extra work or study commitments, even if those commitments occur in the week prior to the assignment being due.
5. Extensions on the grounds of illness must be accompanied by a medical certificate that states that the student was unable to undertake any work for a period of at least 7 days within the assignment period.
STUDENT DETAILS
ID Family name
Phone no. Given names
Monash email address – this is the only email address the Faculty will use to communicate with you.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: Make an electronic copy of the cover sheet and paste it into your assignment. The cover sheet does not need to be signed if you submit it via your official Monash email address.
EXAM DETAILS
Unit name International Trade Law Unit code BTW3201
Assignment Title In-Semester Assignment
Lecturer’s name Miss Priya Sharma Tutor’s name
Word Count Due date
Date submitted Student’s Signature
Cheating and Assisting to Cheat are offences under the Monash Statute 4.1 http//www.monash.edu.au/pubs/calendar/statutes/statues04.html#Heading102 and are covered in the Faculty’s policy at http//www.buseco.monash.edu.au/secretariat/policies/Collusn_Collabn_Plagrsm.php
Cheating involves any means by which a student seeks to obtain an unfair advantage in the work submitted for assessment. Assisting to cheat involves any means by which a student helps another to gain an unfair advantage. Collaboration involves working with another person or persons, and in order to prevent any unfair advantage is only allowed where the relevant lecturer has specifically permitted it. Plagiarism is a form of cheating, and involves the presentation of some or all of another student’s work, or material from any other source such as the Internet, published books, or periodicals, without due acknowledgment given in the text. If students present as their own •work that is the work of another person, is copied from another source, has been presented by a previous student, has been presented by a student at another institution, or has been presented for assessment at another time in a course or at any time in another course, this may be interpreted as cheating.
Where work submitted for assessment by two or more persons is the same or substantially the same, the work so submitted is prima facie evidence of cheating by those persons. It may also be that one student has assisted another to cheat, which is also an offence. Where there are reasonable grounds for believing that cheating or assisting to cheat has occurred, the only action that may be taken is for the staff member to disallow the work and not give it an assessment, or to refer the matter to the Group Manager, Academic and HR Services. The matter will then be referred to the Faculty Discipline Committee. This Committee has the power to suspend or exclude a student.
Privacy Statement
The information on this form is collected for the primary purpose of assessing your assignment. Other purposes of collection include recording your plagiarism and collusion declaration, attending to administrative matters, and statistical analyses. If you choose not to complete all the questions on this form Monash University may disallow the submission of your assignment. You have a right to access personal information that Monash University holds about you, subject to any exceptions in relevant legislation. If you wish to seek access to your personal information or inquire about the handling of your personal information, please contact the University Privacy Officer on 9905 6011.
Student’s Statement
I have read and understood the information provided on this assignment cover sheet and in University statute 4.2 and the Faculty Policy relating to cheating and assisting to cheat, collusion, collaboration and plagiarism. I certify that: the attached work is entirely my own except where work quoted is duly acknowledged in the text; that I have not worked with another person or persons except where specifically permitted by the lecturer; and that this work has not been submitted for assessment by myself or any other person at any other time. I have retained a copy of my work.
SIGNED: (Where submitted electronically, please type name here as signature)
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