Trading nature

EFFORTS by individual governments
to raise environmental standards
could be undermined by proposals to
lower technical barriers to international trade, according to the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The
organisation says by seeking to
apply international standards, the
proposed GATT (General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade) rules would
outlaw some national environmental
regulations and open others to
challenge on the grounds that
they restrict trade. The basic flaw,
WWF adds, is that free trade is given
precedence over environmental protection.