The Law of Subsidies under the GATT/WTO System

The issue of subsidies is arguably the predominant theme, at this moment, in international economic law, and a consistent approach to the legal treatment of subsidies is urgently needed. In Professor Benitah's view, the answer lies in the recognition that entitlements granted to a party seeking to defend itself against the `adverse effects' of subsidies must be `attenuated' in order to avoid undesirable economic and social consequences.

In the various techniques of attenuation - thoroughly described and analyzed in this book - may be found the unifying thread on which a logical, coherent law of subsidies may be strung.

• Why techniques of attenuation are intimately linked to the birth of past and future legal disputes relating to subsidies
• Why significant techniques of attenuation (e.g. taking into account the positive impact of a subsidy on consumers) have not arisen in the GATT/WTO context
• Why much recent theoretical debate on the concept of 'distortion' has not led to a breakthrough in the law of subsidies
• Why attenuations favouring developing countries are surprisingly legally vulnerable in practice
• Why deliberate recourse to techniques of attenuation necessitates their continuing clarification through a case law process.

  By referring to the legal materials of both the GATT 1947 and the WTO systems at each point in his demonstration, Professor Benitah lays a substantial groundwork for determining innovative WTO norms.