Members of the UBA International Trade Law Committee will speak on the session «Export of Grains During the War: International Trade Regulation», that will be held on September 29 at 17.30 within the WTO Public Forum in Geneva.

September 29, 2022, Room F, World Trade Organization Headquarter

Title: «Export of Grains During the War: International Trade Regulation»

Abstract: WTO 12th Ministerial Conference has highlighted the importance of short and long-term solutions to food insecurity. Global food markets are in unprecedented crisis. This is the result of a perfect storm of longstanding environmental issues such as climate change, a pandemic in its third year, and barriers to Ukrainian exports of grains, including seaports blockade, destruction of infrastructure and other logistics problems arising from Russia’s military aggression, and protective Member measures such as food export restrictions. The world community needs to coordinate efforts to secure major agricultural supply chains, enhance the diversification of supplies and facilitate access to food for those in need. In this session experts will discuss the role of the WTO (including, among others, rules regarding national security exceptions), as well as possible solutions such as trade and investment facilitation measures and international aid. What are the lessons which can be learned? The event is organized with the support of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine in Geneva.

Details on the WTO Public Forum

Panellists:

Thomas Cottier, Emeritus Professor of Law, Senior Research Fellow World Trade Institute, University of Bern;

Rambod Behboodi, GenevaTradeLaw.com, former trade diplomat (Canada);

Mariya-Khrystyna Koziy, Ukrainian Bar Association, former trade delegate with the Permanent Mission of Ukraine in Geneva, UBA International Trade Law Committee Council Member.

Moderator:

Nataliya Haletska, PhD, Lecturer (Ukrainian Catholic University), Deputy of Lviv Regional Council, UBA International Trade Law Committee Member. She will introduce the session by describing the situation in Ukraine and in Lviv and the challenges faced by agricultural producers and exporters in Ukraine and set out the relevant questions for the panel discussion and the workshop.

Nataliya Haletska is an attorney-at-law, Member of Lviv Regional Council, Lecturer at Ukrainian Catholic University teaching international trade law and EU law. Nataliya holds Master of Laws degree from Ivan Franko Lviv National University and Master of International Law and Economics from the University of Bern, Switzerland. In 2016 Mrs. Haletska has defended her PhD thesis related to the implementation of international treaties. She has been involved in trade investigations in Ukraine. Nataliya is teaching international trade law and the EU law at the School of Law of Ukrainian Catholic University. She has a number of publications related to matters of international trade. As a Member of Lviv Regional Council Nataliya has initiated an improvement of cross-border infrastructure in order to increase exports from Ukraine. Nataliya is an attorney at law and active member of Ukrainian Bar Association and member of Society of International Economic Law.

Thomas Cottier, Thomas Cottier, Former Managing Director of the World Trade Institute, is Professor Emeritus of European and International Economic Law at the University of Bern. He published widely in the field of international economic law and is an associate editor of several journals. Prof. Cottier directed the national research programme on trade law and policy in 2006-2014. He was a member of the Swiss National Research Council and served on the board of the IPGRI. He served the Baker & McKenzie law firm as Of Counsel. He held several positions in the Swiss External Economic Affairs Department and was the Deputy-Director General of the Swiss Intellectual Property Office. Prof. Cottier has served on the Swiss negotiating team of the Uruguay Round from 1986 to 1993. He has served as a member or chair of several GATT and WTO panels. His recent work focused on the principle of common concern of humankind.

Rambod Behboodi has thirty years’ experience in international trade law, policy, diplomacy, litigation, and institution-building. He has advised on and argued NAFTA and numerous WTO cases, representing both developed and developing countries, and served as trade diplomat on postings to the WTO and the European Commission. Throughout his career, he has advised on multilateral and bilateral negotiations, including on multilateral environmental agreements, the WTO-consistency of domestic policy, and the implementation of trade agreements and dispute resolution outcomes. He has also served as General Counsel at Canada’s Finance Ministry during the Financial Crisis, Deputy Commissioner for Competition Promotion at Canada’s Competition Bureau, Counsellor at the Rules Division of the WTO, and international trade Partner at the Geneva office of King & Spalding. He launched GenevaTradeLaw.com in 2021 as a vehicle for more comprehensive trade law and policy advice, capacity-building, and technical assistance for developing countries, institutional clients, and accession candidates.

Mariya-Khrystyna Koziy has work experience on international trade law and policy matters, including at the Geneva-based international organizations. For the past four years, she has been working at the Economic Affairs Division of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine in Geneva. In her work, she ensured national cooperation with the WTO, ITC and UNCTAD, among others, in the field of agriculture trade and negotiations, trade facilitation, support to MSMEs and women economic empowerment. In November 2020 – June 2021, she served as a facilitator for negotiations on market access pillar within the process launched by the Chair of the WTO Committee on Agriculture in Special Session. Mariya is a Board Member of the Committee on International Trade Law at the Ukrainian Bar Association and takes active part in its activities.