Helen Bentley: “the old international dispute between Mexico and the United States over the U.S. 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act which…”

“the old international dispute between Mexico and the United States over the U.S. 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act which bans the use of tuna nets to catch dolphins has resulted in the European Community jumping into the dispute with charges of their own. The European Community is the winner and the United States and the dolphins are the losers with a GATT [General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade] dispute panel ruling the American ban illegal because GATT does not allow trade bans based on production methods. Production method is a fancy name for a net but, it still means that dolphins will be killed. Mexico originally complained to GATT and won a dispute panel ruling against the United States in 1991. The GATT panel determined that GATT barred any administrative law that attempts to regulate wildlife outside a nation's borders. Mexico, however, did not push the original GATT ruling according to the Wall Street Journal, because it feared the dispute would spoil Mexico's chances for Congressional approval for a North American Free- Trade Agreement [NAFTA]. Fortunately for the United States, the GATT ruling is just in time for Americans to discover how GATT really works before we vote on the GATT and the World Trade Organization.”