Students
BUSL305 – Global Trade Law
2015 – S1 Day
General Information
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| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Lecturer
Zaman Khorseduzzaman
Contact via busl305@mq.edu.au
E4A 316
Tuesdays 2 -4 pm and by appointment
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| Credit points |
Credit points
3
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| Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
39cp
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| Corequisites |
Corequisites
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| Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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| Unit description |
Unit description
This unit provides an introduction to the legal rules, fundamental principles and institutional framework of trade transactions at international level. The aim of this unit is to acquaint students with the legal regime governing international trade in goods, services and intellectual property rights (IPRs). It focuses on key World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and provides insights into some major concepts, principles and rules of international trade law. It also examines the scope, functions and efficiency of the WTO. The interaction of international trade, investment and monetary issues and the interplay of global trade law, politics and international relations in regulating these issues are covered in this course. Topics addressed include evolution and institutionalisation of international trade law, fundamental principles and exceptions to the GATT-WTO legal regime, trade in goods, services (GATS) and intellectual property rights (TRIPS), rules on regional and bilateral preferential trade arrangements, trade remedies such as safeguards, anti-dumping and countervailing measures, and the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. It also encompasses major critical analysis of contemporary issues such as the legal protection of foreign direct investment, labour standards, environment and human rights, which are substantially interlinked with the regulation of international trade.
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Important Academic Dates
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Understand the origin, development and contemporary institutional arrangements of global trade;
- Identify the interactions of legal and non-legal issues in international trade regulations;
- Recognize multiple aspects of trade liberalization, protectionism, fair and unfair trade practices;
- Determine relevant trade law, rules and principles which could be applied to complex fact situations as remedies;
- Recognize concurrent global and regional trade-related problems and issues, and the ability to provide individual opinion/solution of the problems from legal point of view;
- Able to make critical assessment and analysis of international trade regulations and undertake research on trade regulatory policies.
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Participation | 15% | Ongoing |
| Presentation | 15% | Ongoing |
| Media Assignment | 20% | End of Week 10 [15/05/2015] |
| Research Assignment | 50% | 09/06/2015 |
Participation
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 15%
Class participation does not necessarily mean and include mere physical attendance in a seminar. Students are expected to display their knowledge that they have completed the required reading for a seminar, and they are prepared to ask and answer questions on scheduled topics. Class participation will be assessed by a student's engagement in a class facilitated by the lecturer.
See the Assessment Guide on iLearn for Detailed Criteria and Information on Class Participation.
Note:
There is no alternative/supplementary assessment task to replace class participation. Students who miss this task will lose the marks in proportion to their absence/non-performance in seminar. The rationale for this forfeiture is that if a student is absent in a seminar (for any reason) s/he is unable to participate and contribute in the class. Unfortunately, a make-up seminar is not available in this session.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Understand the origin, development and contemporary institutional arrangements of global trade;
- Identify the interactions of legal and non-legal issues in international trade regulations;
- Recognize multiple aspects of trade liberalization, protectionism, fair and unfair trade practices;
- Determine relevant trade law, rules and principles which could be applied to complex fact situations as remedies;
- Recognize concurrent global and regional trade-related problems and issues, and the ability to provide individual opinion/solution of the problems from legal point of view;
- Able to make critical assessment and analysis of international trade regulations and undertake research on trade regulatory policies.
Presentation
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 15%
Students of a seminar will be divided into small groups. Students are expected make a presentation on a topic representing their group. In every seminar, one student from each group will have to give a short presentation (10-15 minutes each) on a topic or issue discussed in the previous seminar. Presentation topics will be posted on iLearn from week 2, however students are also free to choose their own topics. Every student of the group has to give at least one presentation in the seminar.
See the Assessment Guide on iLearn for Detailed Criteria and Information on Presentation.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Understand the origin, development and contemporary institutional arrangements of global trade;
- Identify the interactions of legal and non-legal issues in international trade regulations;
- Recognize multiple aspects of trade liberalization, protectionism, fair and unfair trade practices;
- Recognize concurrent global and regional trade-related problems and issues, and the ability to provide individual opinion/solution of the problems from legal point of view;
Media Assignment
Due: End of Week 10 [15/05/2015]
Weighting: 20%
Students are required to identify and make an independent analysis of any concurrent global or regional trade-related problem/issue that is reported in any news-media, article or journal. They are required to examine the problem/issue and give their own opinion to resolve it in the light of global trade laws that are covered in this unit.
Note:
No time extensions will be granted. Assignments submitted after due date will not be marked and will receive a score of 0. This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application in relation to disruption to studies is made and approved.
See the Assessment Guide on iLearn for Detailed Assessment Criteria.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Identify the interactions of legal and non-legal issues in international trade regulations;
- Recognize multiple aspects of trade liberalization, protectionism, fair and unfair trade practices;
- Determine relevant trade law, rules and principles which could be applied to complex fact situations as remedies;
- Recognize concurrent global and regional trade-related problems and issues, and the ability to provide individual opinion/solution of the problems from legal point of view;
- Able to make critical assessment and analysis of international trade regulations and undertake research on trade regulatory policies.
Research Assignment
Due: 09/06/2015
Weighting: 50%
Students are required to select their respective topics from the sample trade-related topics posted on iLearn. Students may choose a topic of their own interest but that must be approved by the lecturer first. Students MUST NOT start working on a research assignment on any unapproved and/or unlisted topic.
Assignment topics will be posted on iLearn during semester time.
Note:
Penalty applies for late submission. Essays submitted after the 7th day of deadline will not be marked, except where disruption to studies is determined as 'serious and unavoidable'.
See Also the Assessment Guide on iLearn for Detailed Criteria for this Assessment Task.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Recognize multiple aspects of trade liberalization, protectionism, fair and unfair trade practices;
- Determine relevant trade law, rules and principles which could be applied to complex fact situations as remedies;
- Recognize concurrent global and regional trade-related problems and issues, and the ability to provide individual opinion/solution of the problems from legal point of view;
- Able to make critical assessment and analysis of international trade regulations and undertake research on trade regulatory policies.
Delivery and Resources
Unit Structure and Requirements
Students are required to attend a 3 hour seminar session in each week. The lecture part of the seminar will be recorded on ECHO360.. The sequencing of seminar program and the unit contents will allow students to develop gradually the understanding of global trade law as the unit progresses.
Note that besides regular class lectures and discussions on seminar topics, the seminar sessions will also cover students’ presentations on scheduled topics relevant to the unit.
Students are generally expected to devote at least 150 hours for this unit. Here is a sample breakdown of workloads.
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Activities
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Hours |
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1 |
Weekly Seminars (3×13) |
39 |
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2 |
Assessment Task 1 (self-study for class participation) |
16 |
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3 |
Assessment Task 2 (self-study and Presentation) |
10 |
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4 |
Assessment Task 3 (self-study and preparation of media assignment) |
25 |
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5 |
Assessment Task 4 (self-study and preparation of research assignment) |
60 |
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Total |
150 |
Required and Recommended Texts
Required Textbook:
Peter Van den Bossche and Werner Zdouc, The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization (3rd Edition), Cambridge University Press, 2013
Recommended Texts:
Michael J. Trebilcock, Advanced Introduction to International Trade Law, Edward Elgar Publishers, 2015
Michael J. Trebilcock and Robert Howse, The Regulation of International Trade (3rd Edition), Routledge Publications, 2010
Useful Websites:
www.wto.org
www.ictsd.org
www.worldtradelaw.net
http://insidetrade.com
www.southcentre.org
www.twn.my
Unit Schedule
See the Assessment Guide on iLearn for a Detailed Unit Schedule
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Week |
Lecture Topics
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1 |
Global Trade and the Law of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
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2 |
The Origins of GATT-WTO and its Institutional Structure
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3 |
Non-discrimination Principles of WTO and General Exceptions
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4 |
Regional and Bilateral Preferential Trading Arrangements
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5 |
Rules on Market Access: Tariff, Quotas, Non-tariff Barriers to Trade and the SPS, TBT Agreements
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6 |
Rules on Unfair Trade Practices: Dumping, Anti-dumping, Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and Safeguards
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Semester Break |
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7 |
Regulations and Protectionism in Trade in Goods and Agricultural Products
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8 |
Global Trade Rules on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)
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9 |
Liberalisation and Free Movement of Labour, Capital and Services (GATS)
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10 |
Settlement of Global Trade Disputes under the WTO (DSU)
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11 |
International Trade and the Protection of Global Environment, Labour Standard and Human Rights
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12 |
Global Regulatory Framework of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
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13 |
Overview and Revision
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Policies and Procedures
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Student Code of Conduct
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Student Support
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Student Services and Support
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
Student Enquiries
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
IT Help
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Research and Practice, Global and Sustainability
This unit addresses global and sustainability issues as direct areas of study and as necessary implications arising from the materials, assessment and academic discussion and debate in classes/seminars. We promote sustainability by developing ability in students to research and locate information within accounting discipline. We aim to provide students with an opportunity to obtain skills which will benefit them throughout their career.
The unit materials have a reference list at the end of each chapter/module/text containing all references cited by the author. These provide some guidance to references that could be used to research particular issues.