Trade Regulation Law

The International Trade Committee follows international trade proceedings and trade policy, primarily with regard to the regulation of imports, both in the United States and abroad.

Commission rules are published in Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

The FTC deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers’ interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies.

The effort to unite the economies of the Americas into a single free trade area began at the Summit of the Americas, which was held in December 1994 in Miami, U.S.A. The Heads of State and Government of the 34 democracies in the region agreed to construct a Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, in which barriers to trade and investment will be progressively eliminated.

The "Rules of Practice" describe how the FTC is organized and its procedures for conducting investigational, administrative, and judicial proceedings.

The National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational institution affiliated with the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. The Center is dedicated to developing the legal infrastructure to build trade capacity and promote economic development in the Americas.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of over 200 people, a highly committed group of professionals who have decades of specialized experience in trade issues and regions of the world. They negotiate directly with foreign governments to create trade agreements, resolve disputes and participate in global trade policy organizations.

Trade regulation is a field of law, often bracketed with antitrust (as in the phrase “antitrust and trade regulation law”), including government regulation of unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive business acts or practices. Antitrust law is often considered a subset of trade regulation law. Franchise and distribution law, consumer protection law, and advertising law are sometimes considered parts of trade regulation law

The terms trade and commerce are often used interchangeably, with commerce referring to large-scale business activity and trade describing commercial traffic within a state or a community. The U.S. Constitution, through the Commerce Clause, gives Congress exclusive power over trade activities between the states and with foreign countries.

An independent federal agency determining import injury to U.S. industries in antidumping, countervailing duty, and global and China safeguard investigations; directing actions against unfair trade practices involving patent, trademark, and copyright infringement; supporting policymakers through economic analysis and research on the global competitiveness of U.S. industries; and maintaining the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule.

We are a Community of four countries that decided voluntarily to join together for the purpose of achieving more rapid, better balanced and more autonomous development through Andean, South American and Latin American integration. We have planned to move ahead in deepening an integral integration process that will contribute effectively to sustainable and equitable human development, in order to live well, with respect for the diversity and asymmetries that agglutinate the different visions, models and approaches and that will converge in the formation of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur).

CTPL is a non-governmental, non-profit think tank specializing in trade capacity building and institutional support services for public- and private-sector clients and international organizations. It was established in 1989 with a three-fold mandate to promote greater public understanding of trade and investment policy issues, to foster independent analysis and research on trade policy and legal issues, and to encourage the development of trade policy professionals and practitioners around the globe.

The European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade helps through the EU's trade policy to secure prosperity, solidarity and security in Europe and around the globe. We support the EU's Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and the whole of the European Commission in shaping a trade environment that is good for people and for business.

The common commercial policy is a pillar for the external relations of the European Union. It is based on a set of uniform rules under the Customs Union and the Common Customs Tariff and governs the commercial relations of the Member States with Non-EU Member Countries. The purpose of the instruments of trade defence and market access is mainly to protect European businesses from obstacles to trade.

International trade law includes the appropriate rules and customs for handling trade between countries or between private companies across borders. Over the past twenty years, it has become one of the fastest growing areas of international law.

International trade law is the mixture of domestic or national law and public international law that applies to transactions for goods or services that cross national boundaries. Certain multilateral treaties play an important roles in this field -- notably the Convention for the International Sales of Goods and several dealing with dispute resolution and the enforcement of resulting adjudications.

The NAFTA Secretariat is a unique organization established pursuant to Article 2002 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It administers the mechanisms specified under the NAFTA to resolve trade disputes between national industries and/or governments in a timely and impartial manner.

LANIC's mission is to facilitate access to Internet-based information to, from, or on Latin America. Our target audience includes people living in Latin America, as well as those around the world who have an interest in this region. While many of our resources are designed to facilitate research and academic endeavors, our site has also become an important gateway to Latin America for primary and secondary school teachers and students, private and public sector professionals, and just about anyone looking for information about this important region.

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) was established by the General Assembly in 1966 ( Resolution 2205(XXI) of 17 December 1966). In establishing the Commission, the General Assembly recognized that disparities in national laws governing international trade created obstacles to the flow of trade, and it regarded the Commission as the vehicle by which the United Nations could play a more active role in reducing or removing these obstacles. The General Assembly gave the Commission the general mandate to further the progressive harmonization and unification of the law of international trade. The Commission has since come to be the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law.

Adopted by a diplomatic conference on 11 April 1980, the Convention establishes a comprehensive code of legal rules governing the formation of contracts for the international sale of goods, the obligations of the buyer and seller, remedies for breach of contract and other aspects of the contract. The Convention entered into force on 1 January 1988.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south,

After spending a number of years working as international trade lawyers, we started this web site in January of 2001. Our goal in setting up the site was to create a research tool for people interested in international trade law issues. Based on our own experience in researching these issues, we felt that there would be great value in a web site which would serve as a portal to the wide variety of information scattered in various places throughout the web.

AITIC is an intergovernmental organisation, based in Geneva, whose goal is to help less-advantaged countries (LACs) to benefit from the globalisation process in general and the multilateral trading system in particular by assisting them in taking a more active part in the work of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other trade-related organisations in Geneva, as well as the negotiations under the auspices of the former.

FITA (The Federation of International Trade Associations) has 450 association members and 450,000 linked company members dedicated to the promotion of international trade, import-export, international logistics management, international finance and more. The FITA Global Trade Portal, is the source for international import export trade leads, events, and links to 8,000 international trade (export import) related Websites.

Global Trade Watch (GTW) is a division of Public Citizen, the national consumer and environmental group founded in 1971. Public Citizen has about 90,000 due-paying members mainly in the U.S. GTW was created in 1995 to promote government and corporate accountability in the globalization and trade arena. Having built unique substantive capacity and diverse contacts with other public interest organizations, the press and policy-makers, GTW's work makes Public Citizen one of the few progressive U.S. organizations focused full-time on globalization issues.

The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) was established in Geneva in September 1996 to contribute to a better understanding of development and environment concerns in the context of international trade. As an independent non-profit and non-governmental organisation, ICTSD engages a broad range of actors in ongoing dialogue about trade and sustainable development. With a wide network of governmental, non-governmental and inter-governmental partners, ICTSD plays a unique systemic role as a provider of original, non-partisan reporting and facilitation services at the intersection of international trade and sustainable development.

ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) is the voice of world business championing the global economy as a force for economic growth, job creation and prosperity. ICC activities cover a broad spectrum, from arbitration and dispute resolution to making the case for open trade and the market economy system, business self-regulation, fighting corruption or combating commercial crime.

ITA's mission is to create prosperity by strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry, promoting trade and investment, and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements. Trade.gov provides you access to ITA's valuable information and services regarding U.S. international trade policy.

SICE - the Organization of American State's Foreign Trade Information System - centralizes information on trade policy in the Americas. On the SICE Website, you will find the full texts of trade agreements in force for OAS Member States, new and ongoing trade policy developments, information on national trade-related legislation, links to international, regional and national sources of trade policy information and more! SICE, with more than ten years online, strives to provide OAS member states and other users up-to-date and relevant information.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

News, analysis and information on export controls, customs law, antidumping law and other international trade issues.

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Antitrust and Trade Regulation including: competition law, international trade, trade investment and unfair competition.