International Trade and Environmental Standards: Key Discussions
Recent discussions on global trade focused on the importance of environmental criteria for transport services. To fully comply with international standards, laws must promote regulations around fuel efficiency and carbon emission levels in maritime, air, and land transport.
However, the World Bank’s evaluations center mainly on non-tariff measures (NTMs), which can act as barriers to trade and raise costs for businesses. Even measures like quotas or price controls that are put in place for safety, security, or environmental reasons may not align with the B-READY criteria.
Currently, the World Bank employs a binary scoring system, which might not effectively reflect the quality of NTMs. They are considering potential changes to improve this scoring method in the upcoming year.
In terms of solving disputes, the meeting also touched on the process for assigning cases randomly in commercial courts. It’s essential that this system operates entirely on its own without any outside influence.
If specific expertise is needed, courts can configure the random assignment to select judges with relevant backgrounds. A specialized court or a division that solely focuses on commercial cases can also qualify as a specialist court.
The discussions also encompassed market competition and the recognition of intellectual property rights for works developed by artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, there is no universal standard, as each country is developing its own rules. Thailand has been encouraged to look into practices within the European Union and its member states.
In summary, the B-READY initiative does not clarify what percentage of AI contributions would determine ownership of a work. The World Bank is still gathering data from various countries to refine this aspect. Thailand is thus advised to explore this topic and work on establishing a legal framework regarding intellectual property rights for AI-generated creations.
