Costs and Benefits of a WTO Dispute: Philippine Bananas and the Australian Market

Abstract

Why do governments engage in WTO disputes? What can countries expect to gain from international legal trade battles? This article examines the costs and benefits of the Philippine-Australian dispute regarding Australia's quarantine policy on Philippine fresh fruits and vegetables, a case also of keen interest to a number of countries including those in the European Union, the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Thailand, China, India, and Chile. We find that a host of institutional, political, and economic factors can trigger disputes under strong, yet debatable, expectations over winning a case in the WTO.bananas, cost-benefit analysis, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, trade disputes, World Trade Organization, International Relations/Trade,