In a recent preliminary ruling, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has declared that our voluntary, Dolphin-Safe tuna labels are illegal.
The WTO is essentially a secret trade court that helps multinational corporations promote commerce above all other goals of society, such as protecting the environment. Most types of regulations that promote local, sustainable, economies are likely in violation of WTO rules. For example, regulations that favor the use of domestically-produced products instead of products made abroad will probably be declared illegal by the WTO.
In the 1990's, the U.S. introduced regulations that allow tuna to be labeled "Dolphin Safe", provided the tuna are caught in nets that allow dolphins to escape. Most tuna you see on the shelf today in U.S. stores carry this voluntary label. However, Mexican tuna producers object to this label because it might reduce sales of their non-Dolphin-safe tuna in the U.S. (Well, duh, isn't that the idea?) Anyway, Mexico took its objection to the WTO, and in May, an interim panel ruled against our Dolphin-Safe labels.
You can read more about the history of this issue, and this particular case, here and here.
This case provides another example of why the U.S. should pull out of the WTO, or better yet, why we should abolish the WTO altogether. Along with so-called "free" trade agreements like NAFTA, the WTO symbolizes the worst excesses of capitalism: it puts commerce and the interests of multinational corporations above the interests of workers, consumers, and the environment. In the 1999 "Battle of Seattle", a whole lot of people, including both environmentalists and members of labor unions, joined together to express their disgust with this system of trade agreements. It's time we forced politicians - including Democratic politicians - to stop promoting so-called "free" trade, and to put people before profits.
There's more info about how current trade rules are hurting us, and what you can do about it, at Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch project, here.