Ecolabels de eficiência energética e sua consistência com a disciplina dos PPM’s e provisões dos Acordos GATT e TBT (Energy efficiency ecolabels and it’s compatibility with the PPM’s regime under GATT and TBT Agreements’ provisions)

The alignment of ecolabelling schemes with the provisions of the agreements that guide WTO’s actions have been, along the last decade, in the center of legal debates involving that forum. With leading cases related to the consistency of the so called process and productionmethods (PPM’s), the topic gains particular relevance when analyzed through it’s particularities, embodied within ecolabels of all sorts. Embedded with specific considerations about it’s compatibility with the WTO regime, as noticed in recent Panel’s or Appellate Body’s reasoning, the ecolabelling regime and it’s features stands as the main focus of this paper. In the first part, we analyze the legal structure of ecolabelling schemes, exploring the different legal implications and practical impacts related to both voluntary and mandatory programs, as they are considered before their international regulatory framework. Furthermore, the second part intends to investigate the compatibility of existing ecolabelling schemes within the GATT/WTO provisions, namely articles III and XX, as well as those existent in the TBT Agreement, such as article 2:2. Finally, we evaluate whether energy efficiency related ecolabels might imply incompatibilities within the described regime,since the consistency with GATT/WTO provisions do not necessarily imply the cumulative adequacy with it’s supplementary agreements (i.e. TBT), as we outline through the analysis of the dispute settlement body’sjurisprudence.