Trading nature

EFFORTS by individual governments to raise environmental standards could be undermined by proposals to lower technical barriers to international trade, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The organisation says by seeking to apply international standards, the proposed GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) rules would outlaw some national environmental regulations and open others to challenge on the grounds that they restrict trade. The basic flaw, WWF adds, is that free trade is given precedence over environmental protection.