ABSTRACT
Intensified economic globalisation has had positive and negative effects. It has left nation states struggling to deal with the negative fall-out (Haufler 2001: 11; Jenkins 2001: 2ff.). National regulation against abuses has, however, proven increasingly ineffective, especially since companies have the freedom to move their hazardous activities to under-regulated areas (Haufler 2001: 1, 7). States have stepped up cooperation and coordination on a bilateral as well as a multilateral basis: international organisations and treaties are becoming more and more relevant to the regulation of international trade relations (Brütsch and Lehmkuhl in Chapter 2 of this volume). However, the traditional instruments of international law are frequently considered too cumbersome and slow. Increasingly, international law is created by unconventional means: ‘task forces’1 prove to be far more expedient, since they prefer ‘soft law’ to treaty law (Black 2001: 11; Brütsch and Lehmkuhl in Chapter 2 of this volume). Political enforcement by peer-pressure is becoming more relevant than juridical instruments (courts and tribunals) (Brütsch and Lehmkuhl in the Introduction to this volume). Furthermore, regulation goes well beyond lawmaking by legislators and government bodies; non-state actors are contributing extensively, especially in the area of regulating international trade relations.
