Market Access and Trademark Protection in the WTO Regime: The Case of Certification Marks

While concerns over health and safety issues have increased among global consumers, both public and private trade actors have been widely using certification marks as a guarantee of quality to enlarge their market power. As such, it is disputed whether the exclusive rights granted to certification mark holders amount to an unfair competitive advantage that may result in trade-distorting behaviour. The question that arises is whether these exclusive rights constitute a legitimate impediment to trade. In this paper I argue that at the interface between trademark law and market access, the standard of protection afforded to certification mark holders under WTO law proportionally decreases with the rapid liberalization of global markets through the dismantling of trade barriers.