The World Assembly

Recognizing the numerous benefits of international trade to the economies of all World Assembly member nations,

Regretting that trade disputes between member nations serve as a barrier to international trade, resulting in severe political and economic consequences,

Believing that it is therefore in the World Assembly's interest to establish an impartial mediation and arbitration body tasked with resolving international trade disputes,

Realizing that failing to do so would constitute a extreme hazard to national populations,

The General Assembly,

1. Mandates that all member nations involved in a trade dispute enter into independent bilateral or multilateral negotiations, as appropriate, for a reasonable length of time in order to make a good faith attempt to peacefully and amicably resolve the issue;

2. Extends the mandate of the World Assembly Trade Commission to include non-binding mediation and binding arbitration services for international trade disputes rooted in a member nation's violation of international trade law or its own national laws;

3. Clarifies that such mediation and arbitration may only occur:

   1. with the initial explicit, uncoerced consent of all the member nations involved in the dispute, and

   2. after any independent bilateral and multilateral negotiations have failed;

4. Stipulates that such mediation and arbitration must proceed as follows:

   1. the World Assembly Trade Commission must assemble a mediation or arbitration panel, consisting of unbiased adjudicators with the required qualifications and experience to fulfill their duties,

   2. the member nation which requested mediation or arbitration must present the panel with a legitimate allegation that a member nation involved in the dispute has violated international trade law or its own national laws, and that this violation is a chief cause of the dispute,

   3. each member nation involved in the dispute may present arguments and evidence pertaining to this allegation to the panel, and must comply with any reasonable request made by the panel for evidence necessary to make an informed ruling on the allegation,

   4. the panel will consider all evidence presented and present a ruling detailing whether the allegation is true, as well as any actions on the part of member nations required to remedy the issue,

   5. any member nation involved in the dispute may appeal a recommendation or ruling by the panel, on the grounds that the evidence presented was improperly considered, to a separate appellate panel, which will release a final ruling or recommendation based exclusively on the evidence presented to the original panel;

5. Authorizes the World Assembly Trade Commission to impose any applicable financial penalties on member nations which consented to the arbitration process but refused to comply with a final ruling by an arbitration panel or its corresponding appellate panel, as appropriate.

Legacy General Assembly Resolution #56 “Numismatics Appreciation Act” (Category: Education and Creativity; Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

The General Assembly,

COMMENDING the intentions of General Assembly Resolution #56, insofar as it aims to preserve the monetary culture of member nations;

DISPUTING, however, that the currency of a nation is a "monumental part of [its] history," as well as the notion that "cultural heritage and tradition can be preserved through the safeguarding of each nation’s currency;"

ASSERTING that the amount of resources alloted to preserving one miniscule aspect of a nation's history, as provided in GAR#56, is superfluous;

ACKNOWLEDGING that GAR#56 states, in relevant part:

4. Obligates each World Assembly member nation to regulate the buying and selling of coins and banknotes;

REGRETTING that clause four contravenes the intended purpose of the resolution by creating an opt-out for unwilling nations due to a lack of mandatory regulations, aside from the requirement that "World Assembly member nations [regulate] the buying and selling of coins and banknotes," to any degree in which they find acceptable;

CONSIDERING it to be unnecessary for the World Assembly to regulate the trade of currency, as standard market price determination is more effective than an international grading system established by WANA;

CLARIFIES that nations may still create establishments dedicated to the preservation of their currencies, notwithstanding the passage of the repeal;

FURTHER CLARIFIES that General Assembly Resolution #56 does not prevent one-world currencies, nor does it involve itself in economic mediums of exchange, aside from items that are collected privately for cultural or personal reasons;

Hereby,

REPEALS General Assembly Resolution #56, "Numismatics Appreciation Act."

Legacy General Assembly Resolution #149 “On Expiration Dates” (Category: Social Justice; Strength: Mild) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

The General Assembly,

COMMENDING General Assembly Resolution #149, On Expiration Dates, for seeking to ensure safety among consumers of perishable goods;

DISAPPOINTED, however, that GAR#149 states, in relevant part:

CHARGES any distributor of any necessity to attain an accurate and average prediction of how long each and every necessity that they distribute will last until it degrades to a level of quality at which it will directly "lead to the deprivation of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of [one's] lifetime;"

NOTING that the resolution in question is flawed, inasmuch as it only requires that products display how long such a product lasts on average before spoiling, while failing to require the above said items to display the date in which the product was manufactured;

REGRETTING that such a loophole renders the entirety of the resolution useless, and even detrimental, as it allows manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to deceive consumers as to when the product is to expire;

FURTHER NOTING that GAR#149 requires all items, regardless of whether an expiration date is necessary or practical, to display such labels on the products;

BELIEVING the aforementioned resolution to be irrevocably flawed;

Hereby,

REPEALS General Assembly Resolution #149 "On Expiration Dates."

Legacy General Assembly Resolution #204 “Nuclear Power Safety Act” (Category: Environmental; Industry Affected: Mining) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

The World Assembly:

NOTING that General Assembly Resolution #204, "Nuclear Power Safety Act", establishes the Nuclear Energy Safety Commission (NESC) and its duties but does not require nations to comply with its recommendations;

REGRETTING that the NESC's sole mandate is to recommend that member-states implement measures already required under extant international law such as GA#60, "Nuclear Disaster Response Act" and GA#105, "Preparing for Disasters;"

NOTING that GA#60 already mandates that member nations take specific measures to deal with nuclear crises;

RECOGNIZING that GA#105 already requires member states to inspect nuclear facilities for safety reasons;

FURTHER NOTING that GA#7, "Workplace Safety Standards Act" already establishes guidelines for safe work environments, as well as protocols for individuals who have to handle hazardous materials;

FRUSTRATED by the oversights of the author of GA#204 regarding the above legislation as well as the potential dangers created by GA#204 as follows:

• APPALLED that GA#204 allows energy corporations and national nuclear energy industries to pick and choose guidelines that suit their corporation’s or nation’s needs without regards to civilian safety;

• WORRIED that in order to maximize energy output and profits, nuclear energy industries will cut corners, exposing workers and civilians to the many dangers of nuclear radiation;

• TROUBLED that the mandate that member nations “follow adequate building designs" to construct nuclear power plant facilities allows nuclear energy industries to use older, more hazardous plans deemed as "adequate”;

• ANXIOUS that nations are required to "establish procedures and arrangements to maintain safety and stability", but are not required to update these procedures on a regular basis;

• FRIGHTENED that the same mandate does not give any real form of direction and thus gives nuclear energy industries the freedom to implement potentially inefficient and non-protective safety codes;

CONCERNED also that GA#204 defines nuclear power as "the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and do useful work", thereby excluding other forms of energy generation by nuclear processes, such as nuclear fusion, from safety regulations;

HOPING that any future resolutions related to the safety of nuclear power address these issues and properly take previous World Assembly legislation into account;

REPEALS General Assembly Resolution #204: Nuclear Power Safety Act.

Co-author: Ossitania