This essay focuses on the (non)application of the precautionary principle in the Hormones Case. It concludes that the finding of the Appellate Body that the precautionary principle, as such, cannot overrule the explicit wording of Articles 5.1 and 5.2 of the SPS Agreement is debatable, if a similar principle or concept were to exist in health law – a line of thought that is not pursued by the Appellate Body in its consideration of the precautionary principle. In addition, the article includes considerations about the problems that arises if substantive unity is sought in a procedurally non-unified system for international dispute settlement.
