Law360, New York ( July 30, 2014, 9:47 AM EDT) -- In a new World Trade Organization holding, the Appellate Body ("AB") strictly interpreted the meaning of "technical regulation" under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade ("TBT Agreement") and, as a result, held that the measure at issue did not fall within the agreement's scope. In European Communities – Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products ("EC-Seal Products"), the AB determined that the measure did not qualify as a technical regulation because it did not "lay down product characteristics." Subsequently, the AB declined to analyze whether the measure could still meet the "technical regulation" definition by qualifying as a "related process or production method" ("PPM"). In coming to this decision, it rationalized that the parties had only developed arguments regarding whether the restriction stipulated "product characteristics" and, therefore, did not consider it appropriate to complete the legal analysis without a thorough examination by the parties and the underlying WTO panel....