ENVIRONMENT

GATT Declares U.S. Tuna Boycott Illegal: A panel of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade has ruled again that U.S. efforts to end tuna fishing practices that endanger dolphins are illegal under GATT rules. The U.S. boycott of tuna caught with purse-seine nets, used now mostly by the Mexican fishing fleet, is required by the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. This ruling was seen by some U.S. environmentalists as less onerous than the 1991 case, however, because the GATT panel accepted the concept--rejected in the earlier ruling--that nations can enforce such environmental regulations outside their own territories. U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said the ruling will be appealed.