论多边环境协定与世贸组织规则的冲突与协调

多边环境协定与世贸组织规则的关系问题在近年的争论中获得了新进展。多边环境协定中的某些贸易限制条款确实与世贸组织规则发生冲突,如何协调和解决目前仍然悬而未决。无论世贸组织成员及其贸易部长还是各国学者都对该问题极为关注,并提出协调两者关系和解决两者间冲突的种种建议,试图保持多边环境协定缔约国和世贸组织成员在多边环境体制与多边贸易体制之间的利益平衡。     

世贸组织体制下自贸区争端管辖冲突问题研究

近年来兴起的自由贸易区与世贸组织(WTO)所构建的多边贸易体制产生了诸多冲突,例如对最惠国待遇的侵蚀、争端管辖冲突问题。文章首先介绍了世贸组织与自贸区争端管辖的潜在冲突和协调办法,此后基于世贸组织的实践案件和现行规则对争端管辖冲突问题进行了梳理和总结,并就当前在自贸区谈判中应当如何处理争端管辖冲突问题提出现实建议。     

WTO与RTA的调和性竞争

在区域贸易合作前进发展的今天,全球范围内的经济一体化也突飞猛进,作为整体性的世界贸易组织的多边贸易合作和谈判与区域贸易集团有一定的冲突和竞争,但是也不乏两者的相辅相成,调和发展。文章针对这种调和性竞争,从基本规则入手,深入分析了这种冲突与和谐。     

区域经济一体化对多边贸易体制的影响及其法律调整

区域经济一体化已成为当今世界经济贸易发展的一个重要特征，对以世界贸易组织为代表的多边贸易体制产生了多方面的重要影响。它促进了多边贸易体制目标的实现，改变了多边体制的成员结构，推动了多边贸易规则的完善；同时，又在一定程度上抵消了多边体制的积极效应，造成多边体制内新的不平衡，排斥多边贸易规则在一体化组织内的适用。《关税与贸易总协定》及后来的世界贸易组织法对区域经济一体化与多边贸易体制之间所形成的关系进行了调整，但还不够完善，需要进一步扩大调整范围，增加调整内容，强化对区域经济一体化组织运行过程的动态监督。     

RTAs与多边贸易体制之利弊分析

本文从区域贸易协定或安排("RTAs")与多边贸易体制的关系入手,结合NAFTA,阐述RTAs对WTO等多边贸易体制乃至国际贸易自由化根基的最惠国待遇原则的冲击.笔者分析该冲击对多边贸易体制以及国际贸易自由化可能带来的破坏性作用和影响,并从建设国际经济贸易新秩序的高度提出一些原则性的建议和意见.     

论区域经济一体化及其对多边贸易体制的影响

区域一体化对于世贸组织的多边贸易体制既有有利的一面,也有不利的一面。通过区域一体化,可以试行一些尚未在世贸组织的多边贸易体制中出现的新制度或新规则,即作为世贸组织多边贸易体制的实验场所。但是,区域一体化可能与世贸组织的多边贸易体制发生冲突,需要协调两者之间的关系。世贸组织所面临的挑战是如何监督和控制区域一体化,使它们在多边贸易的框架内运行,并且不对多边贸易自由化构成威胁。     

全球区域贸易协定的发展及与多边贸易体制的关系

当前全球区域贸易协定的蓬勃发展与多哈回合谈判的停滞不前形成鲜明对比。虽然区域贸易协定在某种程度对多边贸易体制有促进作用,但总体上两者关系中冲突是主要方面,区域贸易协定的蓬勃发展会在很大程度上削弱多边贸易体制的发展,这种冲突是当前的多边贸易体制难以协调和克服的。未来较长的一段时期内区域贸易协定仍将保持较快的发展势头。     

入世后我国将享有的基本权利

入世会使中国与其他世贸组织成员一样享受如下基本的权利： ①能使我国的产品和服务及知识产权在世贸组织１３５个成员中享受无条件、多边、永久和稳定的最惠国待遇以及国民待遇; ②使我国对大多数发达国家出口的工业品及半制成品享受普惠制待遇; ③享受发展中国家成员的大多数优惠或过渡期安排; ④享受其他世贸组织成员开放或扩大货物、服务市场准入的利益; ⑤利用世贸组织的争端解决机制,公平、客观、合理地解决与其他国家的经贸摩擦,营造良好的经贸发展环境; ⑥参加多边贸易体制的活动,获得国际经贸规则的决策权; ⑦享受世贸组…     

《关贸总协定》第24条的再解读——规则、案例和展望

《关贸总协定》第24条所规定的区域贸易安排是世贸组织框架下最惠国待遇的例外。区域贸易安排一方面有贸易促进的积极作用,另一方面又因其集团间歧视的特征,一旦被滥用,就会侵蚀世贸组织的非歧视原则,背离关贸总协定/世贸组织实现全球贸易自由化和一体化的目标。《关贸总协定》第24条、乌拉圭回合的《谅解》以及土耳其案的专家组、上诉机构的论述都显示了世贸组织对区域贸易安排越来越多的关注,但现有的制度仍有一些不足,文章从对规则的分析入手,从区域贸易安排与世贸组织的关系定位、争端解决机制、区域贸易协定审查委员会的审查等方面对世贸组织框架下区域贸易安排的完善提出若干建议。     

论区域贸易协定与多边贸易体制的关系

20世纪90年代以来,全球范围内区域贸易自由化的发展态势异常迅猛,各国均热衷于构建区域贸易协定。本文通过对区域贸易协定与多边贸易体制关系的比较分析,揭示了多边贸易体制下RTAs的特点。     

多边贸易体制视角下的全球气候变化问题分析

本文从多边贸易体制的视角来分析全球气候变化问题,首先考察了贸易自由化与气候变化的内在相互作用关系,接着重点分析WTO规则与多边气候协议之间的潜在冲突。结果显示:WTO规则对与多边气候协议有关的减排措施存在着诸多潜在的约束,但对于不同的减排措施,约束力不同。本文还讨论了WTO与多边气候协议进一步协调的可能方向和思路,认为这种协调有助于促进二者实现良性互动与双赢。最后,结合发展中国家在全球气候变化中所面临的问题,提出了几点政策建议。     

Backward stealing and forward manipulation in the WTO

Motivated by the structure of WTO negotiations, we analyze a bargaining environment in which negotiations proceed bilaterally and sequentially under the most-favored-nation (MFN) principle. We identify backward-stealing and forward-manipulation problems that arise when governments bargain under the MFN principle in a sequential fashion. We show that these problems impede governments from achieving the multilateral efficiency frontier unless further rules of negotiation are imposed. We identify the WTO nullification-or-impairment and renegotiation provisions and its reciprocity norm as rules that are capable of providing solutions to these problems. In this way, we suggest that WTO rules can facilitate the negotiation of efficient multilateral trade agreements in a world in which the addition of new and economically significant countries to the world trading system is an ongoing process.     

GATT第24条关于关税同盟和自由贸易区的实体外部标准解读

GATT/WTO多边贸易体制关于关税同盟和自由贸易区的纪律规定于GATT第24条。该条确立了自由贸易区、关税同盟和旨在建立关税同盟或自由贸易区的过渡性协议三种区域贸易安排的具体表现形式。根据WTO秘书处的研究报告,GATT第24条关于自由贸易区和关税同盟多边纪律,可以概括为三个条件:一是深度区域自由化的义务(内部标准);二是对区域外成员贸易保持中立的义务(外部标准);三是透明度义务。其中前两项为实体标准,第三项为程序性标准。纵观GATT第24条诸款,其第5款普遍被认为规定了自由贸易区和关税同盟的实体外部标准。实体外部标准所关注的是:虽然GATT的缔约方乃至WTO成员有权缔结自由贸易区和关税同盟,这种权利是有限度的,即,关税同盟和自由贸易区要对第三国的贸易保持中立,即不得以建立关税同盟和自由贸易区为名而使第三国的利益陷入不利。本文旨在系统而细致地研究GATT第24条规定的自由贸易区和关税同盟的实体外部标准。     

Do Trade Agreements Increase Food Trade?

In addition to multilateral trade agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the world has seen a remarkable proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in the last two decades. This study investigates whether these multilateral and regional trade institutions increase food trade and bring the world into a freer flow of food. The gravity model of international trade is used for the empirical analysis. The model is developed in a large panel data setting and attempted to address some potential problems in the estimations including multilateral trade resistances, zero trade values and endogeneity. The results suggest that both the WTO and RTAs have delivered significant positive effects on trade among the participant countries, but not food. Only RTAs are found to have increased food trade among the participant countries. However, although on average the WTO is found to have negative implications on food trade, it facilitates the developing countries more than the developed countries.     

The Most and the Least Favoured Nations: Norway's Trade Policy in Perspective

This article reviews some recent developments in Norway's trade policy, in the light of the WTO's Trade Policy Review of Norway, 2004. A main focus is on the relationship between MFN trade policy and Norway's numerous preferential trade arrangements. In spite of a growing number of free trade agreements the paper suggests that Norway's trade regime has not become more discriminatory. The reason is that cuts in MFN tariffs as well as improvements in GSP have eroded preference margins in manufacturing faster than the coverage of free trade agreements has expanded. As a result of liberalisation, the trade regime for manufacturing has become less discriminatory, not more. While Norway is on the whole a liberal‐minded supporter of the world trade system, it has twice in recent history reacted with protectionism. Around 1980, a restrictive quota regime for clothing was implemented. This has later been dismantled, contributing to sharply increased imports from developing countries. For agriculture, Norway has currently high protection, and tariff preferences are limited. It is likely that agricultural protection will be gradually reduced due to the WTO, as well as through free trade agreements and improvements in GSP.     

Discriminatory tariffs and international negotiations

Recent research has highlighted the efficiency of the MFN principle within the GATT/WTO structure. This paper analyzes the exception made to MFN within Article XXIII that allows discriminatory punishment for deviations from the agreement. We argue that, in the absence of collusion, the MFN exception reduces the severity of punishment and thus lowers the level of cooperation that can be achieved by the agreement. However, discriminatory punishment may still be beneficial as we show that it reduces the problems associated with the potential for renegotiation during the punishment phase. Finally, we argue that our results are also applicable to the question of whether to use trade policy sanctions as a means of enforcing agreements covering domestic policies.     

世贸组织中的国际贸易与环境保护:问题与展望

国际贸易与环境保护的关系是近几年来国际经济领域的一个重要问题。论文分析了贸易与环境涉及的主要问题,指出世贸组织这一多边贸易体制处理环境保护问题时存在一定的难度,问题出在世贸组织既定的原则对环境的适用性上面。世贸组织的贸易政策条款需要一定的灵活性以处理环境保护问题,否则环境保护会成为世贸组织的一个不解之题。     

Third‐country Effects of Regional Trade Agreements

Does regionalism negatively impact non‐members? To answer this question, we examine the effect of regional trade agreements (RTAs) on imports from non‐members and the tariffs that they face. Using data from six RTAs in Latin America and Europe, we do not find evidence that implementation of the regional agreements is associated with trade diversion from third countries to regional members. Using detailed industry data on preference margins and most‐favoured nation (MFN) tariffs for three trade agreements in Latin America over 12 years, we find that greater preference margins do not significantly reduce imports from third countries. We also look at the effect of preferences on external tariffs. We find evidence that preferential tariff reduction tends to precede the reduction of external MFN tariffs in a given sector, offering evidence of tariff complementarity. Overall, the results suggest that regionalism does not significantly harm non‐members.     

区域服务贸易自由化安排的“GATS+”特征分析

国际服务贸易规则的多边化与区域化"并驾齐驱",已成为国际服务贸易自由化进程中的重要特征。从提高规则的透明度、稳定性、一致性和非歧视性出发,越来越多的区域服务贸易安排在规则设计和体系架构上对多边服务贸易安排做出了明显改进。文章着眼于对区域服务贸易自由化安排所呈现的四大"GATS+"特征展开分析:(1)基于"否定列表"的服务自由化承诺方式;(2)服务贸易规则与投资规则的"分立"架构;(3)相对自由的服务原产地规则;(4)"非成员最惠国待遇"条款的引入。