WTO贸易政策审议机制的运行及中国面临的挑战

贸易政策审议机制是世界贸易组织的三大重要机制之一.中国加入WTO后,在过渡期内世界贸易组织将对中国贸易政策进行一年一审.因此,对贸易政策审议机制的研究引起了政府和企业越来越多的关注.本文在系统论述贸易政策审议机制的主要内容及其作用的基础上,对不同发展程度的成员贸易政策审议情况进行了研究.最后,针对中国国情,提出中国应对贸易政策审议的策略.     

WTO安全例外条款分析

WTO与国家安全例外相关的规则本身较为模糊。WTO是否有权、以及将如何裁决国家安全措施导致的贸易纠纷均无明确答案。在目前国家安全相关贸易纠纷不断增多的情况下,争议成员应遵循"善意"原则,尽量避免贸易纠纷升级,务实地寻求双边解决方案,同时积极完善多边贸易规则。     

The Dispute Settlement Mechanism of the WTO: A Brief History and an Evaluation from Economic,Contractarian and Legal Perspectives

Any rule‐based system has to include a mechanism for the enforcement of its rules and a means for settlement of disputes about alleged violation of rules. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), concluded in 1947, and its successor the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that subsumed it in 1995, embody rules governing the global trading system as specified in various agreements that their members have entered into over time. Naturally, both had a dispute settlement mechanism (DSM). It was a primarily political one in the GATT and was transformed into a largely legalistic one in the multilateral agreement that established the WTO. This paper reviews the history and evaluation of the two DSMs and examines their efficiency based on appropriate criteria. It views them from three alternative and overlapping perspectives: political‐diplomatic, legal‐economic and social. It concludes with a discussion of the unresolved problems in the operation of the WTO's DSM and the prospects of resolving them in the ongoing Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.     

日本与WTO争端解决机制

在GATT时代,日本在争端解决机制中比较被动,败诉相对较多。到了WTO时代,日本开始积极参与WTO争端解决机制,积极运用这一机制维护日本的国际贸易利益,并取得了较大的成功,出现了胜多败少的局面。日本这一变化的内在动力来自日本以入世为契机成功实现了贸易政策从以往的保护主义向自由贸易转换,可以在WTO争端解决机制舞台上以自由贸易的形象示人,并为此进行了WTO争端解决机构上诉机构大法官的人事布局,一直保持了日本人的上诉机构大法官的席位。日本的这一成果可以为我国所借鉴。     

WTO贸易救济措施争端解决的绩效分析——基于动态非平衡面板数据模型系统GMM检验

文章在回顾相关研究的基础上考虑四阶段WTO争端解决程序,根据WTO争端案例结案时长不等的特点和多阶段策略选择难以量化的性质,建立WTO贸易救济措施争端解决绩效动态非平衡面板数据模型,运用系统GMM检验,对WTO贸易救济措施争端解决绩效进行了实证分析。结果表明：积极援引WTO争端解决机制是能够在一定程度上挽回贸易损失的,尤其是双方在争端解决过程中达成的磋商解决、请求专家组中止工作、相互满意解决或者败诉方执行WTO决定等均对申诉方出口贸易具有促进作用;尽快结案将有利于申诉方,而WTO争端解决案件的持续时间越长,越不利于申诉方。     

Aggressive Legalism: The Rules of the WTO and Japan’s Emerging Trade Strategy

Over the course of the last decade there has been a significant change in Japan’s trade strategy, one that has remained seriously unappreciated for both its contents and its policy implications. The heart of this unfolding strategy is the active use of the legal rules in the treaties and agreements overseen by the WTO to counter what the Japanese government deems to be the unreasonable acts, requests, and practices of its major trade partners. To wit, the Japanese government is deliberately using both the procedural and substantive rules of the WTO to matter to the results and outcomes of major trade disputes involving Japan. And in a relatively short time, it has shown how these rules can be made to serve as both ‘shield’ and ‘sword’ in high‐profile trade disputes. This is the strategy that Japan has embraced as the principal means of dealing with its major trade partners, and it reveals much about both a new Japan and the power of international law.     

The WTO,the Environment and Health and Safety Standards

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a product of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO was created in the last round of negotiations (Uruguay Round, 1986‐94) to provide a stronger set of institutions to administer the various agreements negotiated under the GATT framework. Because the WTO is more powerful than its predecessors, critics claim that it poses a threat to national sovereignty. Concerns about the ability of nations to set their own environmental and health and safety agendas have figured prominently in these critiques. In addition, critics suggest that the WTO prioritises trade objectives at the expense of environmental and health and safety objectives. The article explores the extent to which the WTO has been able to reconcile trade, environmental and health and safety objectives by analysing its rulings on these matters. Overall, this analysis suggests that the WTO dispute resolution process has balanced all three sets of objectives. However, it is important to note the small number of disputes to date; only 21of the 175 disputes before the WTO involve environmental and health and safety matters. Further, the WTO has issued decisions in only six of these cases.     

从WTO争端解决程序看《多方临时上诉仲裁安排》的可执行性

欧盟与中国等部分世贸组织成员近期公布了之前达成的《根据DSU第25条的多方临时上诉仲裁安排》及其附件1和附件2。在WTO上诉机构结束停摆之前,这些成员若对专家组一审裁决不服,可以此作为再次审议的临时安排。WTO争端解决机制是一个有机整体,其制度设计有其独到之处和内在逻辑。用仲裁代替上诉,从程序上看,争端解决似乎也是经历两审程序,但是这与原先的"两审终审"有本质区别。这种区别不仅体现在上诉与仲裁制度本身的差异上,也体现在裁决的执行力方面。事实上,根据临时仲裁安排作出的裁决执行能否援引WTO争端解决机制是有争议的。临时仲裁安排既不是部分成员达成的诸边贸易协议,也不是对DSU的正式修改,其法律性质带有很大的不确定性,执行力自然也会遭到质疑。世贸组织目前面临的问题不单是争端解决的程序问题,其背后同时折射出许多实体问题。程序问题必须与实体问题一并解决,这才是迎接多边贸易体制挑战、改革WTO规则的正确方向。     

试析欧共体的优惠贸易协定政策与WTO规则的协调与兼容

欧共体与世界上100多个国家签有种类繁多、名称各异的优惠贸易协定,这使其拥有了一张当今世界上最大的优惠贸易"网络"。近年来,欧共体将对外贸易协定从单向优惠调整为双向互惠一方面是为了与WTO规则相协调,特别是WTO争端解决机构对香蕉案的裁决起到了"催化剂"的作用;但另一方面,这种政策调整的背后还有着更为重要的政治与经济动因,凸现出欧共体对于WTO规则的理解与运用透着很强的实用主义色彩,维护与拓展经贸利益是其进行政策调整的根本目的。     

中美欧贸易报复制度的比较研究

WTO体制下,贸易报复是争端解决的最后保障,但WTO争端机制旨在解决成员之间的争端,因此,要赋予私人请求本国政府对另一国家进行贸易报复的权利,仍然需要国内立法.目前,各主要大国都通过国内立法赋予本国国民权利,以请求本国政府对另一国家进行贸易报复,为争端解决的国内程序和国际程序的衔接提供了基础,使得本国国民可以通过国内程序启动WTO的争端解决程序.与美欧相比,我国关于贸易报复的立法和实践经验均不甚丰富,确实需要借鉴较为完备的美欧立法,完善我国的有关法律制度.     

WTO Rules on Direct Taxation

The widely‐followed ruling by the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body against the United States concerning the latter's FSC/ETI scheme, which led to the largest retaliation award ever authorised in a dispute at the WTO, confirmed (if there were ever any doubt) that, generally speaking, direct taxes, like indirect taxes (including tariffs), are subject to the multilateral rules of the WTO, notwithstanding efforts by tax authorities to secure specific exemptions for certain direct tax measures in these agreements. This ruling reconfirmed the traditional distinction under international trade rules between direct and indirect taxes, particularly with respect to how such taxes should be treated under the subsidy and border tax adjustment rules of the WTO. It prompted the US Congress finally to pass legislation in late 2004 to repeal the FSC/ETI scheme as part of a larger overhaul of the US corporate tax system. The most recent disputes between the United States and the European Communities over assistance to large civil aircraft (allegedly amounting in each case to even more than the FSC/ETI) also encompass direct tax measures. It would not be surprising if other WTO‐inconsistent direct tax measures were identified in the future, leading to further disputes among WTO Members. Multilateral WTO rules, which are agreed by consensus, can therefore be expected to continue to be an important factor in determining how Members shape their tax policies, as they will undoubtedly want to avoid having their tax policies successfully challenged in the WTO.     

BETWEEN PRAGMATISM AND PRINCIPLE: Legalization,Political Economy,and the WTO's Subsidy Agreement

How might the World Trade Organization's (WTO) subsidies regulations affect the development of national industrial policies? This question is investigated by examining two recent WTO cases involving small, open economies which emphasize state support for high value-added, export-oriented industries: Australia and Canada. The analysis centers on the degree to which the disputes panels in each case sought to balance the conflicting demands of enforcing common international rules on subsidy with the recognition that states continue to enjoy the right under WTO to subsidize firms. It finds that in both cases panels tried to avoid imposing broad rules and instead looked at the particular circumstances of each dispute. While this approach is more accommodating of state sovereignty concerns, the use of commercial referents for governments loans, coupled with the "purpose" standard, may yet impose constraints on small economies seeking to develop higher value added sectors.     

世贸组织争端解决实践中的条约目的解释

世贸组织争端解决实践中贸易规则的目的解释呈现出以下特点:一是争端解决机构否认在目的解释与其他条约解释方法之间存在位阶关系,主张各种条约解释方法之间应保持统一和整体性;二是通过目的解释明确了世贸组织法律规则与一般国际法之间的部分与整体关系,强调世贸组织规则与其他国际法部门规则间的相互协调;三是通过目的解释方法的运用,完善和发展了世贸组织争端解决的程序性规则,强化了争端解决机制的功能。目的解释的正当性决定于它能否被争端当事方及世贸组织成员普遍认同与接受。     

WTO dispute settlement proceedings: European support for airbus in the spotlight

The bilateral WTO Agreement on Trade in Large Civil Aircraft (TLCA) of 1992 regulated the permitted levels of support for the European and American aviation industries. In October 2004, the US unilaterally withdrew from the TLCA, right as Boeing was about to lose its market leader status. Together with the termination of the TLCA, the US requested the initiation of WTO dispute settlement proceedings against the EU as well as against the governments of Germany, France, the UK and Spain regarding alleged direct and indirect subsidisation of Airbus. In response, the EC requested, on that same day, the initiation of dispute settlement proceedings regarding certain US federal, state and local subsidies granted to the American aircraft producer Boeing, which the EC regarded as incompatible with WTO rules. What European subsidies exist for Airbus, and how extensive are they?     

Historical Learning in the Design of WTO Rules: The EC Sugar Case

The Uruguay Round Agreement made significant changes to the governance of international trade. Trade rules and dispute settlement mechanisms were altered and a series of specific agreements provided for liberalisation across economic sectors. The Agreement on Agriculture, arguably the most difficult and contentious to negotiate, permitted the continued use of trade‐distorting instruments, both domestically and at the border. Rule‐enforcement in agriculture therefore relies crucially on the clarity of the rules. This paper provides an in‐depth study of a unique and critical case for understanding the new rules: the EC sugar regime. This policy was challenged unsuccessfully under the pre‐Uruguay Round rules, but successfully under the new rules. This case is particularly valuable in allowing us to isolate the effect of the Uruguay Round on agricultural trade disputes: the policy under challenge was essentially unchanged and the legal actions addressed the same concern – excessive export subsidisation. Drawing on primary and secondary materials and interviews with key policy actors, sugar is used to illustrate how those involved in the multilateral process learned from particular rule weaknesses revealed in earlier cases, revising those rules in the Uruguay Round in such a way that dispute panels can more readily and objectively determine rule breaches.     

加入WTO十周年:中国参与争端解决机制的宏观问题和应对之策概析

2011年是中国加入WTO十周年。在过去10年中,中国参与WTO争端解决机制逐步深入,当前已成为主要参与者,成绩来之不易。在此过程中,中国不仅需处理具体案件中的问题,还不断面临一些制度层面挑战。本文从认知态度、能力建设、政企互动三个方面考察了中国在加强参与和利用WTO争端解决机制方面所可能面临的一些内部宏观性问题、采取的应对之策、付出的努力和取得的成绩。     

多边贸易摩擦演进模式的经济学文献述评

争端解决机制是世界贸易组织的中心支柱和在实际运行中最活跃的部分。本文从多边贸易摩擦演进模式这一新视角切入,就当前经济学领域有关多边贸易摩擦的提起模式、推进模式和解决模式的文献进行了述评。这对处在国际经济摩擦高发期、多边贸易摩擦频率不断提高的我国而言,无疑具有重要的现实意义和参考价值。     

国际多边贸易体制改革面临的形势及中国应对策略

近年来,国际多边贸易体制改革遭遇困境,WTO改革出现停滞,暴露出其在多边规则制度规范、多边贸易谈判和贸易争端解决上的局限性。特别是贸易谈判的制度性、实体性局限,极大程度制约着现有问题的解决。针对WTO多边贸易体制改革,美国、欧盟、日本、加拿大等多个国家和地区都提出了各自的主张,中国也提出了"三原则五主张"的方案。基于研究结论,提出了进一步明确中国方案、维护多边贸易体制,进一步细化应对措施、推动多边贸易体制发展,进一步深化国内改革、实现主动应对的对策建议。     

从贸易争端中获得利益是关键——中国影响汽车零部件进口措施案分析

2008年7月18日,世界贸易组织(WTO)争端解决机构专家组公布了中国影响汽车零部件进口措施案的裁决报告,我国在此次争端中败诉。我们认为,不应以贸易争端胜诉或败诉作为判断中国应对WTO是否成功的关键,从贸易争端中获得经济利益是最重要的,我国应该继续利用WTO争端解决机制为我国汽车整车产业和零部件产业提供支持。同时我们也应注意采取更有策略性的贸易措施来保护国内产业。     

中国涉案WTO争端解决的条约解释及其比较

2011年是中国入世后涉案WTO争端解决的结案数量最多的一年。这些结案报告含有大量关于WTO协定的条约解释,且多半直接影响案件的裁定,全面地、深入地研究这些条约解释,对于总结中国涉诉案件的经验教训以及继续更好地应对WTO争端解决,维护中国的国家利益及企业合法权益,具有十分重要的理论与实践意义。