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Export Restrictions and the WTO Law: How to Reform the 'Regulatory Deficiency'
Abstract
Trade barriers in the form of export restrictions imposed on various food products and natural resources have been subject to extensive public attention. A notable illustration of the growing importance of export restrictions was the establishment of a panel by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) in December 2009 to examine complaints brought by the United States, the European Union (EU), and Mexico concerning China's export restriction policies. While export restrictions undermine the stability of the multilateral trading system by distorting global markets, the WTO law regulating this field arguably represents a case of 'under-regulation' or 'regulatory deficiency'. Hence, stricter WTO regulation in this area of apparently large 'policy space' is needed. However, various reform proposals submitted to the WTO face strong opposition mainly from developing countries. In this context, this article attempts to illustrate how a sufficiently 'differentiated' reform agenda on export restrictions could help maintain the stability of the multilateral trading system while addressing the legitimate concerns of developing countries.
... Despite these integrative steps, China's relationship with the WTO has also been characterized by selective contestation, particularly in sectors like steel and agriculture, suggesting a nuanced stance towards the WTO's liberal trade order (Weinhardt and ten Brink 2020). Moreover, the compliance of China with the WTO Dispute Settlement System underscores its commitment to the international trading order, despite the reputational costs associated with noncompliance (Harpaz 2010).However, the area of export restrictions reveals a bias against late accession members like China, hinting at an embedded form of exclusion within the WTO's framework (Karapinar 2011). The narrative of exclusion extends beyond the WTO, as seen in China's absence from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). ...
... As the most viable peer competitor to U.S. power, China's actions and strategies are closely scrutinized on the global stage (Schweller and Pu 2011). In this context, legitimacy becomes a crucial asset for China, as it seeks to navigate the challenges posed by the rivalry and assert its own vision for the international order as reflected in their exclusions in various international organizations (Zhao 2019;Karapinar 2011;Birn and Dmitrienko 2005). The quest for legitimacy is not just about gaining acceptance; it is also about challenging and reshaping existing norms and institutions that have been dominated by Western powers (Dorussen and Ward 2008;Ferchen 2013;He and Feng 2023). ...
... Furthermore, China's absence from key multilateral energy institutions highlights its reluctance to join restrictive organizations, as well as these organizations' lack of seriousness in engaging with China (Kong 2011). This absence speaks to the broader issue of how international organizations have sometimes marginalized or failed to fully engage with non-Western powers as reflected by the previous literature (Zhao 2019;Ferchen 2013;Chengqiu 2020;Karapinar 2011). ...
This analysis explores China’s quest for international legitimacy through its leader- ship in the BRICS + expansion, a strategic maneuver to foster a multipolar world that integrates diverse political and economic systems. The evolution into BRICS+is significant, with the collective GDP of member countries reaching $30.76 trillion, accounting for 30% of the global economy. This underscores the alliance’s economic impact and challenges the existing world order. The inclusion of nations like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the UAE offers a blueprint for shared benefits and mutual growth. China advocates for an alternative, inclusive pathway to legitimacy, promoting a world order that values sovereignty, cultural identity, and balanced global governance.
... Tan complejo se torna todo este tema que la OMC ha venido solicitando nuevos compromisos para los nuevos miembros en sus protocolos de adhesión; además, de que los mismos países están acordando cláusulas especiales en sus acuerdos comerciales para prohibir o regular las restricciones a la exportación (KORINEK; BARTOS, 2012;HUANG, 2012). Lo anterior como una medida y/o política comercial internacional paralela a las normas del sistema multilateral de comercio contenidas en las disposiciones del GATT aparte de la normativa de los textos jurídicos, todas estas, administradas por la OMC (KARAPINAR, 2011;ANANIA, 2013;BAENA, 2016). ...
... Parecen resultar entonces claros los propósitos tanto de las BA como de las BNA dentro de la lógica del proteccionismo convencional; no obstante, el comercio mundial está siendo testigo de nuevas prácticas comerciales llevadas a cabo por parte de algunos estados, en cuyo caso están siendo implementadas, de una manera distinta, estas medidas arancelarias y no arancelarias concretamente a través de restricciones a la exportación de mercancías y recursos. Todo ello, en un escenario de profunda complejidad para el sistema multilateral de comercio dada la ausencia de una regulación cabal al respecto además de los retos que puede implicar a nivel político en la OMC dentro de la agenda de las conferencias ministeriales, o en su defecto en una nueva posible ronda de negociación, abordar este nuevo tema (KARAPINAR, 2011;ANANIA, 2013;BAENA, 2016). ...
... Respecto a lo anterior las normas de primera jerarquía más relacionadas con las restricciones a la exportación son en primera instancia, el artículo "XI Eliminación General de las Restricciones Cuantitativas" del GATT que exige a los miembros de la OMC que eliminen todas las prohibiciones y restricciones cuantitativas a las exportaciones, exceptuando aquellas de orden "temporal" para prevenir y aliviar la escasez de alimentos y productos "esenciales" o aquellas necesarias para la aplicación de reglamentos concretos referidos a control de calidad. Sin embargo, el artículo no es lo suficientemente específico como para definir las circunstancias puntuales en que se podrían justificar las políticas comerciales de esta naturaleza además de que este tampoco indica el alcance, la duración, el límite de las medidas restrictivas que podrían aplicarse aparte de no dejar claro los productos como tal que están sujetos a estas medidas (KARAPINAR, 2011). ...
Desde la creación de la OMC se han recibido algunas demandas por parte de sus estados miembros todo ello respecto a la adopción de restricciones a las exportaciones. Dicha práctica supone la configuración de un nuevo tipo de proteccionismo denominado “proteccionismo inverso” el cual no parece estar regulado a cabalidad por las disposiciones del GATT. Si bien algunos de sus artículos parecen arrojar cierta luz sobre el tema, por lo que se han invocado en algunas de las diferencias de las existentes hasta la fecha –como el “Articulo VIII Derechos y Formalidades referentes a la importación y a la exportación” y el "Artículo XI Eliminación General de las Restricciones Cuantitativas", entre otros– resulta evidente la incapacidad del GATT y la OMC para remediar esta situación. Por lo tanto, dada esta carencia, es crucial dentro del sistema multilateral de comercio que se conduzca un nuevo proceso de negociación en el que se desarrolle un acuerdo definitivo que regule este tipo de políticas comerciales.
... Tan complejo se torna todo este tema que la OMC ha venido solicitando nuevos compromisos para los nuevos miembros en sus protocolos de adhesión; además, de que los mismos países están acordando cláusulas especiales en sus acuerdos comerciales para prohibir o regular las restricciones a la exportación (KORINEK; BARTOS, 2012;HUANG, 2012). Lo anterior como una medida y/o política comercial internacional paralela a las normas del sistema multilateral de comercio contenidas en las disposiciones del GATT aparte de la normativa de los textos jurídicos, todas estas, administradas por la OMC (KARAPINAR, 2011;ANANIA, 2013;BAENA, 2016). ...
... Parecen resultar entonces claros los propósitos tanto de las BA como de las BNA dentro de la lógica del proteccionismo convencional; no obstante, el comercio mundial está siendo testigo de nuevas prácticas comerciales llevadas a cabo por parte de algunos estados en cuyo caso están siendo implementadas, de una manera distinta, estas medidas arancelarias y no arancelarias concretamente a través de restricciones a la exportación de mercancías y recursos. Todo ello, en un escenario de profunda complejidad para el sistema multilateral de comercio dada la ausencia de una regulación cabal al respecto además de los retos que puede implicar a nivel político en la OMC dentro de la agenda de las conferencias ministeriales, o en su defecto en una nueva posible ronda de negociación, abordar este nuevo tema (KARAPINAR, 2011;ANANIA, 2013;BAENA, 2016). ...
... Respecto a lo anterior las normas de primera jerarquía más relacionadas con las restricciones a la exportación son en primera instancia, el artículo "XI Eliminación General de las Restricciones Cuantitativas" del GATT que exige a los miembros de la OMC que eliminen todas las prohibiciones y restricciones cuantitativas a las exportaciones, exceptuando aquellas de orden "temporal" para prevenir y aliviar la escasez de alimentos y productos "esenciales" o aquellas necesarias para la aplicación de reglamentos concretos referidos a control de calidad. Sin embargo, el artículo no es lo suficientemente específico como para definir las circunstancias puntuales en que se podrían justificar las políticas comerciales de esta naturaleza además de que este tampoco indica el alcance, la duración, el límite de las medidas restrictivas que podrían aplicarse aparte de no dejar claro los productos como tal que están sujetos a estas medidas (KARAPINAR, 2011). ...
Desde la creación de la OMC se han recibido algunas demandas por parte de sus estados miembros; todo ello, respecto a la adopción de restricciones a las exportaciones. Dicha práctica supone la configuración de un nuevo tipo de proteccionismo denominado "proteccionismo inverso" el cual no parece estar regulado a cabalidad por las disposiciones del GATT. Si bien algunos de sus artículos parecen arrojar cierta luz sobre el tema, por lo que se han invocado en algunas de las diferencias de las existentes hasta la fecha -como el "Articulo VIII Derechos y Formalidades referentes a la importación y a la exportación" y el "Artículo XI Eliminación General de las Restricciones Cuantitativas", entre otros- resulta evidente la incapacidad del GATT y la OMC para remediar esta situación. Por lo tanto, dada esta carencia, es crucial dentro del sistema multilateral de comercio que se conduzca un nuevo proceso de negociación en el que se desarrolle un acuerdo definitivo que regule este tipo de políticas comerciales.
... Indeed, nowadays some those disputes are related with an unusual trade phenomenon called "reverse protectionism" where countries adopt TBs o NTBs to restraint the exports (Baena, 2016), due to the troubles of the current international trade regulatory framework of the GATT, provisions, and legal texts within WTO (Karapinar, 2011). Additionally, this issues for solving disputes also respond to policy-making and political will among the fully members in the multilateral trading system (Nelson, 2015). ...
... All of this considering the depletion of some raw materials and other matters related to the possibility of taking control of the international prices, and taking into account the scenarios generated by this phenomenon where countries can become the only one that can supply these raw materials and products around the world in a sort of international cartel (Bolotova, 2015). For this reason, the absence of a clear regulatory framework raises new challenges for the WTO and the GATT provision into the ministerial conferences; whereby it is necessary to define the boundaries of the export restraints as trade policy within the international trade system (Karapinar, 2011). ...
... According to Karapinar (2011), the GATT provisions and the legal texts apparently address this issue in the article "XI: General Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions". This article requires the WTO full members to remove all their prohibitions and quantitative restrictions for the exports except those temporary measures to prevent or relieve critical shortages of food and essential products. ...
Since GATT and WTO foundation, some disputes have occurred between their full member regarding the adoption of export restrictions, which has generated a neo-protectionism or "reverse protectionism", which is not yet properly regulated within the multilateral trading system. This article aims to present an analysis of the export restrictions in international trade. For this, all the disputes raised to date on tariff measures and non-tariff measures applied to the export of goods under the GATT and WTO regime are identified. Therefore, we concluded that it is necessary for the WTO to develop trade policies that properly regulate export restrictions in international trade.
... Indeed, nowadays some those disputes are related with an unusual trade phenomenon called "reverse protectionism" where countries adopt TBs o NTBs to restraint the exports (Baena, 2016), due to the troubles of the current international trade regulatory framework of the GATT, provisions, and legal texts within WTO (Karapinar, 2011). Additionally, this issues for solving disputes also respond to policy-making and political will among the fully members in the multilateral trading system (Nelson, 2015). ...
... All of this considering the depletion of some raw materials and other matters related to the possibility of taking control of the international prices, and taking into account the scenarios generated by this phenomenon where countries can become the only one that can supply these raw materials and products around the world in a sort of international cartel (Bolotova, 2015). For this reason, the absence of a clear regulatory framework raises new challenges for the WTO and the GATT provision into the ministerial conferences; whereby it is necessary to define the boundaries of the export restraints as trade policy within the international trade system (Karapinar, 2011). ...
... According to Karapinar (2011), the GATT provisions and the legal texts apparently address this issue in the article "XI: General Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions". This article requires the WTO full members to remove all their prohibitions and quantitative restrictions for the exports except those temporary measures to prevent or relieve critical shortages of food and essential products. ...
Since GATT and WTO foundation, some disputes have occurred between their full member regarding the adoption of export restrictions, which has generated a neo-protectionism or "reverse protectionism", which is not yet properly regulated within the multilateral trading system. This article aims to present an analysis of the export restrictions in international trade. For this, all the disputes raised to date on tariff measures and non-tariff measures applied to the export of goods under the GATT and WTO regime are identified. Therefore, we concluded that it is necessary for the WTO to develop trade policies that properly regulate export restrictions in international trade.
... WTO law on export restrictions is an area of evident 'under-regulation' or 'regulatory deficiency', as it neither properly defines the circumstances under which quantitative restrictions can be used, nor regulates export taxes (Karapinar, 2011 and. This leaves countries with ample space for policy decisionmaking on export restrictions, a space which they do not have when it comes to restricting imports. ...
... Interesting enough, while WTO members decided not to impose on themselves any tangible constraint on their policies restricting exports, at the same time they forced acceding countries to accept significant limitations on their ability to do the same. Several countries which acceded to the WTO after the conclusion of the Uruguay Round -including China, Mongolia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Vietnam -had to accept obligations which go beyond, to different extents, existing WTO rules, introducing, in this as well as other areas, a sort of "WTO-plus" commitments (Crosby, 2008;Karapinar, 2011 and. These obligations refer to the elimination for certain products of existing export restrictions different from export taxes, such as minimum export prices, but also to the elimination of existing export taxes for certain products or the introduction of binding levels. ...
... It is expected that China would be sympathetic to the use of export barriers, being a major user itself for some strategic (non-beef ) commodities. 94 Other countries have applied export barriers for beef due to high exports to China and price effects. 95 That is, in circumstances of supply-side constraints, China may expect the cross-border integration process to be disrupted. ...
China has sought agricultural integration with neighbouring countries to access resources, promote economic development and border stability, and to manage problems of food safety, biosecurity and smuggling. Based on fieldwork and primary data from both sides of the border, this article examines the way that these forces play out in the case of the Myanmar-China cattle trade. Both countries have embarked on the formidable task of diverting a large flow of smuggled cattle into formal channels where cattle are inspected for diseases and taxes levied. While these measures were facilitated by high-level policy support and about US$1 billion in government and corporate investment, they have not been successful in formalising and expanding the trade. This is primarily because the Myanmar government was concerned with resource depletion and because smuggling is more profitable for value chain actors. As such, these concerns should be incorporated into future revised trade programmes. This article enhances our understating of China's cross-border integration programme and provides new empirical data for researchers of trade policy, transboundary disease management and agricultural development.
... Nonetheless, they may still enjoy the availability of exceptions and face limited sanctions if they violate their accession obligations in this policy field. Stricter international regulation of this policy area in order to enhance the predictably and reliability of global food supplies is key to avoiding nutritional shocks [11,50,51]. ...
Food security analyses of international trade largely overlook the importance of substantial heterogeneity and complexity of nutrient content in food products. This paper quantifies the extent to which wheat-based nutrient supplies, including energy, protein, iron, zinc, and magnesium, are exposed to the risks of realistic productivity and trade shocks. By employing a static and stochastic world trade computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, we find that productivity shocks may result in losses in households’ nutrient consumption of up to 18% for protein, 33.1% for zinc, and 37.4% for magnesium. Significant losses are observed in countries mostly in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Since the main centers of wheat exports have recently been shifting to former Soviet Union countries, we also simulated the nutritional risks of export restrictions imposed by the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, which have resorted to this policy instrument in recent years. We find that partial export restrictions increase the probability of nutrient shocks by five times or more in most countries that we studied. Increased nutrient deficiencies have a range of public health implications in the affected countries, which could be mitigated and/or avoided by adjusting production and trade policies and by targeting high nutritional risk groups, such as women and children. Since the potential implications of supply shocks are diffused across countries through international trade, the stricter regulation of export restrictions to enhance the predictably and reliability of global food supplies is also needed.
... There are several other justifications for export restrictions: export levies may be a source of government revenue; a retaliation to trade restrictions imposed by trading partners; or used to protect scarce natural resource or restrict trade in illicit goods (see Karapinar, 2011). While these are all legitimate justifications for export restrictions, the focus in this study is on trade restrictions imposed on agricultural products and their implications for food security and industrial development in a developing country context. ...
Restrictions on staple or cash crop exports are frequently imposed in developing countries to promote food security or industrial development. By diverting production to local markets, these policies tend to reduce prices and increase domestic supply of food or intermediate inputs in the short term, to the benefit of consumers or manufacturers, which make them attractive to policymakers. However, in the long term, export restrictions discourage agricultural production, which may ultimately negate the short-term gains. This study assesses the economy-wide effects of Malawi’s long-term maize export ban, which was only recently lifted, and a proposed oilseed export levy intended to improve food security and support local processing industries, respectively. We find that maize export bans only benefit the urban non-poor, while poor farmers’ incomes and maize consumption levels decline in the longer run. The oilseed export levy also fails to achieve its long run objectives: even when tax revenues are used to further subsidize food processors, their gains in value-addition are outweighed by declining agricultural value-addition. More generally, these results show that while export restrictions may have the desired outcomes in the short run, production responses may render the policies ineffective in the medium to long run. Ultimately, such restrictive policies reinforce a subsistence approach to agriculture, which is inconsistent with the stated economic transformation goals of many Sub-Saharan African countries.
... There are several other justifications for export restrictions: export levies may be a source of government revenue; a retaliation to trade restrictions imposed by trading partners; or used to protect scarce natural resource or restrict trade in illicit goods (see Karapinar, 2011). While these are all legitimate justifications for export restrictions, the focus in this study is on trade restrictions imposed on agricultural products and their implications for food security and industrial development in a developing country context. ...
Restrictions on staple or cash crop exports are frequently imposed in developing countries to promote food security or industrial development. By diverting production to local markets, these policies tend to reduce prices and increase domestic supply of food or intermediate inputs in the short term, to the benefit of consumers or manufacturers, which make them attractive to policymakers. However, in the long term, export restrictions discourage agricultural production, which may ultimately negate the short-term gains. This study assesses the economy-wide effects of Malawi’s long-term maize export ban, which was only recently lifted, and a proposed oilseed export levy intended to improve food security and support local processing industries, respectively. We find that maize export bans only benefit the urban non-poor, while poor farmers’ incomes and maize consumption levels decline in the longer run. The oilseed export levy also fails to achieve its long run objectives: even when tax revenues are used to further subsidize food processors, their gains in value-addition are outweighed by declining agricultural value-addition. More generally, these results show that while export restrictions may have the desired outcomes in the short run, production responses may render the policies ineffective in the medium to long run. Ultimately, such restrictive policies reinforce a subsistence approach to agriculture, which is inconsistent with the stated economic transformation goals of many Sub-Saharan African countries.
... The potential impacts of climate change on agricultural trade and the role that trade could play in adaptation will inevitably depend on countries' trade policies. There is medium evidence and medium agreement that deepening agricultural markets through trade reform, improved market access, avoiding export controls, and developing institutional mechanisms to improve the predictability and the reliability of the world trading system as well as investing in additional supply capacity of small-scale farms in developing countries could help reduce market volatility and offset supply shortages that might be caused by climate change (Reimer and Li, 2009;Tamiotti et al., 2009;UNEP, 2009;Karapinar, 2011Karapinar, , 2012Tanaka and Hosoe, 2011;Ahmed et al., 2012). ...
Introduction 9.1.1. Rationale for the Chapter This chapter assesses the impacts of climate change on, and the prospects for adaptation in, rural areas. Rural areas include diverse patterns of settlement, infrastructure, and livelihoods, and relate in complex ways with urban areas. The chapter shows that rural areas experience specific vulnerabilities to climate change, both through their dependence on natural resources and weather-dependent activities and their relative lack of access to information, decision making, investment, and services. Adaptation strategies will need to address these vulnerabilities. Some of the key starting points, which affect the scope and coverage of literature assessed in this chapter, are as follows: • Rural areas, even after significant demographic shifts, still account for 3.3 billion people, or almost half (47.9%) of the world’s total population (UN DESA Population Division, 2013). • The overwhelming majority of the world’s rural population (3.1 billion people, or 91.7% of the world’s rural population, or 44.0% of the world’s total population) live in less developed or least developed countries (UN DESA Population Division, 2013). • Rural dwellers also account for about 70% of the developing world’s poor people. IFAD (2010) states that around 70% of the extreme poor in developing countries lived in rural areas in 2005. Ravallion et al. (2007), using 2002 data and poverty lines of US2.15, in each case with urban poverty lines adjusted upward to recognize additional non-food spending, give a figure of around 75% of people, under either poverty line, being rural. • Rural areas are a spatial category, associated with certain patterns of human activity, but with those associations being subject to continuous change. • Rural areas are largely defined in contradistinction to urban areas, but that distinction is increasingly seen as problematic. • Rural populations have, and will have, a variety of income sources and occupations, within which agriculture and the exploitation of natural resources have privileged, but not necessarily predominant, positions.
It has been twenty-three years since China acceded to the WTO. Since then, China has participated in high-profile disputes through the WTO's DSM. During this period, China has evolved from being a silent observer to a sophisticated participant in the DSM. This has provided a valuable opportunity to observe China's participation in the DSM and to analyse the factors affecting China's performance. This article examines China's engagement in the DSM relating to cases concerning China's Accession Protocol in which China was involved as a respondent. Based on an in-depth analysis of eleven Protocol-related cases settled among all cases pertaining to China's Accession Protocol, I conclude that both the Accession Protocol itself and the interpretive approach adopted by the DSB have made it challenging for China to defend against allegations of violating its obligations under China's Accession Protocol and the associated commitments outlined in China's Working Party Report. WTO Members can consequently without difficulty resort to certain provisions under China's Accession Protocol to bring cases against China.
Energy intersects with the environment at all stages of its life cycle by affecting nature and public health and is subject to government measures concerning low-carbon growth, energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy and ecologically safe supply of nuclear and other energy resources. This timely book provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of international economic law in regulating such an energy-environment nexus under the regimes of the WTO, the Energy Charter Treaty, regional trade agreements and investment treaties. The author discusses the international environmental and economic law foundations of this nexus and extensively examines relevant rules, jurisprudence and practices regarding trade restrictions, subsidies, technical standards, investment protection and technology policies. This book highlights the existing gaps and 'greening' solutions within the framework of international economic law. Where relevant, it draws comparisons between trade law and investment law to show their similarities, differences and (potential) conflicts at the energy-environment interface.
The extraction and processing of raw materials into commodities are not only attractive for their economic value but also for political reasons. This makes natural resources a source of extreme greed. In this context, regions rich in raw materials, such as Africa, become the scene of local and foreign speculation and, instead of contributing to the development of endowed countries, natural resources often become factors of fragility – hence the ‘natural resources curse’ phrase. While countries exercise sovereignty over their resources by virtue of international law, it has also become essential to develop more sustainable activities in order to continue to exploit these resources. Cognisant of these global environmental challenges, a great number of countries in the world are committed to safeguarding the planet, as can be seen from the adoption of the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. At the international level, the multiplicity and complexity of legal norms applicable to the exploitation of natural resources can constitute an obstacle to their application. Indeed, while the scarcity of resources and the surge of environmental problems associated with their exploitation have led to greater reliance on international law because the stakes are global and permeate political boundaries, the corpus of international law rules is sometimes only indirectly relevant to natural resources, since they were not enacted to protect natural resources per se. This is the case of the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which, while not adopted for that purpose, have a bearing on trade in natural resources. While all WTO members are required to open their markets to competition from abroad, WTO-covered agreements give them a certain leeway to regulate this flow in order to pursue societal goals. In other words, under certain circumstances, a WTO member is allowed to justify otherwise WTO-inconsistent measures in the name of legitimate domestic values. This paper focuses on trade rules that control the asymmetrical global distribution and exhaustibility of natural resources, especially export restrictions and their justifications in WTO law. The objective of this paper is to analyse the international and unilateral trade measures addressing non-trade concerns and their relevance for natural resources management in Africa. L’extraction et la transformation des matières premières en produits finis de base sont non seulement attractives pour leur valeur économique mais aussi pour des raison politiques. Ce qui fait des ressources naturelles une source de cupidité extrême. A cet effet, au lieu de contribuer au développement des pays qui y sont dotés, les régions riches en matières premières deviennent le théâtre des spéculations nationales et étrangères au point où les ressources naturelles deviennent des facteurs de déstabilisation d’où l’appellation de « malédiction des ressources naturelles ». Bien que les pays exercent la souveraineté sur leurs ressources en vertu du droit international, il devient essentiel de développer des activités plus durables afin de continuer l’exploitation de ces ressources. Conscient de ces problèmes environnementaux dans le monde, un grand nombre de pays dans le monde s’engagent à sauvegarder la planète, comme peut-on constater avec l’adoption de la Convention africaine pour la Conservation de la Nature et des Ressources naturelles. Sur le plan international, la multiplicité et la complexité des normes juridiques applicables à l’exploitation des ressources naturelles peuvent constituer un obstacle pour son application. En effet, si la rareté des ressources et la montée des problèmes environnementaux liées à leur exploitation ont conduit à une dépendance accrue au droit international parce que les enjeux sont mondiaux et dépassent les barrières politiques, les règles du droit international s’appliquent indirectement aux ressources naturelles puisqu’elles n’ont pas été promulguées pour protéger les ressources naturelles en tant que tel. Ceci est le cas des règles de l‘Organisation mondiale du Commerce (OMS), qui, bien que non adoptées ont une incidence sur le commerce des ressources naturelles. Bien que les membres de l’OMS ont obligations d’ouvrir leurs marchés à la concurrence étrangère, les accords couverts par l’OMS leur donnent un certain levier pour réguler ce flux afin de poursuivre des objectifs sociétaux. Autrement dit, dans certaines circonstances, un membre de l’OMS est autorisé de justifier les mesures incompatibles avec les règles de l’OMS pour des raisons de valeurs nationales légitimes. Cet article se focalise sur les règles commerciales qui contrôlent la distribution mondiale asymétrique et l’épuisement des ressources naturelles particulièrement les restrictions à l’exportation et leurs justifications d’après la loi de l’OMS. L’objectif de cet article est d’examiner les mesures internationales et unilatérales qui adressent les préoccupations non commerciales et leur importance sur la gestion des ressources naturelles en Afrique.
İklim Değişikliğinin Türkiye Tarım Sektörüne Etkisi
The current WTO regime on export restraints comprises two extremes: at one end is the near complete freedom to levy export duties enjoyed by most Members, which renders the WTO discipline on export restrictions largely ineffective; at the other the rigid obligations imposed on several acceding Members prohibiting the use of export duties for any purpose. The recent WTO ruling in China-Raw Materials has only solidified the latter extreme. This article seeks to expose the irrationality of the current regime, especially the problems created by the rigid obligations of the several acceding Members. It contends that such obligations deprive these Members of their ownership right to claim a larger share of their natural resources for domestic use and of an effective tool for managing environmental externalities associated with the resource products exported. The virtual immutability of such obligations is at odds with the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources. To rectify these problems, the article proposes integrating all stand-alone export concessions into GATT schedules, which would provide the acceding Members with the policy space and flexibility available under the GATT. It is also submitted that the key to gaining support from developing countries for the establishment of a system-wide discipline lies in the recognition of legitimate functions of export duties. Rather than pushing for their elimination, the WTO should aim to regulate export duties in the same manner as its regulation of import duties.
This chapter focuses on the disciplines on export restrictions found in the WTO agreements as well as relevant jurisprudence by WTO panels and the Appellate Body in general and in particular in the context of export restrictions on natural resources. In addition, the wider impact of export restrictions is examined in the areas of sustainable development, food security, and environmental protection. The chapter also explores alternative approaches and suggestions for increasing the regulation of export restrictions, found in accession protocols of some recently acceded WTO Members, regional trade agreements, negotiating proposals in the context of the Doha Round and G20 negotiations, and academic literature.
There is little doubt among economists about the trade distortion effects of export taxes, like those of import duties. It is found in this paper that, under the multilateral trading system of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Members' commitments to the elimination or limitation of the use of export taxes are highly imbalanced. While all original WTO Members except Australia and most Members by accession undertake no such commitment, the commitments of a number of other new Members are somehow substantial. The situation is even worse in the case of China, due to the mechanic interpretation approach recently adopted by the Panel and Appellate Body in China - Raw Materials. This paper examines this issue from both legislative and judicial perspectives, and makes recommendations to China for its future trade negotiations and dispute settlement.
This chapter focuses on a relatively narrow, although hugely significant, class of natural resources, namely minerals, and the legal approaches to handling scarcity or insecure supply in this area. Even this susceptibly discrete subsection of non-renewable natural resources is subject to a maze of conditions, perceptions and norms which influence the quest for secure and sustainable supply. Geological availability obviously varies tremendously between different mineral resources and must be approached on the level of individual minerals. The fact that the global trade regime represented by the World Trade Organization (WTO) does not provide a strong discipline on export restrictions has prompted large trading powers like the EU and the US to attempt to extract more far-reaching commitments in the context of regional trade agreements (RTAS). With respect to RTAS the situation is patchy and differences in rules may distort the operation of genuinely international raw materials markets. Keywords: geological availability; global trade regime; international raw materials markets; mineral resources; non-renewable natural resources; regional trade agreements (RTAS); World Trade Organization (WTO)
This article examines the cross-section between energy, environmental, and international law while exploring the recent developments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to non-free trade agreement countries, and considers how international free trade agreements affect efforts to restrict or limit exports of LNG. The article discusses the environmental and economic impacts of large-scale exports of LNG, but argues that efforts to stifle LNG exports will ultimately fail regardless of potential negative impacts due to conflict with existing international trade agreements, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Since approval of export licenses for LNG is inevitable, the article offers proposals to achieve safe natural gas production and considers factors that are important in understanding the greater impacts of the United States becoming a major exporter of LNG.
This article attempts to analyse and investigate the implications of the approach to the applicability of Article XX GATT adopted in the recent China - Raw Materials. Using the decision on the non-availability of Article XX defences for violations of China's WTO-plus commitments on export duties as a backdrop, it scrutinizes the more general, 'systemic' approach to the applicability of Article XX exceptions developed by the WTO dispute settlement bodies, and sheds light on the implications of such approach with respect to the relationship between GATT 1994 and WTO obligations arising from different instruments of the WTO Agreement, such as new members' accession protocols. It also suggests that an exception to this general approach could be envisaged when the fundamental environmental goals protected under Article XX b) and g) are at stake.
Natural resources are critical to global value chains as minerals, good climate and fertile soil are commonly required for the beginning of the chain, with the consequence that any interruption in their supply threatens the chain's continued integrity. Trade in such resources provides a valuable source of income for resource-rich states. Yet exploitation of natural resources can result in their exhaustion and biodiversity loss, while their extraction can lead to environmental damage and human rights abuses, with the result that any positive contribution to sustainable development for resource-rich states is quickly undermined. Effective regulation is critical to maximise benefits and minimise potential harm. The WTO's rules seem ideally suited to allow the state to impose measures that militate against the overexploitation of the resource by corporations, whilst simultaneously ensuring that that regulation does not unnecessarily impede the flow of resources within the value chain. However, this paper will show that applying the WTO's rules to natural resource use in global value chains presents both substantive and normative challenges.
It is widely recognized that the World Trade Organization (WTO) law on export restrictions is an area of 'under-regulation' - as it neither defines the circumstances that justify quantitative restrictions nor regulates export duties. There are also additional legal uncertainties due to the 'WTO-plus' commitments imposed on a few new Members. In the absence of legal clarity, it is crucial to have a consistent interpretation of the existing law and the jurisprudence. In this context, by analysing five relevant cases which have been brought before the WTO/General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), including the recent China - Raw Materials, this article attempts to shed light on the legal boundaries of export restrictions. It examines the panels' interpretation of the definition of the relevant legal terms, such as 'critical shortage' of 'essential products', and 'temporarily applied'. It reviews the accession protocols of the new Members, and analyses how the emerging case law might constrain their policy space. It also scrutinizes the panels' interpretation of GATT Article XX in examining the relationship between the design of export restrictions and their intended environmental objectives. It is envisaged that the case law analysis of the legal scope of export restrictions could inform the future reform efforts in this field. © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Melding the power of the state with the power of capitalism, state-owned and state-controlled enterprises continue to control the commanding heights of the Chinese economy even though market-oriented reforms have led to a rapid expansion of the private sector in China. This article reflects on how China's practice of state capitalism challenges the world trading system and how WTO law, as interpreted by WTO Panels and the WTO Appellate Body (AB), addresses these challenges. The article concludes that the WTO Agreement on Subsides and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) has been interpreted in such a manner that many key features of China's state capitalism could easily be challenged by its trading partners in a WTO-consistent manner. This finding has profound implications for China's domestic economic reforms, especially China's ongoing reforms of its state-owned enterprises and commercial banks.
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture was designed to maximize trade flows at a time of surplus agricultural production. It required Members to open markets and to reduce domestic and export subsidies. Proposals for reform in the Doha Round negotiations largely adopt the same pattern. Yet, as surplus is replaced by shortage, Members are increasingly concerned about food security and the impact of agriculture on climate change. And contemporary agricultural policies crystallize around ‘sustainable intensification’, where domestic production is promoted, but not at the expense of future production. This article suggests that, although both the Agreement on Agriculture and the Doha Round proposals do provide some scope for measures to address this new policy paradigm, there are instances where they may work actively against it.
Recent years have witnessed an ever-increasing resort to export restrictions in the markets for raw materials, causing heightened uncertainty about supply availability together with friction among trading partners. Poor transparency can amplify and compound the effects of restrictive trade policies. This paper explores the issue of transparency with respect to the use of export restrictions, especially focusing on the question of what information governments applying them make publicly available. After explaining how transparency is operationalised in the conduct of trade policy and what its benefits are for trading firms, investors and other stakeholders, in importing countries inasmuch as in the economies applying export restrictions, the paper reviews applicable rules and commitments elaborated in GATT/WTO, regional trade agreements and other sources of rules. The review shows an evolutive, cumulative path towards greater transparency in trade policy over time and distills best-practice principles and tools specifically aiming at the provision of information. The last section of the paper applies a checklist of information elements consistent with these best practices to the study of actual national information policies. This is done by examining the content of public information on export restrictions in the minerals sector that is made available on the governmental websites of 33 countries that make use of such measures. The exercise suggests where national information policies appear to have gaps and could be improved. It also provides illustrations of country approaches for delivering such information in a comprehensive and efficient manner.
What may be called ‘instant economics’ has always appealed to the quick-witted layman impatient with the slow-moving economist. This is particularly so in the field of hunger and food policy. Of course, the need for speed is genuinely important in matters of food, and the impatience is, thus, easy to understand. But instant economics is also highly deceptive and especially dangerous in this field. Millions of lives depend on the adequacy of policy response to the terrible problems of hunger and starvation in the modern world. Past mistakes of policy have been responsible for the death of many millions of people and the suffering of hundreds of millions, and this is not a subject in which short-cuts in economic reasoning can be taken to be fairly costless. (Sen 1998). In early 2008, world prices of major agricultural commodities, including wheat, rice, maize and oilseed crops reached their highest levels in nearly three decades. Stocks of the major commodities had been reduced to their lowest levels, yet food prices continued to mount, straining the budget of low income households all around the world. This led to some political tensions too – as people took to the streets in more than 30 countries, demanding their governments take action. There were even violent food riots that toppled governments, such as the one in Haiti. What is puzzling, however, is that the rising food prices caught the world by surprise.
Barriers to trade come in a variety of forms. This article examines one such barrier, export restrictions, and how it impacts trade and global supply in selected strategic metals and minerals. The metals and minerals examined in the article are of particular interest for a number of reasons: they are generally geographically concentrated in a few countries, many are used in the production of high-technology goods in strategic sectors, and there are few substitutes for these raw materials given the present state of technology. For all these reasons, importing countries are dependent on a reliable supply of these raw materials. Export restrictions may be applied for a number of reasons: protection of the environment, preservation of natural resources, protection of downstream industries, or as a response to a number of different market imperfections. This article examines the motivations for using export restrictions and finds varying impacts on trade and global supply. In one case, the export restrictions put into place did not fulfil their objective of environmental protection. In another, the presence of export restrictions in one country put pressure on other exporters to apply restrictions, suggesting the potential for competitive policy practices in restricting exports. In a third case study, export restrictions were seen to impact investment decisions by potential suppliers worldwide by introducing an added element of risk in the industry. The impact of export restrictions on strategic metals and minerals is exacerbated in many cases because producing countries have a quasi-monopoly on supply. Since these metals and minerals are essential in the production of some high-technology products and are not easily replaceable in the medium term, industry participants in some importing countries are concerned about future access at sustainable prices.
Export restrictions imposed on various food products and natural resources have been subject to extensive public attention. Most recently, China's restrictions of its exports of certain minerals and rare earth metals have led to heated debates. The United States (US), European Union (EU), and Mexico have already filed a WTO dispute case against China on this matter. This paper describes the policy objectives and the global welfare implications of export restrictions. It summarizes the relevant WTO regulation, and offers a detailed analysis of the China–Raw Materials case which is before the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). It argues that although export restrictions is arguably an area of ‘under-regulation’ or ‘regulatory deficiency’ in the WTO law, it is strongly biased against the late accession Members, including China. Yet, the way that China institutes its export restrictions raises serious questions about its role in the multilateral trading system, which it relies on for its economic prosperity. Hence, this is an area where China is likely to feel the implications of its so-called ‘WTO-plus’ commitments on its domestic and trade policies.
Although fundamental factors were clearly responsible for shifting the world to a higher food price equilibrium in the years leading up the 2008 food crisis, there is little doubt that when food prices peaked in June of 2008, they soared well above the new equilibrium price. Numerous arguments have been proposed to explain overshooting, including financial speculation, depreciation of the United States (US) dollar, low interest rates, and reductions in grain stocks. However, observations that international rice prices surged in response to export restrictions by India and Vietnam suggested that trade-related factors could be an important basis for overshooting, especially given the very tangible link between export volumes and export prices. In this paper, we revisit the trade story by closely examining monthly data from Thailand (the largest exporter of rice), and the United States (the largest exporter of wheat and maize and the third largest exporter of soybeans). In all cases except soybeans, we find that large surges in export volumes preceded the price surges. The presence of these large demand surges, together with back-of-the-envelope estimates of their price impacts, suggests that trade events played a much larger and more pervasive role than previously thought.
The current consensus on indirect tax reform in developing countries favors a reduction in trade taxes with an increase in VAT to raise revenue. The theoretical results on selective reform that underlie this consensus are, however, derived from partial models that ignore the existence of an informal economy. Once the incomplete coverage of VAT due to an informal economy is acknowledged, we show that, contrary to the current consensus, the standard revenue-neutral selective reform of trade taxes and VAT reduces welfare under plausible conditions. Moreover, a VAT base broadening with a revenue-neutral reduction in trade taxes may also reduce welfare. The results raise serious doubts about the wisdom of the indirect tax reform policies pursued by a large number of developing countries.