WTO下一般例外条款对中国适用置疑——兼评中国原材料出口限制案专家组的解释

The Unanswered Question on the Applicability of GATT XX to China On Panel's Interpretation Method in China Raw Material Dispute

中国《入世议定书》中大量的义务附加条款和权利减损条款致使中国在争端中援引一般例外条款时遇到障碍。原材料案专家组认为,中国所违反的《入世议定书》第11.3条并没有以直接或间接的方式将WTO其他涵盖协定纳入其中,因此不得以一般例外条款来抗辩。字面解释《入世议定书》的结果是导致贸易限制性更强的进口限制措施比贸易限制性弱的出口限制措施更容易获得豁免。因此,上诉机构应灵活运用约文解释和目的解释方法,限制权利减损条款的歧视性运用。

China＇ s accession protocol contains abundant WTO- plus obligations and WTO- minus obligations, which make the general exception clause of GATT inapplicable to China. The panel in China raw material dispute believed that Article 11.3 of the protocol does not incorporate the WTO agreements into the protocol directly or indirectly, so China shall not resort to Article XX. The result of interpreting the protocol literally is that more restrictive import measures are more exonerated than less restrictive export measures. Therefore, the Appellate Body shall interpret the protocol flexibly to restrict the discriminatory application of WTO-minus obligations.