WTO/TBT协定中特殊与差别待遇条款的运用与思考

Application and Consideration of Special and Differential Treatment Clauses in WTO/TBT Agreement

以公平互利为核心理念的特殊与差别待遇条款作为WTO框架的重要组成部分,对保护发展中国家参与国际贸易起到重要作用,但在实际施行中其效果却并不尽人意,完善该条款已成为WTO改革中的热点问题。基于此,本文从美国原产地标识案及美国丁香烟案入手,分析了争端解决机构适用TBT协定12.3条的内涵、"三要素"条件及举证责任分配现状,剖析了特殊与差别待遇条款在适用中暴露出的证明责任归属不合理、软法性质援引困难、发达国家阻碍等一系列实践问题。为此,在WTO改革中应推动发展中国家特殊与差别待遇条款的法律规范化,以发展中国家能力建设目标为导向,强化成员国的合作,保障发展中国家更好地融入多边贸易体制。

As an important part of the WTO framework,the special and differential treatment clauses with fairness and mutual benefit as the core concept play an important role in protecting developing countries participating in international trade.However,in actual implementation,the effect is not satisfactory.It has become a hot issue in WTO reform.Based on this,the article starts with the US—Certain Country of Origin Labelling Requirements case and the US—Measures Affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes case,analyzed the connotation and"three elements"conditions of the dispute settlement agency’s application of the 12.3 clauses of the TBT Agreement and the status of the burden of proof,and analyzes a series of practical issues such as the unreasonable attribution of the proof,the difficulty of invoking the soft law,and the hindrance of developed countries on the application of special and differential treatment clauses.To this end,in the WTO reform,the legalization of special and differential treatment clauses in developing countries should be promoted,and guided by the goal of capacity building in developing countries,strengthen cooperation among member states and ensure that developing countries are better integrated into the multilateral trading system.