最惠国条款在BIT争端解决中的适用问题

最惠国待遇不是一条习惯国际法规则,其适用依赖于缔约各方的合意。在BIT规定MFN待遇的适用范围与例外不够明确时,ICSID仲裁庭对于MFN条款是否能够适用于争端解决程序尚未取得一致意见,存在着有限适用、完全适用、基本不适用、完全不适用四种情况。中国目前的BIT实践不能排除将来仲裁庭把最惠国条款适用于争端解决的可能性,应就此采取相应对策。

To grant MFN treatment is not an obligation of customary international law and its applicability is to be determined by the agreement between the parties.While the scope and exemptions of the MFN clause are not defined clearly enough in BIT,the ICSID tribunals held four different opinions in determine whether the MFN treatment is applicable to dispute settlement proceeding,namely"applicable restrictively","applicable completely","basically inapplicable",and"completely inapplicable".China’s modern BIT practice makes it possible that the future ICSID tribunal may hold the opinion that the MFN treatment stipulated in BIT between China and a foreign country is applicable to dispute settlement proceeding,thus corresponding countermeasure should be adopted.