国内规制主权与自由贸易的冲突及解决方案——技术性贸易壁垒的本质及规则发展趋势初探

The Conflicts between Domestic Regulatory Autonomy and Free Trade and Its Solutions:Initial Exploration on the Nature of Technical Barriers to Trade and the Trend of Rule-making

WTO规则中的技术壁垒本质是国内规制。WTO规则规定国内规制不得对贸易造成不必要障碍,这被视为协调国内规制主权和自由贸易关系的重要规定。但因国内规制主权与自由贸易内在的紧张关系,技术壁垒协定的实施遭遇越来越严峻的挑战。近年来,WTO开始承认现行规则的局限性,并探讨通过规制合作的方式应对技术壁垒。目前,WTO内规制合作进展不畅,贸易伙伴主要通过自贸区等双边途径推进技术壁垒相关工作。

Technical barriers in the WTO are in their nature domestic regulations.The WTO rules provide that domestic regulations cannot constitute unnecessary barriers to trade,which are regarded as important provisions coordinating the relation between domestic regulatory autonomy and free trade.Due to the inherent intentions between domestic regulations and free trade,the implementation of the agreements on technical barriers is facing more and more serious challenges.In recent years,the WTO has admitted this situation and started to explore news approaches such as regulatory cooperation in order to address technical barrier to trade.Currently,initiatives on regulatory cooperation in the WTO have not been going smoothly.Trade partners are exploring the ways to address technical barrier mainly through free trade area(FTA)negotiations and other bilateral initiatives.