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Friday, March 30, 2012 |
The least you should know
about
The WTO
| 1. |
Little known facts |
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| (1) | Decision making is by consensus | |
| (2) | Members must abide by only the commitments they have agreed to: "bindings" | |
| (3) | Rulings arise only if a complaint is filed (Dispute Settlement Panel) | |
| 2. |
Key provisions |
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| a. | Provisions for nondiscrimination | |||
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(1) |
"Most-favored-nation" (MFN) clause: The Contracting Parties are "bound to grant to the products of other contracting parties treatment no less favorable than that accorded to products of any other country." | |||
| (2) | "National treatment" on taxation and regulation | |||
| b. | Provisions for specific policies | |||
| (1) | Tariffs: standard tariffs cannot exceed "bound rates" (WTO commitments) | |||
| Allowable temporary tariffs in cases of "material injury or threat of material injury": | ||||
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(1.1) |
safeguard -- severe hardship from a trade concession | |||
| (1.2) | anti-dumping duty -- offsets exporter dumping margin when export price is below "normal value" | |||
| (1.3) | countervailing duty -- offsets effects of exporter subsidies | |||
| (2) | Quotas: no longer allowed | |||
| (3) | Technical and administrative regulations: should "not create..."unnecessary obstacles to trade" | |||
| (4) | Measures to protect
human, animal or plant life: Must... |
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(4.1) |
be based on scientific evidence | |||
| (4.2) | not discriminate between members (where identical or similar conditions prevail) | |||
| (4.3) | "not constitute a disguised restriction on international trade" | |||
| (5) | Subsidies | |||
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(5.1) |
red = prohibited -- example: export subsidies | |||
| (5.2) | yellow = actionable -- example: production subsidy | |||
| (5.3) | green = nonactionable -- examples: environmental / R&D / disadvantaged regions | |||
| c. | Provisions for special treatment | |||
| (1) | National security | |||
| (2) | LDCs | |||
| (3) | Social regulation: Acceptable but must not... | |||
| (3.1) | "constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination" | |||
| (3.2) | "represent disguised restrictions on international trade" | |||
| (4) | Custom Unions and Free-Trade Areas -- preferential trading agreements | |||