A Research On The Public Morals Exception Clause Of WTO

The exceptional rules are crucial parts of the WTO legal system, as well as important grounds of judgment of the DSB. The"public morals"exception had been existed since the original documents of GATT1947 and has been drawing increasing concerns since the extension of WTO to countries with diverse status of religion, culture and society. Beyond normal impression, the concept of"public morals"has been controversial, not only the drafter of GATT didn't explain the notion explicitly but also the panel and the appellate body kept reticent on the matter for a fairly long period. Nevertheless, trade restrictions based on public morals were practicing by countries all the time and was first raised as a formal defense in the US-Gambling case, after which WTO members became aware of the influence of public moral exception much better. That explains why the recent case China-Measures Affecting Trading rights and Distribution Services for Certain Publications and Audiovisual Entertainment Products (WT /DS363 /R) was on a heated discussion from beginning to end and the significance of deeper analysis in this paper.This article will first introduce the academic research on public morals exception domestic and abroad, then start with the history and purpose of the clause. After going through the specific measures of trade restriction based on public morals and the divergence of the concept of the public moral, I sustain that the"limited unilateralism"interpretation method deals better about the complicated disputes of WTO currently and coincident with the primary intention of the clause. Ulteriorly, this article will present the general principle of application of public moral exceptions set up by the US-Gambling case. The fourth part refers to the US-China case especially about the core issues namely the application of exceptional clauses of GATT, the China commitment of entering WTO, the dual nature of culture products and the necessity of complained measures. In addition, the article also noted that there were blemishes in the report of the panel and the appellate body.Based on the above analysis, the article will finally propose several tactics for the better application of public morals exception clause of China. First of all ,the national legislation should present the connection with WTO legal system; in the second place,the discriminatory trend should be eliminated in the future policy, particularly about culture industry; Meanwhile, the"least trade restriction"will promote the effectiveness and the efficiency of trade policy and reduce the disadvantageous proof of in WTO dispute.