Study On The General Exception Clause Of General Agreement On Trade In Services (GATS)

The general exception clause of GATS (Article 14 of GATS) plays an important role in GATS by making a balance between liberalization of trade in services and special national policy objectives. As the general exception clause of GATS has been firstly invoked by a Member in the US-Gambling Case, it has aroused more and more attention. Using other scholars' researches and the reports of the DSB for reference, this thesis tries to make a preliminary study on the general exception clause of GATS.The full text of the article is divided into three main parts: Introduction, Text and Conclusion. The text consists of three chapters.Chapter one focuses on the general issues of the general exception Clause, including its conception,some theories on the jurisprudence basis,functions and purpose.Chapter two deals with the relationship between the general exception clause of GATS and that of GATT. Through analysis from legislation and Judicature, the author tries to examine the basis that the reports of DSB on Article 20 of GATT could be used to interpret the general exception clause of GATS. The author also analyzes some relevant issues on following the WTO adjudications on Article 20 of GATT.Chapter three emphasizes on Article 14 (a) and (c) of GATS .In this part, using the report of DSB on US-gambling case and Article 20 of GATT, the author analyzes not only the meanings of the key terms, including "public morals" and "public order","necessary","arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination","a disguised restriction" ,but also the standards under Article 14 (a) and (c) of GATS.