Research On The Legal Issues Of Animal Welfare Barrier Under WTO

In the context of economic globalization, many countries, especially developed countries, have already introduced the concept of animal welfare to the field of international trade. The animal welfare will be closely linked to international trade. WTO rules also have clear terms of animal welfare, and its impact on international trade will be gradually increasing. With the traditional tariff barrier and non-tariff barrier being further limited by WTO, the scope of animal welfare barrier will become more widespread, and the applied frequency of animal welfare barrier will increase. The purpose of this research project is, through conducting in-depth analysis to the connotation of animal welfare and animal welfare barrier, revealing its nature and understanding its characteristics and value effect. And on the basis of exploring China's issues about animal welfare barrier, I proposed the countermeasures of China which can provide reference for China's government and related businesses.This study described the performance forms, characteristics and value effects of animal welfare barrier, through analyzing the connotation of animal welfare and animal welfare barrier. On the base of giving a general introduction to WTO rules relating to animal welfare, this paper revealed the deficiencies in these rules. Through analyzing the performance of animal welfare barrier in our country, including overall performance and performance in specific industries, this paper raised the issues of animal welfare barrier which our country is confronting with and analyzed the reasons why our country often encounters animal welfare barrier. The main reasons include:the awareness of animal welfare is generally poor; animal welfare legislation is imperfect; information exchange is not smooth; exporters are too concentrated and long-term alienation from outside of the multilateral trading system. Aimed at these reasons, this paper put forward some countermeasures from the institutional and legal point of view. System measures are to construct an animal welfare label system and to establish an early-warning mechanism for animal welfare barrier. Legal measures have two dimensions. In international law level we should make full use of existing WTO rules and policies, rationally use dispute settlement mechanism of WTO, and actively participate in WTO negotiations related to animal welfare rules. In domestic law level we should pick up animal welfare regulations, establish and improve animal welfare standards and constitute the strategy of export market diversification.