Environmental Interpretation Of The Terms Of The Gatt 1994

Trade and environment constitutes one of today's hottest issues widely observed by the economic organizations and countries around the globe. Measures related to environmental protection were utilized as barriers against the foreign export industry of the developing country like China on an increasingly more frequent basis ever since the 1980's and 1990's. How to deal with such measures generally referred to as " green barrier" in our country? And how to better employ related international rules? These issues deserve more understanding as well as further studying for both the government institutions and enterprises. Alongside with standardizing the international trade, the World Trade Organization also concerns itself in protecting global environment. For example, GATT1994's Article xx (b) and (g) (hereinafter referred to as the clause of general exception of environment) demonstrates a crystal-clear stance of restraining trade liberalization and curbing environmental pollution. However, the righteous obligatory exemption via this clause can hardly be acquired in common practice due to the indistinct definition stated herein. This paper shall conduct a theoretical analysis of this clause with reference to concrete environmental protection cases so as to define its application scopes. This paper contains 3 parts. Part I summarizes this environmental protection clause, and interprets the content, nature, framework and allot of onus probandi, etc. As the most crucial part of the paper, Part II provides a detailed anatomy of the application scope of the terms within the clause. Certainly measures generated from this clause must also comply with the preface of Article xx of GATT1994. Numerous interpretations to this clause have beent released from the verdicts of the GATT's Dispute Reconciliation Team and relevant institutions. After being adopted by all countries that concluded GATT, such verdicts shall become a part of GATT, therefore, these interpretations are highly authoritative. Meanwhile, Part II renders a discussion on the controversial but closely connected overseas legitimacy of right. In Part HI of the paper, the analysis is focused on how to apply this clause in practice and theoretical study is made to investigate into the case of coke export restriction. Finally the conclusion is drawn: the making of laws and policies and the international trade operations should be in accordance with WTO rules and regulations after China's entry into this worldorganization. Hopefully this paper shall offer some theoretical assistance to protect our country from environmentally hazarded by those developed countries and ensure that our own economic interests are safeguarded when encountering green barriers in international trade.