Research On Emergency Safeguard Measures Of Trade In Services Between China And ASEAN

As a product of the global economy liberalization, the important value of the traderemedy system is to relieve on the adverse consequences of economic liberalization to thedomestic industry. In general, the three main trade remedy measures refer to the anti-dumpingmeasures, the countervailing measures and the safeguard measures. However, these measuresgenerally are only applied to the field of trade in goods. The current trade remedy system onlyrelieves on the domestic industrial damage in the international trade in goods, neglect of therelief on the damage of the trade in services. The trade remedy system should be applied notonly to the field of trade in goods,but also to the trade in services.With the increasing of trade in services,GATS transplants the safeguard measures fortrade in goods from GATT. The Article X of GATS aims to give the Parties a right of traderemedy, in order to improve the business environment of domestic services industry.Compared to the mature safeguard system in the GATT, emergency safeguard measures in thefield of trade in services, has not yet established a specific and effective ESM system.In January14,2007, China and ASEAN signed China-ASEAN Agreement on Trade inServices. The Agreement drew on the experience of the framework and institution fromGATS. For example, in accordance with Article X of the GATS, the parties should carry outthe multilateral negotiations on the ESM. After multilateral negotiations, the outcomes of thenegotiations should be considered, and ultimately brought into the China-ASEAN Agreementon Trade in Services. Under this article, the agreement for the establishment of the ESM fortrade in services is only in the framework stage, without the specific rules of operation. Theauthor believes that the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area should establish the improved ESMremedy system in services trade to deal with emergencies that may arise.In this context, thepaper is divided into four parts to analysis of the ESM in China-ASEAN trade in services.The first part of this paper introduces the definition and characteristic of ESM, leads tothree different attempts to define the ESM by scholars,with the broad and narrow definition of safeguard measures, and analyzes the definition of ESM in the China-ASEAN Agreement onTrade in Services, then describes the three characteristics of the ESM on this basis.The second part adequately states the current situation of trade in services ofChina-ASEAN area in the form of status and analyzes the deficiencies of the Article IX ofChina-ASEAN Agreement on Trade in Services, namely the article of ESM, paving the wayfor the establishment of ESM in China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the improvement of theArticle IX.The third part focuses on the meaning of the establishment of ESM for trade in servicesin China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, mainly in four aspects: the effective legal reliefmechanism, the legal supplement of the existing exception rule of trade in services inChina-ASEAN area, the high level of system security of the liberalization of trade in servicesand the legal demonstration of ESM for multilateral trade in services. Through discussing themeaning, this part fully embodies the significant of the establishment of the ESM for trade inservices in China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, showing the need for the establishment of theESM.The fourth part firstly demonstrates the feasibility of improving the ESM inChina-ASEAN area with three cores that are the special mode of China-ASEAN Free TradeArea, the agreement of ASEAN on the support of establishment of ESM for trade in servicesand the experience of the ESM in other regional areas. Secondly, it puts forward theimprovement recommendation of ESM for trade in services of China-ASEAN Free TradeArea, including the clear and specific applicable conditions of the department in charge, theimplementation,limit,procedure and deadline of the ESM. At last, it focus on the special anddifferential treatment system of Cambodia, Brunei,Laos, Myanmar,Vietnam and othermember states.