A Study On The Legitimacy Of Import Bans Based On Animal Welfare Under Gatt 1994

Nowadays,many developed countries will impose trade measures such as import bans on animal products exported from other countries.And according to the current trend,the new topic of animal welfare is considered to be the reason of import bans which is linked to international trade,that is,to examine the performance of animal welfare before becoming related animal products of exporting countries.Many scholars have pointed out that animal welfare has always been a domestic law issue.And under the existing WTO system,there is no explicit mention of animal welfare.However,GATT 1994 still leaves room for the discussion on this issue.The case of EU-Seal,closely related to this topic,is the first major case directly related to animal welfare.It involves two major issues under GATT 1994: one issue is whether the import ban on seals based on animal welfare would violate the non-discriminatory treatment obligations under GATT 1994,and the other issue is whether the measures would be consistent with the "public moral exception" under GATT 1994.Therefore,the EU-Seal case is of great significance for study.Based on the above,this paper will first simply restore the EU-Seal case,and raise the issues to the discussed;secondly,through analysis,this paper will discuss the theoretical basis of animal welfare,and the relationship between animal welfare and international trade andthe resulting import ban;thirdly,it will focus on the study on the legitimacy of the import ban based on animal welfare under GATT 1994 agreement by combining the analysis of EU-Seal case;finally,based on the conclusion of the article,the paper will discuss possible impacts of animal welfare on Chinese trade,and find out any measures that China can adopt in dealing with the issue of animal welfare in the future.