| The abuse of additional health measures affecting trade in goods will interrupt international supply chains,damage international trade,and even shake the foundation of the multilateral trading system.In terms of public health,the abuse of additional health measures affecting trade in goods will affect countries’ cooperation in reporting epidemics,hinder global access to medical products and the fight against epidemics.The regulation of additional health measures affecting trade in goods is governed by both the International Health Regulations(2005)and WTO rules,both of which aim to ensure maximum public health with minimal interference to international trade.Although Article 43 of the IHR(2005)provides for additional health measures,it lacks a clear definition of the “available scientific evidence” on which such measures should be based,and lacks corresponding supervision on the implementation of procedural obligations such as notification and review of additional health measures,resulting in implementation difficulties.Furthermore,in the absence of mandatory dispute resolution mechanism,the mechanism for PEHIC also lacks normality and transparency,and the scientific guarantees for the temporary recommendations are insufficient.This damages the authority and credibility of the World Health Organization and the IHR(2005),resulting in poor overall compliance.The ineffectiveness of the IHR(2005)has led the international community to pay more attention to the role of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism in regulating additional health measures affecting trade in goods.However,additional health measures affecting trade in goods are temporary,and the WTO dispute settlement mechanism cannot effectively apply to disputes related to such measures,and the mechanism itself is in danger.Compared to Article 43 of the IHR(2005),the rules of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures are more specific and enforceable.It has also developed strict interpretations through the development of WTO cases,but applies only to sanitary and phytosanitary measures.The exception clause of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 provides certain policy space for the protection of human,animal or plant life or health,but the standard for invoking the security exception clause under the trend of normalization of epidemics have not been established,and its flexibility may evolve into a tool for trade protectionism.In addition,the implementation of additional health measures affecting trade in goods should also comply with the transparency requirements under WTO rules.Although WTO members have not fully fulfilled their notification obligations,the WTO transparency mechanism still plays a positive role in enhancing the transparency of additional health measures affecting trade in goods.Neither the IHR(2005)nor WTO rules on trade in goods have effectively regulated additional health measures affecting trade in goods.In the context of globalization,epidemics will be more frequent,larger in scale,and spread faster.In order to avoid the abuse of additional health measures affecting trade in goods causing unnecessary damage to international trade and hindering the fight against the epidemic,how to improve the regulation of additional health measures affecting trade in goods has become an issue.For the IHR(2005),it is necessary to interpret the definition of “available scientific evidence”,clarify the standard of PHEIC mechanism and introduce a multilevel alert system,enhance the scientific guarantee of the temporary recommendations,and establish a compliance and accountability committee to promote the good compliance of State Parties.Also,it is necessary to refine the security exception clause of GATT1994,and improve the transparency mechanism under the WTO system,further enhance the regulation of additional health measures affecting trade in goods.In addition,the WHO and the WTO can strengthen coordination and cooperation,exert their respective professionalism in public health and international trade,maximizing the protection of public health with minimal interference with international trade. |
