IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/glopol/v15y2024i3p528-538.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘No safe haven’: Why the GATT ‘regional exception’ does not apply to technical barriers to trade

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Nuzzo

Abstract

During the last two decades, Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) have increased in quantity and broadened in scope. Far from merely reducing tariffs, they now set out a detailed discipline also on behind‐the‐border measures. Due to their trade‐restrictive potential, technical barriers to trade (TBTs) are now systematically regulated in PTAs. Since PTAs discriminate by definition, it is pivotal to understand whether their regulation of TBTs may be reconciled with the multilateral non‐discrimination obligation. Against this backdrop, this article aims to assess whether WTO‐incompatible TBT provisions in PTAs may benefit from the GATT 1994 ‘Regional Exception’, that is, Article XXIV. I will argue that, by virtue of the lex specialis principle, Article XXIV may not shield violations of the TBT Agreement. The impact of this study is two‐fold. First, it shows that Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) must respect the Most‐Favoured Nation (MFN) clause when integrating their domestic policies. Second, using TBTs as a case study, it proposes some crucial adjustments to WTO case law, that should be considered also when deciding on the interplay between the GATT 1994 and WTO Agreements other than the TBT Agreement.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Nuzzo, 2024. "‘No safe haven’: Why the GATT ‘regional exception’ does not apply to technical barriers to trade," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(3), pages 528-538, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:15:y:2024:i:3:p:528-538
    DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.13344
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13344
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1758-5899.13344?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maggie Xiaoyang Chen & Aaditya Mattoo, 2008. "Regionalism in standards: good or bad for trade?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 41(3), pages 838-863, August.
    2. Aaditya Mattoo & Alen Mulabdic & Michele Ruta, 2022. "Trade creation and trade diversion in deep agreements," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(3), pages 1598-1637, August.
    3. Mattoo,Aaditya & Rocha,Nadia & Ruta,Michele, 2020. "The Evolution of Deep Trade Agreements," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9283, The World Bank.
    4. Joost Pauwelyn, 2004. "The Puzzle Of Wto Safeguards And Regional Trade Agreements," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 109-142, March.
    5. Baldwin, Richard, 2011. "21st century regionalism: Filling the gap between 21st century trade and 20th century trade rules," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2011-08, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    6. Pol Antràs & Robert W. Staiger, 2012. "Offshoring and the Role of Trade Agreements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3140-3183, December.
    7. Witold Czubala & Ben Shepherd & John S. Wilson, 2009. "Help or Hindrance? The Impact of Harmonised Standards on African Exports †," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 18(5), pages 711-744, November.
    8. Molina, Ana Cristina & Khoroshavina, Vira, 2015. "TBT provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: To what extent do they go beyond the WTO TBT Agreement?," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2015-09, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sébastien Miroudot & Davide Rigo, 2022. "Multinational production and investment provisions in preferential trade agreements [Intra-industry foreign direct investment]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(6), pages 1275-1308.
    2. Edith Laget & Alberto Osnago & Nadia Rocha & Michele Ruta, 2020. "Deep Trade Agreements and Global Value Chains," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 57(2), pages 379-410, September.
    3. Sharadendu Sharma & Yadnesh P. Mundhada & Rahul Arora, 2023. "Which Combination of Trade Provisions Promotes Trade in Value‐Added? An Application of Machine Learning to Cross‐Country Data," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 42(4), pages 332-346, December.
    4. Ornelas, Emanuel & Turner, John L. & Bickwit, Grant, 2021. "Preferential trade agreements and global sourcing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Alberto Osnago & Nadia Rocha & Michele Ruta, 2019. "Deep trade agreements and vertical FDI: The devil is in the details," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 1558-1599, November.
    6. Chen, Natalie & Novy, Dennis, 2012. "On the measurement of trade costs: direct vs. indirect approaches to quantifying standards and technical regulations," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 401-414, July.
    7. Sébastien Miroudot & Davide Rigo, 2019. "Preferential Trade Agreements and Multinational Production," RSCAS Working Papers 2019/14, European University Institute.
    8. Lee, Woori & Mulabdic, Alen & Ruta, Michele, 2023. "Third-country effects of regional trade agreements: A firm-level analysis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    9. Anne-Célia Disdier & Lionel Fontagné & Olivier Cadot, 2015. "North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(2), pages 327-352.
    10. Olivier Cadot & Julien Gourdon, 2016. "Non-tariff measures, preferential trade agreements, and prices: new evidence," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(2), pages 227-249, May.
    11. Stender, Frederik & Vogel, Tim, 2023. "What role for aid for trade in (deep) PTA relations? Empirical evidence from gravity model estimations," IDOS Discussion Papers 13/2023, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    12. Essotanam Mamba & Afi Balaki, 2023. "Deep regional trade agreement as a driver for global value chains in Africa: the case of ECOWAS region," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 2037-2068, June.
    13. Swati Dhingra & Rebecca Freeman & Eleonora Mavroeidi, 2018. "Beyond tariff reductions: what extra boost from trade agreement provisions?," CEP Discussion Papers dp1532, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. Bernard Hoekman, 2014. "Sustaining multilateral trade cooperation in a multipolar world economy," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 241-260, June.
    15. Lijuan Yang & Weigong Du, 2023. "Catalyst or barrier? Heterogeneous effects of standards on agricultural trade between China and the Belt and Road countries," International Studies of Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 53-79, March.
    16. Gabriel Felbermayr & Benedikt Heid & Mario Larch, 2015. "TTIP: Small Gains, High Risks?," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(04), pages 20-30, January.
    17. Xiaohua Bao & Wei-Chih Chen, 2013. "The Impacts of Technical Barriers to Trade on Different Components of International Trade," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 447-460, August.
    18. Bouzas, Roberto & Zelicovich, Julieta, 2014. "La Organización Mundial de Comercio, los acuerdos mega-regionales y los usos estratégicos del regionalismo/The World Trade Organization, Mega-Regional Trade Agreements and the Strategic Uses of Region," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 32, pages 963-994, Septiembr.
    19. Salamat Ali, 2016. "Export Response to Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade: Firm-level Evidence from a Developing Country," Discussion Papers 2016-02, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    20. Gabriel Felbermayr & Benedikt Heid & Mario Larch & Erdal Yalcin, 2015. "Macroeconomic potentials of transatlantic free trade: a high resolution perspective for Europe and the world," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 30(83), pages 491-537.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:15:y:2024:i:3:p:528-538. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.