A recently launched publication unveiled during the Public Forum on September 15 offers valuable insights into how WTO (World Trade Organization) members have leveraged various international agreements and conventions, extending beyond the WTO framework, to implement export regulations. These regulations serve diverse objectives, including environmental protection, hazardous waste management, weapons control, and combating illegal drug trade.
Safeguarding international trade involving sensitive or perilous products necessitates collaborative efforts among WTO members to enforce various types of controls. Some of these controls are the responsibility of exporting members. Many of these export regulations and controls have evolved over years of international cooperation and are enshrined in numerous international agreements and conventions, with a considerable number of WTO members as signatories.
Consequently, WTO members employ a wide array of measures, such as prohibitions, export licenses, regulations, and other controls, to aid in risk management and to regulate trade in controlled and sensitive goods. These measures are designed to fulfill specific environmental objectives, manage hazardous substances and waste, combat illicit drugs and harmful materials, and promote international peace and weapons control.
The new WTO publication represents the first exploration of how these export-related frameworks, existing beyond the WTO’s scope, function in practice and their connection to the multilateral trading system.
Suja Rishikesh Mavroidis, Director of the WTO’s Market Access Division, explained in the publication’s foreword that it is intended to serve as a guide for policymakers, government officials, academia, and the interested public. She emphasized that by enhancing understanding of the existing international agreements governing exports and their linkages to the multilateral trading system, the WTO can contribute to strengthening global cooperation, fostering transparency, and potentially inspiring future agreements that strike a balance between advancing international trade and protecting the global community from potential risks.
In the interest of transparency, WTO members are obligated to notify all quantitative restrictions (QRs) in force every two years. This requirement extends to measures such as prohibitions, restrictions, or licenses related to the trade in nuclear materials, narcotic drugs, weapons, and various environmental protection measures. Members also have the option to specify whether these prohibitions or restrictions arise from international obligations outside the WTO framework. In practice, several members have notified measures introduced in accordance with these agreements.
Among the prominent non-WTO agreements or conventions cited as grounds for export restrictions in notified QRs are:
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) – with 44 notifications.
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer – with 32 notifications.
- Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade – with 23 notifications.
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal – each with 18 notifications.
Concerning the products affected by export-related measures, the publication highlights that chemical products are the most frequently impacted, followed by optical and measuring instruments, various machinery types, and pharmaceuticals. It is noteworthy that the “General Exceptions” provision under Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was the most commonly cited WTO basis for export-related QRs, accounting for 73 percent of the total. Additionally, paragraph (b) of Article XX, which relates to measures “necessary to protect human, animal, or plant life or health,” was cited in 38 percent of the export measures.
The publication also notes a positive trend in the quality of information provided since 2020, with more members indicating the effective duration of certain measures and providing details on how specific restrictions are administered. Some members have also included web links to their national legal bases, enhancing transparency and accessibility of information.
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