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Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit (WTO)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2019

Stephanie Hartmann*
Affiliation:
Senior Associate, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP.

Extract

On April 5, 2019, a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel (Panel) issued its decision in the dispute Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit. This decision is notable because it is the first instance in which a WTO panel has been called on to interpret the national security provision of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994), Article XXI.

Type
International Legal Documents
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by The American Society of International Law 

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References

ENDNOTES

1 Panel Report, Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (April 5, 2019) [hereinafter Panel Report].

2 See id. ¶¶ 7.7–7.10. In March 2014, Ukraine, and other countries, supported a UN General Assembly Resolution welcoming UN efforts to support “de-escalation of the situation with respect to Ukraine.” Id. ¶ 7.8. A subsequent UN General Assembly Resolution expressly condemned the “temporary occupation of part of the territory of Ukraine,” i.e., Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and reaffirmed nonrecognition of its “annexation.” Id.

3 Id. ¶¶ 7.10, 7.12, 7.14–7.17.

4 Id. ¶¶ 7.1, 7.10.

5 GATT 1994: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1A, 1867 UNTS 187, 33 ILM 1153, Art. XXI (1994) (“GATT 1994”).

6 Panel Report, supra note 1, ¶ 7.22.

7 Id. ¶ 7.57.

8 Id. ¶ 7.51.

9 Id. ¶ 7.51.

10 Id. ¶ 7.52.

11 Id. ¶ 7.53.

12 See id. ¶ 7.58, et seq.

13 Id. ¶ 7.63.

14 Panel Report, ¶¶ 7.62–7.82.

15 Id. ¶¶ 7.100–7.101.

16 Id. ¶ 7.128.

17 Id. ¶¶ 7.131–7.133.

18 Id. ¶ 7.138.

19 Id. ¶¶ 7.62–7.82.

20 The WTO Dispute Settlement Body established panels in seven of the disputes in November 2018.

21 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, May 23, 1969, 1155 UNTS, 8 ILM 679, art. 26 (1969).

22 See Panel Report, United States – Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC-Hormones Dispute, WT/DS230/R, ¶ 7.268 (Mar. 31, 2008).

23 See, e.g., ICTSD, WTO Members Intensify Debate Over Resolving Appellate Body Impasse, 22 Bridges 4, 4–7 (June 28, 2018).