A January ruling by the Appellate Body that China's export curbs on several raw materials violated its World Trade Organization commitments could make it more difficult for WTO members to justify export restrictions on agricultural commodities that are aimed at protecting local consumers from spikes in international commodity prices, according to a new paper released by the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council (IPC). While conventional wisdom has held that WTO rules on export restrictions are weak, the September paper argues that the Appellate Body ruling in the raw materials case can be interpreted as strengthening them, for three reasons. First, the paper points out, the Appellate Body interpreted Article XI:2(a) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rather strictly. That article provides an exception to the general GATT prohibition on export restrictions if the restrictions are put in place to prevent or relieve a "critical shortage."
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