Separating the political from the economic: the Russia–traffic in transit panel report

Pramila Crivelli and Mona Pinchis-paulsen

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper reviews the World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel Report Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit of April 2019. It constitutes the first attempt to disentangle the legal and political aspects related to the invoked essential security interests from the economic considerations underlying the measures imposed on the transit through Russia of goods exported from Ukraine to the Republic of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. One the one hand, the panel’s interpretation of Article XXI of the GATT denies Members unilateral determination over security exceptions. It further enables a pathway for future WTO panels to review possible abuses of security exceptions – a growing concern due to the rising complexity of transnational economic relations. On the other hand, our economic analysis suggests a stricter assessment of Russia’s transit restrictions was necessary. In particular, it argues that the panel adopted a circular assessment when considering the plausibility of whether Russia implemented its measures for the protection of its essential security interests at a time of emergency in international relations. Ultimately, although the panel’s focus on finding a diplomatic and legal path forward failed economic scrutiny a legal assessment argues that the panel’s findings fit the legal design of Article XXI:b of the GATT.

Keywords: WTO; dispute settlement; national security; transit; trade barriers; Russia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2021-10-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis, nep-int, nep-isf and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in World Trade Review, 14, October, 2021, 20(4), pp. 582 - 605. ISSN: 1474-7456

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/111027/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Separating the Political from the Economic: The Russia–Traffic in Transit Panel Report (2021)
Working Paper: Separating the Political from the Economic: The Russia-Traffic in Transit Panel Report (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:111027

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