COVID-19必要醫療貨品出口限制措施所涉WTO法律問題之研究

Abstract

COVID-19大流行的出現導致了貿易政策產生了各種變化，其規模可謂前所未有。各國為了在COVID-19大流行期間維持其公共衛生狀態，也選擇採取了各種貿易措施，而該等措施常常亦是針對大流行所進行的干預性公共衛生措施。在本研究中，該等措施被定義為COVID-19貿易相關的衛生措施。 在各國採取的一系列COVID-19貿易相關的衛生措施，包括影響貨物貿易、服務貿易和智慧財產權貿易的措施之中，本研究發現，對COVID-19必要醫療貨品的出口限制措施，極可能是出於民族主義的考慮，並且也是對自由貿易之維護產生最大威脅的措施類型。從全球衛生的角度來看，由於該等出口限制措施會減少其他需要必要醫療貨品對抗COVID-19疫情的國家獲取該等貨品的機會，其同時也會對全球衛生狀態構成威脅。當COVID-19必要醫療貨品的主要生產國決定對該等貨品實施出口限制時，其負面影響更為明顯。 世界貿易組織（World Trade Organization, WTO）是管制國際貿易措施的主要國際組織。為了確定現有的WTO規則是否能夠約束對COVID-19必要醫療貨品的出口限制措施，本研究選擇了兩個主要生產國，歐盟（European Union, EU）和美國（United States, U.S.），分析現有的WTO規則如何適用於此二國家對COVID-19必要醫療貨品，包含個人防護設備及疫苗，所採取的出口限制措施。 本研究發現，雖然出口限制被WTO一般性地禁止，但仍有排除條款與例外條款，在現有WTO規則下， COVID-19必要醫療貨品的出口限制措施有被允許的可能，此亦包含本研究特別關注的歐盟和美國案例。因此，現有WTO規則似無法處理COVID-19必要醫療貨品的出口限制措施對全球衛生所產生的威脅。此外，雖然在全球衛生法制度下，世界衛生組織（World Health Organization, WHO）所領導的《國際衛生條例》（International Health Regulations, IHR）在一定程度上具備管制貿易相關措施的能力，但其規則和體制兩方面皆有設計上的不足。 本研究提出，雖然貿易問題應主要在WTO規則下解決，但針對COVID-19或未來大流行的必要醫療貨品之出口限制措施，以解決方案的完整性而言，國際貿易和衛生機構的合作有其必要性。在WTO規則上，應針對必要醫療貨品出口限制措施進行特殊規範，並將規範之情形區分為為解決一國公共衛生緊急情況而實施的出口限制措施，以及為協助恢復一國公共衛生狀態而實施的出口限制措施，實施區分性的規範。此外，WTO亦應與WHO在科學評估以及必要醫療貨品出口限制措施的監控上進一步合作，方能更完整地解決實施必要醫療貨品出口限制措施所造成的全球衛生狀態的威脅。

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a never-before-seen scale of change in trade policies. In order to sustain their public health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemics, countries have adopted trade measures which are also epidemic intervening public health measures, defined as COVID-19 trade-related health measures in this study. Among the spectrum of COVID-19 trade-related health measures adopted by countries including those affecting trade in goods, trade in services and trade in intellectual property, it is found that export restrictions on COVID-19 essential medical goods, often adopted with nationalistic concerns, are the most dangerous type of measure to the maintenance of free trade. From a global health perspective, they also pose threat to the overall global health condition since they can negatively affect the accessibility to COVID-19 essential medical goods for other countries needing those goods to combat COVID-19 outbreak. Naturally, the negative effect is especially obvious when major producers decide to impose export restrictions on COVID-19 essential medical goods. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the main international institution in regulating international trade measures. In order to determine whether existing WTO rules can assist in disciplining export restrictions on COVID-19 medical goods, this study selects two major producers, the European Union (EU) and the United States (U.S.), to study the applicability of existing WTO rules on their export restrictions on COVID-19 medical goods, including examples targeting personal protective equipment and vaccines. It is found in this study that while export restrictions are generally prohibited by the WTO, exemptions and exceptions still exist that there remains a possibility that export restrictions on COVID-19 essential medical goods, including the specific EU and U.S. measures, can be allowed under WTO rules. Such possibility leaves the threat of these measures to further deterioration global health resulting from trade measures unaddressed. In addition, although equipped with a certain extent of capacity to deal with trade measures taken, insufficiencies also exist in the global health law regime in terms of the design of rules and institution led by the International Health Regulations (IHR) under the World Health Organization (WHO). This study proposes that while trade issues should be mainly addressed under WTO rules, cooperation of the international trade and health institutions is necessary to provide a more complete solution to discipline export restrictions on COVID-19 essential medical goods or export restrictions on essential medical goods in future pandemics. The proposed solution within the WTO is to adjust rules specifically applicable for export restrictions on essential medical goods, differentiating between those imposed to resolve a public health emergency, and those imposed to assist in recovery of public health status. Additionally, cooperation with the WHO in scientific assessments and monitoring of export restrictions can further complete and the solution to the threat to global health caused by export restrictions on essential medical goods.