Le sovvenzioni e le misure compensative nell'Organizzazione mondiale del commercio

The analysis of the international legal discipline on public subsidies carried out in this monograph is mainly founded on a critical examination of the relevant disputes. The volume begins with the study of the rules on subsidies in the 1947 GATT, so as to single out both its positive features and its flaws. This historical overview intends to highlight the goals that the WTO Agreements had to accomplish in order to fill the gaps in the international regulation of subsidies. The research continues with an in-depth exam of the relevant rules in the WTO Agreements, based on several rulings issued by the panels and the Appellate Body throughout the last fourteen years. First, the monograph is directed to reconstruct the notion of subsidy and to check as well if the notion provided by the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) has a general nature and could also apply to other Agreements, in particular to the special category of agricultural subsidies, regulated by the Agreement on Agriculture. This question – addressed both by the doctrine and the case law – has been settled by assuming that WTO Agreements are part of a single system of rules. Therefore it seems necessary to find solutions that could preserve its consistency, including the contextual application of different Multilateral Agreements. This aspect is further discussed in the final part of the study, that deals with the analysis of the rules on agricultural subsidies. The examination of the disputes settlement bodies reports shows that prohibited subsidies – especially “export” subsidies – are more challenged than “actionable” subsidies. Hence, one cannot consider that Uruguay Round negotiators fully succeeded in establishing more precise rules for the definition of the concepts of “injury” and “causal link” and in rendering the so-called “effect-based norms” provided for in the Agreement more effective. Thus, the provision of actual prohibitions turns itself into an essential means to limit these measures that distort international trade and that are commonly used during times of economic crisis. The book also analyses the remedies established by the WTO system – with particular reference to the SCM Agreement – in order to offset the distortive use of subsidies. As in the past, the imposition of countervailing duties is currently the most rapid and effective means to re-establish a balance between the industries of the importing and the exporting Members. This unilateral action is therefore widespread and is subject to “quasi-jurisdictional” review by the DSB, in order to avoid abuses that could turn into protectionist practices. Nevertheless, this international trade area is also characterised by a wider access to the multilateral mechanism of disputes settlement if compared to the past. The research deeply focuses on the problems raised by these two competing options allowed to Member States under the system.