The Biofuels Landscape: Is There a Role for the WTO?
The Biofuels Landscape: Is There a Role for the WTO?
复制标题
生物燃料格局：世贸组织有作用吗？
DOI：
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发表时间：
2008
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Doaa Abdel Motaal
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Doaa Abdel Motaal
国际粮食和农业贸易政策理事会(IPC)最近呼吁世贸组织澄清其关于生物燃料的规则。它呼吁解决围绕这些燃料的海关分类问题，以便贸易能够有组织地繁荣。更具体地说，它认为，生物燃料海关分类的不确定性，以及政府保护国内生物燃料生产的一系列措施，包括关税和补贴，可能会阻碍贸易增长，尽管全球对生物燃料的需求正在上升。对于IPC--以及生物燃料领域的众多行为者-审查世贸组织规则如何适用于这些燃料显然已变得非常及时。2本文旨在提请注意推动各国政府推广生物燃料的多重政策目标，以及“贸易政策”如何在很大程度上服务于各国政府优先重视的具体目标。报告认为，尚未在国际一级就生物燃料应在能源、经济和环境政策中发挥的作用形成一致的愿景，但尽管存在这种情况，但关键是这一部门应在“公平的贸易政策竞技场”上发展，以提高其长期效率。特别是，这种拉平将充分释放热带发展中国家乙醇生产商的比较优势。文章强调，即使各国政府没有就如何在世贸组织处理这些燃料达成一致决定，生物燃料贸易的某些限制无论如何也会通过目前的多哈回合贸易谈判而减少。但是，要使多哈回合取得全面成果，各国政府就不能通过谈判中现有的“灵活性”充分保护生物燃料或其生产原料。
The International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council (IPC) has recently called on the WTO to clarify its rules on biofuels. It called for a resolution of the customs classifications problems surrounding these fuels so that trade could flourish in an organized manner. More specifically it argued that uncertainty over the biofuels customs classification, and the range of governmental measures to protect domestic biofuel production, including tariffs and subsidies, risked stunting growth in trade even as the global demand for biofuels was rising. For the IPCÐas well as for numerous actors on the biofuels landscapeÐan examination of how WTO rules apply to these fuels has clearly become timely.2 This article seeks to draw attention to the multiple policy objectives that are driving governments to promote biofuels, and to how ``trade policy' is largely being put to the service of the specific goals to which governments are attaching priority. It argues that a coherent vision at the international level of the role that biofuels should play in energy, economic and environmental policy has yet to emerge, but that despite this situation it is key that this sector develops on a ``level trade policy playing field' for its long-term efficiency. Such a levelling would, in particular, unleash the full comparative advantage of tropical developing country producers of ethanol. The article highlights thatÐeven in the absence of a concerted decision by governments on how to handle these fuels at the WTOÐcertain restrictions to biofuels trade would in any event be reduced through the current Doha Round of trade negotiations. But for the Doha Round to bear full fruit, it would be important for governments not to fully shelter either biofuels, or their production feedstock, through existing ``flexibilities' in the negotiations.