Abstract:

S ince the establishment of the World trade Organization (WtO) in 1995, the multilateral trading system has been developed under the Agreements annexed to the Agreement Establishing the WtO. WtO basically envisages establishment of a free trade system based on principles like nondiscrimination, market access and transparency. However, in some cases, free trade system, that the WtO aims to establish, may conflict with some social values and interests. Grounded on some economic realities and rationales, besides social values and interests, Member states may need to adopt practices and policies deviating from the WtO rules. WtO Agreements provide rules that reconcile economic and social values with rules aiming liberalization of trade. In general terms, under certain conditions and procedures, the so-called exception provisions allow deviation from the provisions envisaging the establishment of free trade. In this context, it is possible to avoid the obligations contained in the WtO Agreements provided that conditions and procedures under the exception provisions are met

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