Safegurd Measures For the Protection of Local Industry:
Israel's Failure to Implement the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.
One Of the major achievmenets of the Uruguay round has been the Agreement on Safeguards. Article XIX of the GATT, which regulates the use of safeguard measures, namely those actions against legitimate imports (unlike dumped or subsidied imports), has been constantly debated and criticized. The Agreement on Safeguards provides a detailed and comprehensive instrument for dealing with the practice of emergency actions against imports. WTO's panels and appellate Body were dealing with an increasing number of complaints against Member States invoking the Agreement, and have issued numerous decision.
Yet, none of the above left any sign in Israeli legislation. Not only does the Trade Levies Act 5751-1991 contain nothing but a short provision regarding safeguards, but the current proposed amedments to the Trade Levies Act deal only with antidumping and countervailing duties, with no reference to safeguards.
This paper deals with the reasons for the above lacuna in the Israeli legislation and examines how Israeli courts have tackled this issue. Additionally, the paper suggest several solutions to enhance the harmony between WTO and Israeli law.
עדכוני מכס ורגולציה
