General exceptions in the GATS: 25 years of application and lessons for Vietnam

Abstract

The general exceptions in Article XIV of the GATS allow WTO members to adopt measures that affect trade in services and are incompatible with GATS obligations to achieve certain public objectives. After more than 25 years of application, these general exceptions, although understated, have been clarified in many important legal aspects by the WTO's jurisdictions. The paper analyses  the situation of applying the general exceptions of Article XIV of the GATS using statistics, while emphasizing legal issues and the development of general exceptions after the Uruguay Round, and then draws some recommendations for Vietnam.