Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Public Health. 2011 Dec;125(12):832-839. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2011.09.003. Epub 2011 Oct 24.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed a number of strategies to combat non-communicable diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes by targeting the risk factors of tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol and poor diet. A number of the domestic regulatory responses contemplated by WHO and individual countries have the potential to restrict or distort trade, raising the question of whether they are consistent with the obligations imposed on Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This article demonstrates that WTO rules do limit Members' flexibility in implementing public health measures to address these diseases. However, the focus of WTO provisions on preventing discrimination against or between imports and the exceptions incorporated in various WTO agreements leave sufficient scope for Members to design carefully directed measures to achieve genuine public health goals while minimizing negative effects on international trade.
世界卫生组织（世卫组织）提出了一些策略，通过针对烟草使用、有害使用酒精和不良饮食等风险因素，来防治癌症、心血管疾病、慢性呼吸道疾病和糖尿病等非传染性疾病。世卫组织和个别国家所设想的一些国内监管应对措施有可能限制或扭曲贸易，这就提出了一个问题，即这些措施是否符合世界贸易组织（世贸组织）成员所承担的义务。本文表明，世贸组织规则确实限制了成员实施公共卫生措施来应对这些疾病的灵活性。然而，世贸组织各项规定侧重于防止对进口产品进行歧视或区别对待，并且各种世贸组织协定中列入了例外情况，这为成员提供了充分的余地，可以精心设计有针对性的措施，在尽量减少对国际贸易的负面影响的同时，实现真正的公共卫生目标。
