Toetreding tot de Wereldhandelsorganisatie (WTO) - Een Juridische en Normatieve Analyse

The accession process of the World Trade Organization (WTO) results in a ‘Protocol of Accession’ that contains additional obligations (WTO-plus obligations) for the newly acceded Member. In this thesis a study is made of the accession process and of the place of ‘Protocols of Accession’ in the WTO legal order. As the Protocols form a new legal instrument, the questionis to what extent acceded Members can rely on the General Exceptions to WTO obligations provided in Art. XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994). Disciplines on ‘export restrictions’ are an example of WTO-plus obligations some acceded WTO Members have had to undertake to be allowed access to the organization. As a case study, this thesis examines whether existing WTO disciplines on this subject suffer from a regulatory deficit, as WTO Members also seek to incorporate more stringent obligations in (bilateral or regional) Free Trade Agreements.nrpages: 317status: publishe