On The Trade Dispute Settlement Mechanism In The Complaint Is Not Against The Law And Our Responses

Non-violation Complaints, which is defined explicitly in GATT, is one of themost intriguing aspects of WTO dispute settlement system. Under Article XXIII 1 (b)of GATT, a member state can raise claims against measures implemented by anothermember state, even if the measures do not conflict with the GATT, if these measuresnullify or impair any benefit of the prosecuting member state under the Agreement.This article introduces the history and related clauses about non-violationcomplaints in GATT/WTO, and it also analyzes its practical implementation detailsthrough the review of a typical case-- Japan - Measures Affecting ConsumerPhotographic Film and Paper. Upon the analysis of the development trend ofnon-violation complaints and its possible influence on China, this article bringsforward some appropriate proposals on China's countermeasures.