Article: Do Private Actors Have Rights under the WTO? The Motivation for and (Inadequate) Implementation of GATT Article X

Abstract

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article X has been consistently overlooked in literature even though it is a unique provision in the GATT-regime: it acknowledges standing for private actors who can challenge trade-related administrative action by World Trade Organization (WTO) members. This provision is an unusual instantiation of the need to provide transparency for private actors about state policy. It is equally eccentric in seeming to provide a right for private actors to challenge governments, albeit only before domestic fora. How did the GATT end up with this provision? And are these apparent private rights meaningful in practice? Since implementation of Article X rarely arises in WTO disputes, this paper proposes an answer to the second question based on six case studies of the United States of America (US), Canada, the European Union (EU), Brazil, China, and India. This is a heterogenous group that comprises big trading nations. We find wide variance in state practice. We conclude with suggestions that would strengthen the WTO demos by providing better information through WTO monitoring on the rights accorded to private actors and the introduction of an explicit code of good practice.