NATIONAL SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS IN THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

The agreements, practice and jurisprudence of the World Trade Organization (WTO) expressly denote the prevalence of specific national security considerations, in particular its military and political aspects, over the obligations and commitments arising from WTO membership. However, the relationship between national security and the WTO is not limited to "dealing with the specific national security considerations". Taking note of the WTO objectives, one is but to observe the significance of such other aspects of national security as economic, social and human security. The GATT/WTO practice and case law has not clearly determined the boundaries of security exceptions. This, however, does not mean the unlimited freedom of WTO members in invoking security exceptions.