Export Restrictions and the WTO Law: “Regulatory Deficiency” or “Unintended Policy Space”

Does the field of export restrictions represent a case of “under-regulation” or “regulatory deficiency” in the WTO law, or does it offer some “unintended policy space” which could be treated as a means to correct major market failures in the context of the growing importance of promoting environmental sustainability and inter-generational equity? There have been calls for stricter WTO regulation in this area by import-dependent countries. The reform proposal involved “tariffication” of all export restrictions, and binding of all export taxes. Yet they received cold response from many developing countries. Beyond the questions of political feasibility of introducing verifiable commitments on export taxes, however, such restrictions would also take away an important policy tool which could be effective in protecting natural resources and in promoting high value-added sectors in resource-rich developing countries. As such, restricting this unintentionally large policy space may not only be politically unfeasible but also undesirable.