Pacta sunt servanda: The harmony of international law and national law in GATT

• Main Authors: Murjani, Pooja Lucero, Rodis, Kenzo Miguel
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Subjects: Trade regulation- Philippines; Foreign trade regulation > Philippines; Legal Studies
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/9327
• Institution: De La Salle University

In the continuous pursuit of new knowledge, this paper will discuss the issue thoroughly to derive to an academic answer to the said issue. Furthermore, this paper will lay down various arguments in response to actual cases that arose from the same and thrive to develop a valid and credible resolution in response to this clash. International laws and domestic laws are on the same level in the hierarchy of laws in the Philipines. In times of clash, the question of which law shall be followed arises. This clash is illustrated in the expiration of the reservation clauses of the Philippines in the multi-lateral agreement that the country ratified, the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, that imposes a ban on quantitative import restrictions to its member nations in the promotion of free and liberalized trading systems, on one hand, and the enacment of R.A. 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act for the continued imposition of quantitative import restriction on rice on the other hand. The clash between the two is eminent, whether or not the country, despite its ratification of GATT, can still impose quantitative import restrictions, it being a developing nation and with respect to the protection that the 1987 Constitution grants for the general welfare of the nation.