從WTO韓國對日本食品進口禁令案探討疑受輻射污染食品之管制措施

Regulatory Measures of Suspected Radiation-Contaminated Foods Lessons from the WTO Case of Korea’s Import Ban on Japanese Foods

自從2011年日本福島第一核電廠因被海嘯襲擊而發生輻射外洩事件後，自福島及周圍地區所生產及出口的食品，即因存在輻射污染之疑慮而受到各種貿易限制措施所影響。各國為避免此類產品之進口對境內人民身體健康造成不利影響，開始對其採取禁止進口等若干貿易限制措施。雖然隨著時間經過，許多國家於日本公布安全監測報告後陸續撤除相關措施，但至2021年年底為止，仍有中國大陸、韓國及我國持續維持類似之限制措施。日本認為，該地區之食品經其監測報告已證明安全無虞，各國的貿易限制措施已屬貿易障礙而有違反WTO/SPS協定相關規定之虞，故於2015年首次針對韓國之措施向WTO爭端解決機制提告，藉以尋求解決之道。WTO爭端解決小組的報告及上訴機構裁決亦已於2019年4月26日通過並生效，爭端解決小組雖然認定韓國的部分措施有違反SPS協定之處，但上訴機構亦推翻小組若干見解，致使本案之最終結果並未達到日本要求韓國撤銷其措施之目的。在本案中，若干小組對韓國所為之不利認定雖然被推翻，導致韓國得以維持系爭措施，但對於日本食品是否受有受輻射污染一點並無定論，故本案仍然無法給予採取相關措施之其他國家最終明確的解答。本文透過對本案之案例介紹及分析，可知核安事故發生後，對於有輻射污染疑慮之食品採取貿易限制措施時，其與WTO相關規範之合致性為何，亦可對於實施類似措施之我國，提供是否繼續維持此類措施之思考方向。

Since the radiation leak from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant caused by the tsunami in Japan in 2011, the food produced and exported from Fukushima and surrounding areas has been affected by various trade-restrictive meausres due to the potential radioactive contamination. However, as time goes by, many countries have successively removed relevant measures after Japan released the safety monitoring report. Nevertheless, until the end of 2021, China, South Korea, and Taiwan still maintain similar restrictions. Japan believes that the food in the region has been proven safe through its monitoring reports and that the trade-restrictive measures of various countries have turned into obstacles to trade and are considered in violation of the provisions of the WTO/SPS Agreement. Therefore, it filed acomplaint against South Korea’s measures at the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to find amutually accepted solution in 2015, and both the Panel report and the ruling of the Appellate Body have been adopted on April 26, 2019. Although the Panel found that parts of South Korea’s measures violated Articles 2.3 and 5.6 of the SPS Agreement, the Appellate Body overturned several opinions in the Panel’s report, resulting in problems unresolved in this case in the end. Neither the final result achieved the purpose of Japan’s request for South Korea to withdraw its measures, nor justified the Korea’s measures eventually. However, the discussion about the requirement of the necessity and the principle of non-discrimnation in this case contains abundant of information related to how to strike the balance between the food safty and trade interest. Through the introduction and analysis of the case, this paper aims to know how to evaluate the trade-restrictive measures taken for the food suspected of radiation contamination after anuclear safety accident or in asimilar situation are in compliance with WTO rules, especially the SPS Agreement.