初論GATT第17條第1項ｃ款商業考量原則與內國競爭法之互動

Probing into the Interaction between Commercial Consideration Principle under GATT (1994) Article XVII (1)(c) and the Domestic Competition Law

WTO會員國對競爭法議題立場各異，國際競爭法倡議始終面對阻礙，國際貿易與競爭法持續互動。雖有欲整合自由貿易（Free Trade Agreement,”FTA”）、區域貿易協定（Regional Trade Agreement,”RTA”）及投資保護協定等之競爭法條款甚至想藉建立國際競爭法，但FTA及RTA等僅係特定地區或某共同利益共同體特定國家締結，以FTA為例，其係根據WTO/GATT 1994第24條及GATS第5條規定進行合作，雖允許WTO會員經由自發共同協議，在締結FTA會員間締結更密切關係，促進區域間貿易自由化，也的確往往包括競爭議題，但因FTA不得增加其他會員貿易障礙（此乃WTO最惠國待遇原則例外規定），終究欠缺多邊國際公約（如WTO規則）廣泛效力；RTA亦然。故類此多邊或雙邊協定數目雖曾增加速度驚人，但終究不具WTO規則廣泛效力，加上各國往往將競爭法當作國家主權象徵，故當前國際競爭法始終至今未見成果（我國2024年11月與巴拉圭簽屬競爭法合作文件，該國係我國第11個合作國家）。基此，本文探討GATT/WTO規則是否有與競爭法相關且依維也納條約法公約解釋原則可將WTO規則解釋適用於競爭法議題之規範，聚焦GATT第17條第1項C款商業考量原則規範內國競爭法之可能性，並列我國公平法實務個案供做驗證，最後認為WTO規範欠缺競爭法規範之實務見解過於狹隘，商業考量原則係獨立且可鞏固競爭商業理性之重要原則。

The stance of WTO members on competition law varies. Although there have been ongoing discussions around international trade and competition law, there’s still no consensus towards the formation of international competition law. There are also discussions on integration of free trade agreement and investment protection agreement, which further leads to conversations about the establishment of international competition law. However, both agreements aforementioned are only concluded among specific regions or countries within a common interest group, lacking the broad effectiveness an international and multilateral agreement could provide (e.g. WTO Agreements). And with a skyrocketing increase in smaller-scale multilateral and bilateral agreements concluded, no results have been produced in terms of establishing international competition law so far. This paper explores whether GATT/WTO rules are relevant to competition law and whether the principles of interpretation under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties can be applied to normative WTO rules concerning competition law issues. It focuses on the potential of GATT Article XVII, paragraph 1, subparagraph C, which regulates the possibility of domestic competition law, and cites cases from our country's Fair Trade Act for verification This paper concludes that WTO Agreements provide little practical insights into competition law regulations, and that the principle of commercial considerations is an independent and important principle that can strengthen the rationality of competition in business..