《中国加入世贸组织议定书》第16条“过渡期内对特定产品的保障机制”,是整个议定书中文字最长(1400字)的条款。从标题“保障机制”的措词(工作组报告相关段落也叫“过渡期的保障措施”)不难看出,它与通常称作“保障条款”的GATT第19条之间有着密切的关联。事实正是如此,它是从GATT第19条几经衍化而成。为解读清楚,先要从GATT第19条说起。 Article 16 of the Protocol to China’s Accession to the WTO “The Guarantee Mechanism for Certain Products during the Transition Period” is the longest term (1400 words) in the entire protocol. It is not hard to see from the wording of the heading “safeguards” (the relevant paragraph in the Working Group’s report, also called the “transitional safeguards”) that it is closely linked to article 19 of the GATT, commonly referred to as the “safeguards clause”. In fact, it is derived from Article 19 of the GATT. To make it clear, let’s start with Article 19 of the GATT.