Does the WTO require countries to control their borders? – Trade β Blog Rees Mogg has tried to run with the 'we wont check goods on the island of Ireland' and that way would force the Ireland/EU to put border controls, and in the process get the blame for any economic/political problems that arise.
First, a fact:
There is no rule in the WTO requiring its member governments to secure their borders.
After Brexit, the UK could drop all border controls for traded goods and services and it would be perfectly within its WTO rights.
- Where the UK might run into trouble is under the WTO’s non-discrimination rules, particularly “most-favoured-nation” treatment (MFN), which means treating one’s trading partners equally
Suppose the UK and EU trade on WTO terms after Brexit. Suppose American apples arriving in the UK at an English port have to go through controls, but Irish apples crossing the border into Northern Ireland (also the UK) do not. Then the US could complain that its apples were discriminated against. They weren’t given equal treatment with Irish apples when they entered the UK.
MFN
Most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment is probably the most important WTO rule.It means not discriminating between one’s trading partners
• Article 1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), for trade in goods
• Article 2 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
• Article 4 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
But in each agreement the principle is handled slightly differently
The US might seek a legal ruling in WTO dispute settlement. Months or years later, the ruling might conclude that the UK had discriminated. So either checks at the English ports would have to be dropped, or checks at the Irish border would have to be set up.
In other words, while no WTO rule actually says the UK will have to set up border checks, the non-discrimination rule may force it to'.
The UK would have to get rid of all its border checks, pull down the infrastructure so any goods would get into Britain without being checked. There may be the caveat for Rees Mogg , national security.
"The idea is that the UK and EU could cite national security as a justification for breaking the non-discrimination rule at the Irish border.
London and Brussels (and Dublin) could seek a “waiver” in the WTO for the purpose, citing security exception clauses such as
Article 21 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
For this to be agreed in the WTO, at the very least both Britain and the EU would have to agree. It would probably have to apply only to Northern Ireland, not the whole United Kingdom, meaning there would probably have to be controls between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK".
What is a WTO schedule? - World Trade Organization
However, resorting to WTO schedules on leaving the EU may run into trouble from Russia voting against the UK.
The "1980 Procedures" The large majority of changes to goods schedules take place under the so-called "1980 Procedures for the modification and rectification of Schedules". Under these procedures, all WTO members have an opportunity to review the proposed changes and to approve them if there are no objections from other members. In the absence of any objections, the proposed changes are "certified" by the WTO Director General. To date, more than 97% of such procedures have been successfully concluded" .
Resorting to WTO is not as straight forward as Rees Mogg et al imply.