Trade Sanctions as Foreign Policy Tools: Legality, Compliance with International Trade Law, and Implications for the East African Community
Main Article Content
Abstract
The increasing reliance on trade sanctions as a central instrument of foreign policy creates a complex legal tension in international relations. While the United Nations Charter, under Chapter VII, authorizes collective sanctions as legitimate measures for maintaining peace, unilateral sanctions imposed by powerful states or regional blocs raise persistent questions of legality, fairness, and compliance with multilateral trade rules. The World Trade Organization (WTO) framework, which promotes free trade and non-discrimination, is frequently challenged by these trade restrictions. This article critically analyzes the contested legality of trade sanctions under international trade law, with a specific focus on the evolving interpretation of the WTO’s GATT Article XXI (Security Exception). Furthermore, it empirically investigates the multifaceted implications of external sanctions for the East African Community (EAC), examining the disruptive effects on trade flows, supply chain resilience, and regional integration. The researcher argues that the current legal framework is unsettled, leaving regional blocs like the EAC disproportionately vulnerable to economic coercion and necessitating a strategic framework for enhanced resilience.
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles
Author Biography
Winfrida Gavana
References
Treaties and Agreements
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), 15 April 1994.
East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol, 2010.
East African Community (EAC) Customs Union Protocol, 2004.
East African Community, Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (Arusha: EAC Secretariat, 2000).
East African Community. EAC Treaty (Arusha: EAC Secretariat, 2000).
East African Community. Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market (Arusha: EAC Secretariat, 2010).
East African Court of Justice, Jurisdiction and Powers of the EACJ (Arusha: EACJ, 2010).
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 30 October 1947, 55 UNTS 194.
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), 15 April 1994.
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, 15 April 1994, 1867 UNTS 154.
The United Nations Charter of 1945, 1 UNTS 16.
Cases
Anyang’ Nyong’o & Others v. Attorney General of Kenya (2007), EACJ Reference No. 1 of 2006 (2007).
Appellate Body Report, United States - Import Prohibition of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, WT/DS58/AB/R (12 October 1998).
Appellate Body Report, United States - Measures Affecting the Cross-Border Supply of Gambling and Betting Services, WT/DS285/AB/R (7 April 2005).
Attorney General of Rwanda v. Attorney General of Uganda, Reference No. 10 of 2019, East African Court of Justice (2022).
Russia - Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit (2019)
Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya v Independent Medico Legal Unit, Appeal No. 1 of 2011, East African Court of Justice (2012).
Kadi and Al Barakaat v Council and Commission, Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie (Libya v United States), Provisional Measures, ICJ Reports 1992, 114.
Libya Sanctions Case
Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States), Merits, ICJ Reports 1986, para. 205.
Panel Report, Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit (Article 21.5 – Russia) WT/DS512/R (29 March 2019).
Panel Report, European Communities - Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products, WT/DS400/R and WT/DS401/R (25 November 2013).
Republic v Faraidoon Juma and Others, Anti-Terrorism Case No. 4 of 2014 (High Court of Kenya).
Russia – Traffic in Transit (2019) decision, WTO Panel Report, Russia -Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (2019), paras. 7.76- 7.78.
Yassin Abdullah Kadi & Al Barakaat Int' ’l Foundation v. Council & Commission, Case C 402/05 P (3 Sept. 2008).
Books
Alford, Roger. The Self-Judging WTO Security Exception. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
Corten, Olivier. The Law Against War: The Prohibition on the Use of Force in Contemporary International Law. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2010.
Doxey, Margaret. Economic Sanctions and International Enforcement. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
Drezner, Daniel W. The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Farrall, Jeremy. United Nations Sanctions and the Rule of Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Gathii, James. African Regional Trade Agreements as Legal Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Malloy, Michael P. United States Economic Sanctions: Theory and Practice. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2001.
Musyimi, M. G. Challenges and Opportunities for Regional Economic Integration in East Africa. London: Routledge, 2023.
Nyong’o, Peter Anyang’. Comparative Regional Integration and Economic Resilience. Nairobi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2021.
Nyong’o, Peter Anyang’. East African Regional Integration: Challenges and Opportunities. Nairobi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2017.
Pauwelyn, Joost. Conflict of Norms in Public International Law: How WTO Law Relates to Other Rules of International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Trachtman, Joel P. "The WTO and the Law of Foreign Sanctions." In International Economic Law: The New Challenges, edited by O. E. Schachter, 221–245. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Journal Articles
Charnovitz, Steve, “Regional Mechanisms against Extraterritorial Sanctions,” Journal of World Trade 54, no. 1 (2020): 1-32;
Chesterman, Simon, and Béatrice Pouligny. “Are Sanctions Meant to Work? The Politics of Creating and Implementing Sanctions through the United Nations.” Global Governance 9 (2003): 503-517.
Chimni, B. S., “National Security and WTO Law: The Russia Traffic in Transit Dispute,” Asian Journal of International Law 10, no. 1 (2020): 1-28.
Corten, Olivier, The Law Against War: The Prohibition on the Use of Force in Contemporary International Law (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2010), 189-205;
Daniel K. Wambua, “External Economic Shocks and Regional Legal Vulnerability of the EAC,” East African Law Journal 12, no. 2 (2020): 125-130.
Drezner, Daniel W., The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 1-20.
Dumberry, Pascale. “Secondary Sanctions: A Weapon Out of Control? The International Legality of, and European Responses to, US Secondary Sanctions.” British Yearbook of International Law (Advance online publication, 2023).
Musyimi, M. G., Challenges and Opportunities for Regional Economic Integration in East Africa (Routledge, 2023), 102-110.
Mwencha, Edward, and Oscar Ndiritu. “Bolstering the East African Court of Justice's Role in Protecting Regional Trade against External Coercion.” EACJ Law Review 7 (2023): 55-78.
Nshala, Richard. “Trade, Sanctions and the East African Community: Legal and Policy Implications.” African Journal of International and Comparative Law 4 (2020): 201-215.
Ntale, S. “The Unilateral Suspension of AGOA Benefits: An Analysis of the EAC Response.” African Journal of International Economic Law 11, no. 2 (2022): 201-219.
Nyong’o, East African Regional Integration, 52-55; Wambua, “External Economic Shocks,” 132-134.
Nyong’o, Peter Anyang’, Comparative Regional Integration and Economic Resilience (Nairobi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2021), 87-92.
Nyongesa, P. “The Impact of Sanctions on Trade and Investment in the East African Community.” East African Law Journal 45 (2021): 101-125.
Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, East African Regional Integration: Challenges and Opportunities (Nairobi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2017), 45-50.
Peters, Anne. “Economic Sanctions: Between Legal Norms and Political Reality.” Leiden Journal of International Law 24 (2009): 767-788.
Sykes, Alan O. “Economic Sanctions and WTO Law.” Journal of International Economic Law 9, no. 2 (2003): 349-390.
Voon, Tania. “The Security Exception in WTO Law: Entering a New Era.” WITA, April 2019.
Wambua, Daniel K. “External Economic Shocks and Regional Legal Vulnerability of the EAC.” East African Law Journal 12, no. 2 (2020): 120-134.
Wambua, Peter. “Policy Coordination and Legal Gaps in the East African Community: Implications for Economic Integration.” East African Law Journal 46 (2022): 89-112.
Wang, Chao. “Invocation of National Security Exceptions under GATT Article XXI: Jurisdiction to Review and Standard of Review.” Chinese Journal of International Law 18, no. 3 (2019): 695-712.
Reports
International Crisis Group. South Sudan’s Civil War and Regional Ripple Effects. ICG Report No. 236. Nairobi/Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2016.
United States Department of the Treasury. Specially Designated Nationals and OFAC Sanctions in East Africa. Washington, D.C., 2015.
World Bank. Financial Sector De-Risking in Sub-Saharan Africa: Drivers and Implications. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2019.
World Bank. Withdrawal from Correspondent Banking: Economic Effects on East Africa. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2018.
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), US Trade Policy on Burundi, US Department of State Reports (Washington, D.C., 2016).
International Crisis Group, South Sudan’s Civil War and Regional Ripple Effects (ICG Report No. 236, Nairobi/Brussels, 2016).
WTO Panel Report, Russia - Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (2019), paras. 7.127-7.140.
WTO Panel Report, Russia - Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (2019), paras. 7.127-7.140;
WTO Panel Report, Russia - Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (26 April 2019).
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), 15 April 1994.
East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol, 2010.
East African Community (EAC) Customs Union Protocol, 2004.
East African Community, Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (Arusha: EAC Secretariat, 2000).
East African Community. EAC Treaty (Arusha: EAC Secretariat, 2000).
East African Community. Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market (Arusha: EAC Secretariat, 2010).
East African Court of Justice, Jurisdiction and Powers of the EACJ (Arusha: EACJ, 2010).
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 30 October 1947, 55 UNTS 194.
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), 15 April 1994.
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, 15 April 1994, 1867 UNTS 154.
The United Nations Charter of 1945, 1 UNTS 16.
Cases
Anyang’ Nyong’o & Others v. Attorney General of Kenya (2007), EACJ Reference No. 1 of 2006 (2007).
Appellate Body Report, United States - Import Prohibition of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products, WT/DS58/AB/R (12 October 1998).
Appellate Body Report, United States - Measures Affecting the Cross-Border Supply of Gambling and Betting Services, WT/DS285/AB/R (7 April 2005).
Attorney General of Rwanda v. Attorney General of Uganda, Reference No. 10 of 2019, East African Court of Justice (2022).
Russia - Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit (2019)
Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya v Independent Medico Legal Unit, Appeal No. 1 of 2011, East African Court of Justice (2012).
Kadi and Al Barakaat v Council and Commission, Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie (Libya v United States), Provisional Measures, ICJ Reports 1992, 114.
Libya Sanctions Case
Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States), Merits, ICJ Reports 1986, para. 205.
Panel Report, Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit (Article 21.5 – Russia) WT/DS512/R (29 March 2019).
Panel Report, European Communities - Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products, WT/DS400/R and WT/DS401/R (25 November 2013).
Republic v Faraidoon Juma and Others, Anti-Terrorism Case No. 4 of 2014 (High Court of Kenya).
Russia – Traffic in Transit (2019) decision, WTO Panel Report, Russia -Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (2019), paras. 7.76- 7.78.
Yassin Abdullah Kadi & Al Barakaat Int' ’l Foundation v. Council & Commission, Case C 402/05 P (3 Sept. 2008).
Books
Alford, Roger. The Self-Judging WTO Security Exception. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
Corten, Olivier. The Law Against War: The Prohibition on the Use of Force in Contemporary International Law. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2010.
Doxey, Margaret. Economic Sanctions and International Enforcement. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
Drezner, Daniel W. The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Farrall, Jeremy. United Nations Sanctions and the Rule of Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Gathii, James. African Regional Trade Agreements as Legal Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Malloy, Michael P. United States Economic Sanctions: Theory and Practice. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2001.
Musyimi, M. G. Challenges and Opportunities for Regional Economic Integration in East Africa. London: Routledge, 2023.
Nyong’o, Peter Anyang’. Comparative Regional Integration and Economic Resilience. Nairobi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2021.
Nyong’o, Peter Anyang’. East African Regional Integration: Challenges and Opportunities. Nairobi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2017.
Pauwelyn, Joost. Conflict of Norms in Public International Law: How WTO Law Relates to Other Rules of International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Trachtman, Joel P. "The WTO and the Law of Foreign Sanctions." In International Economic Law: The New Challenges, edited by O. E. Schachter, 221–245. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Journal Articles
Charnovitz, Steve, “Regional Mechanisms against Extraterritorial Sanctions,” Journal of World Trade 54, no. 1 (2020): 1-32;
Chesterman, Simon, and Béatrice Pouligny. “Are Sanctions Meant to Work? The Politics of Creating and Implementing Sanctions through the United Nations.” Global Governance 9 (2003): 503-517.
Chimni, B. S., “National Security and WTO Law: The Russia Traffic in Transit Dispute,” Asian Journal of International Law 10, no. 1 (2020): 1-28.
Corten, Olivier, The Law Against War: The Prohibition on the Use of Force in Contemporary International Law (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2010), 189-205;
Daniel K. Wambua, “External Economic Shocks and Regional Legal Vulnerability of the EAC,” East African Law Journal 12, no. 2 (2020): 125-130.
Drezner, Daniel W., The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 1-20.
Dumberry, Pascale. “Secondary Sanctions: A Weapon Out of Control? The International Legality of, and European Responses to, US Secondary Sanctions.” British Yearbook of International Law (Advance online publication, 2023).
Musyimi, M. G., Challenges and Opportunities for Regional Economic Integration in East Africa (Routledge, 2023), 102-110.
Mwencha, Edward, and Oscar Ndiritu. “Bolstering the East African Court of Justice's Role in Protecting Regional Trade against External Coercion.” EACJ Law Review 7 (2023): 55-78.
Nshala, Richard. “Trade, Sanctions and the East African Community: Legal and Policy Implications.” African Journal of International and Comparative Law 4 (2020): 201-215.
Ntale, S. “The Unilateral Suspension of AGOA Benefits: An Analysis of the EAC Response.” African Journal of International Economic Law 11, no. 2 (2022): 201-219.
Nyong’o, East African Regional Integration, 52-55; Wambua, “External Economic Shocks,” 132-134.
Nyong’o, Peter Anyang’, Comparative Regional Integration and Economic Resilience (Nairobi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2021), 87-92.
Nyongesa, P. “The Impact of Sanctions on Trade and Investment in the East African Community.” East African Law Journal 45 (2021): 101-125.
Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, East African Regional Integration: Challenges and Opportunities (Nairobi: Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 2017), 45-50.
Peters, Anne. “Economic Sanctions: Between Legal Norms and Political Reality.” Leiden Journal of International Law 24 (2009): 767-788.
Sykes, Alan O. “Economic Sanctions and WTO Law.” Journal of International Economic Law 9, no. 2 (2003): 349-390.
Voon, Tania. “The Security Exception in WTO Law: Entering a New Era.” WITA, April 2019.
Wambua, Daniel K. “External Economic Shocks and Regional Legal Vulnerability of the EAC.” East African Law Journal 12, no. 2 (2020): 120-134.
Wambua, Peter. “Policy Coordination and Legal Gaps in the East African Community: Implications for Economic Integration.” East African Law Journal 46 (2022): 89-112.
Wang, Chao. “Invocation of National Security Exceptions under GATT Article XXI: Jurisdiction to Review and Standard of Review.” Chinese Journal of International Law 18, no. 3 (2019): 695-712.
Reports
International Crisis Group. South Sudan’s Civil War and Regional Ripple Effects. ICG Report No. 236. Nairobi/Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2016.
United States Department of the Treasury. Specially Designated Nationals and OFAC Sanctions in East Africa. Washington, D.C., 2015.
World Bank. Financial Sector De-Risking in Sub-Saharan Africa: Drivers and Implications. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2019.
World Bank. Withdrawal from Correspondent Banking: Economic Effects on East Africa. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2018.
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), US Trade Policy on Burundi, US Department of State Reports (Washington, D.C., 2016).
International Crisis Group, South Sudan’s Civil War and Regional Ripple Effects (ICG Report No. 236, Nairobi/Brussels, 2016).
WTO Panel Report, Russia - Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (2019), paras. 7.127-7.140.
WTO Panel Report, Russia - Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (2019), paras. 7.127-7.140;
WTO Panel Report, Russia - Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, WT/DS512/R (26 April 2019).