一、概述
WTO一般例外規則的目的，在於為成員方基於特殊事由而無法履行WTO協議提供一個合法的依據。考慮到WTO協議在性質上屬於“一攬子接受”的範疇，為成員方提供一個一般例外規則，無疑可以使得WTO法律體係兼具完整性和靈活性，更能為世界範圍內的廣大國家所接受。
WTO的一般例外規則即GATT第20條。該條分為前言（preamble）和單項例外兩個部分，其中前言主要規定各個單項例外措施在適用方式上的要求。[1]第20條的具體規定如下：
Article ⅩⅩ: General Exceptions
Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where the same conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on international trade, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by any contracting party of measures:
（a） necessary to protect public morals;
（b） necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
（c） relating to the importations or exportations of gold or silver;
（d） necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement, including those relating to customs enforcement, the enforcement of monopolies operated under paragraph 4 of Article Ⅱ and Article ⅩⅦ, the protection of patents, trade marks and copyrights, and the prevention of deceptive practices;
（e） relating to the products of prison labor;
（f） imposed for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value;
（g） relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made effective in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption;
（h） undertaken in pursuance of obligations under any intergovernmental commodity agreement which conforms to criteria submitted to the CONTRACTING PARTIES and not disapproved by them or which is itself so submitted and not so disapproved;