Narcotic MFN
From Sergey Ripinsky of the British Institute of International and Comparative LawI came across the rule in the US legislation (adopted in 1971), which requires to buy 80% of all narcotic raw materials from two countries - India and Turkey - and the remaining 20% from five other countries (the so-called '80-20' rule, see Title 21 para. 1312.13(g) of the Code of Federal regulations, available http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=9e96138a10368dc7cd0073151052ede1&rgn=div8&view=text&node=21:9.0.1.1.13.0.41.5&idno=21)On its face, this rule constitutes a violation of the GATT MFN principle. I checked whether the US has obtained a relevant waiver from WTO obligations - it has not. At the same time, I have not come across any concerns raised in this regard by any WTO members. US is by far the largest importer of opium raw materials in the world, so I would assume that other opium-producing countries should be willing to expand their access to the American opium market.I wonder if somebody could express an opinion on whether (1) this is indeed an unjustifiable violation of GATT Article I:1 (MFN), and if yes, (2) why other opium-producing countries have not challenged this rule.