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GATT WTO An Overview
GATT WTO An Overview
GATT WTO An Overview
AN OVERVIEW
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A Project On
GATT & WTO : AN OVERVIEW
Submitted to
University of Mumbai
by
Studying at
Parle Tilak Vidyalaya.
Mulund College Of Commerce,
S.N.Road,Mulund(West),Mumbai-80.
DECLARATION
CERTIFICATE
_______________________ ______________________
Signature Of The Principal Signature Of The Project Co-ordinator
(Prof. S. A. Pawar)
______________________
Signature Of The Project Co-ordinator
(Prof. C. A. Kaul)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Mumbai University
for having projects as a part of the Master in Commerce curriculum.
I also would like to thank my brother who has helped and encouraged me throughout the
working of the project.
Last but not the least I would like to thank the Almighty for always helping me.
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Introduction:
multilateral agreement regulating trade among 153 countries. According to its preamble, the
purpose of the GATT is the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the
The GATT functioned de facto as an organization, conducting eight rounds of talks addressing
various trade issues and resolving international trade disputes. The Uruguay Round, which was
completed on December 15, 1993 after seven years of negotiations, resulted in an agreement
among 117 countries (including the U.S.) to reduce trade barriers and to create more
comprehensive and enforceable world trade rules. The agreement coming out of this round, the
Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, was
signed in April 1994. The Uruguay Round agreement was approved and implemented by the
U.S. Congress in December 1994, and went into effect on January 1, 1995.
created the World Trade Organization (WTO), which came into being on January 1, 1995. The
WTO implements the agreement, provides a forum for negotiating additional reductions of trade
barriers and for settling policy disputes, and enforces trade rules. The WTO launched the ninth
round of multilateral trade negotiations under the "Doha Development Agenda" (DDA or Doha
Round) in 2001. TheWTO's website provides information about the Doha Round, including
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links to texts that have been generated by the negotiations and information regarding upcoming
meetings.
GATT and WTO materials are available in the Goodson Law Library and in Perkins. The
Davis Library at the University of North Carolina has been a depository library for GATT
materials, and continues to receive most of the materials published by the WTO.
From 1948 to 1994, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provided the
rules for much of world trade and presided over periods that saw some of the highest growth
rates in international commerce. It seemed well-established, but throughout those 47 years, it was
The original intention was to create a third institution to handle the trade side of international
economic cooperation, joining the two “Bretton Woods” institutions, the World Bank and the
The General Agreement on Tariff and Trade is a multilateral treaty that lays down
1948. 119governments which together account for 90 per cent of the world merchandise
tradesubscribe it to. Its basic aim is to liberalize trade and for the last 45 years it has
beenconcerned with negotiating the reduction of trade barriers and with international
traderelations. The rapid and uninterrupted growth in the volume of international trade till1992
The text of the original agreement establishing the GATT, with annexes and schedules, is
attached to the Final Act of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment. It was not
signed as a separate document, but is in force among the contracting parties through the Protocol
of Provisional Application and the subsequent Protocols of Accession. These documents are
found at 61 Stat. A3 and 55 U.N.T.S. 187. The Protocol of Provisional Application, which was
signed by the eight principal states involved in the negotiations (including the U.S.), is published
The WTO’s creation on 1 January 1995 marked the biggest reform of international trade since
after the Second World War. It also brought to reality — in an updated form — the failed
During that period, the trading system came under GATT, salvaged from the aborted attempt to
create the ITO. GATT helped establish a strong and prosperous multilateral trading system that
became more and more liberal through rounds of trade negotiations. But by the 1980s the system
needed a thorough overhaul. This led to the Uruguay Round, and ultimately to the WTO.
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Trade must be conducted on the basis of non-discrimination. All contracting parties are bound to
grant to each other treatmentas favourable as they would to any country (most favoured nation)
in theapplication and administration of import and export duties and charges.Expectations to this
basic rule are allowed only in the case of regional tradingarrangements and the developing
countries.
Protection should be given to domesticindustries only through customs tariffs and not through
other commercialmeasures. The aim of this rule is to make the extent of protection clear and
where the demand for imports by development may requirethem to maintain quantitative
The binding of the tariff levels negotiated among thecontracting countries provides a stable
4.Consultation:
and problems. They can call on GATT for afair settlement of cases in which they feel that their
rights under the GATT arebeing withheld or compromised by other members.The agreement
consists of four parts:Part I: Main obligations of the contracting parties;Part II: A code of fait
trade practices to guide members in their commercial policies;Part III: Conditions for
membership and withdrawal; andPart IV: Expansion of trade of developing countries through
special concessions.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994") shall consist of:
(a) the provisions in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, dated
entered into force before the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement;
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(b) the provisions of the legal instruments set forth below that have entered into force
under the GATT 1947 before the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement:
fullest extent not inconsistent with legislation existing on the date of the
Protocol);
(iii) decisions on waivers granted under Article XXV of GATT 1947 and still
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Eight major trade negotiations took place under the GATT auspice as follows:
2.The second round in 1949 (Annecy, France) involved negotiation with nationsthat desired
3.The third round in 1951 (Torquay, England) continued accession and tariff reduction
negotiations.
4.The fourth round in 1956 (Geneva) proceeded along the same track as earlierrounds.
5.The fifth round in 1960-61 (Geneva, Dillon Round) involved further revisionof the GATT and
6.The sixth round in 1964-67 (Geneva Kennedy Round) was hybrid of earlierproduct by product
7.The seventh round in 1973-79 (Geneva, Tokya Round) centred on thenegotiation of additional
tariff cuts and developed a series of agreementsgoverning the use of non-tariff measures.
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8.The eight round (Uruguary Round ) started in 1986 and was concluded inApril 1994.As a
result of these negotiations, the tariff rates for thousands of items entering into worldtrade were
reduced or bound against increase. The average level of tariffs onmanufactured goods in
industrial countries was bout 3 per cent now as compared to about 40 percent in the immediate
the Tokyo Round. However, given its provisionalnature and the limited field of action, the
success of GATT in promotion and securingliberalisation of much of world trade over 47 years
was incontestable.
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Explanatory Notes
deemed to read "Member". The references to "less-developed contracting party" and "developed
contracting party" shall be deemed to read "developing country Member" and "developed
country Member". The references to "Executive Secretary" shall be deemed to read "Director-
(b) The references to the CONTRACTING PARTIES acting jointly in Articles XV:1,
XV:2, XV:8, XXXVIII and the Notes Ad Article XII and XVIII; and in the provisions on special
exchange agreements in Articles XV:2, XV:3, XV:6, XV:7 and XV:9 of GATT 1994 shall be
deemed to be references to the WTO. The other functions that the provisions of GATT 1994
assign to the CONTRACTING PARTIES acting jointly shall be allocated by the Ministerial
Conference.
(c) (i) The text of GATT 1994 shall be authentic in English, French and Spanish.
MTN.TNC/41.
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3. (a) The provisions of Part II of GATT 1994 shall not apply to measures taken by a
Member under specific mandatory legislation, enacted by that Member before it became a
contracting party to GATT 1947, that prohibits the use, sale or lease of foreign-built or foreign-
reconstructed vessels in commercial applications between points in national waters or the waters
of an exclusive economic zone. This exemption applies to: (a) the continuation or prompt
renewal of a non-conforming provision of such legislation; and (b) the amendment to a non-
conforming provision of such legislation to the extent that the amendment does not decrease the
conformity of the provision with Part II of GATT 1947. This exemption is limited to measures
taken under legislation described above that is notified and specified prior to the date of entry
into force of the WTO Agreement. If such legislation is subsequently modified to decrease its
conformity with Part II of GATT 1994, it will no longer qualify for coverage under this
paragraph.
(b) The Ministerial Conference shall review this exemption not later than five years
after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement and thereafter every two years for as
long as the exemption is in force for the purpose of examining whether the conditions which
(c) A Member whose measures are covered by this exemption shall annually submit a
detailed statistical notification consisting of a five-year moving average of actual and expected
deliveries of relevant vessels as well as additional information on the use, sale, lease or repair of
(d) A Member that considers that this exemption operates in such a manner as to
justify a reciprocal and proportionate limitation on the use, sale, lease or repair of vessels
constructed in the territory of the Member invoking the exemption shall be free to introduce such
GATT was provisional with a limited field of action, but its success over 47 years in promoting
and securing the liberalization of much of world trade is incontestable. Continual reductions in
tariffs alone helped spur very high rates of world trade growth during the 1950s and 1960s —
around 8% a year on average. And the momentum of trade liberalization helped ensure that trade
growth consistently out-paced production growth throughout the GATT era, a measure of
countries’ increasing ability to trade with each other and to reap the benefits of trade. The rush of
new members during the Uruguay Round demonstrated that the multilateral trading system was
recognized as an anchor for development and an instrument of economic and trade reform.
WEAKNESS OF GATT:
The weakness of GATT is that its benefits have mainly gone to the industrializedcountries.
Under GATT, Most negotiations and tariff reductions have taken place inrespect of
manufactured goods. So the trade gap for the developing countries has becomemore
tackle the problems of the global trade of developing countries, led to theformation of united
The last and largest GATT round, was the Uruguay Round which lasted from 1986 to 1994 and
led to the WTO’s creation. Whereas GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and
its agreements now cover trade in services, and in traded inventions, creations and designs
(intellectual property).
The Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multinational Trade
Agreementsconsists of the Final Act itself, the Agreement establishing the WTO ("WTO
Agreement") and agreements annexed to it, and additional GATT agreements, decisions and
declarations. The text can be found in various sources: 1867 U.N.T.S. 3, 33 I.L.M. 9 (1994)
(December 1993 text) and 33 I.L.M. 1143 (1994)(April 1994 text), The Final Act Embodying the
Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations(K4603 1987 .A3 1994), The
Legal Texts: The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (K4603
1987.A4 1999); reprint of The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations:
The Legal Texts (Perkins Ref. 382.92 R436, 1994)and in The Uruguay Round of Multilateral
Trade Negotiations (Microforms Room, filed with GATT Documents). The text is also available
with the search pr(final)), and on WorldTradeLaw.net. Two of the most important of the annexed
(December 1993 text) and 1869 UNTS 183, 33 I.L.M. 1167 (1994) (April 1994 text) and
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(December1993 text) and 1869 UNTS 299, 33 I.L.M. 1197 (1994) (April 1994 text)
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The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the rules of trade between nations at a global
Above all, it’s a negotiating forum … Essentially; the WTO is a place where member
governments go, to try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other. The first step is
to talk. The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of
negotiations.
It’s a set of rules … At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk
of the world’s trading nations. These documents provide the legal ground-rules for international
commerce. They are essentially contracts, binding governments to keep their trade policies
And it helps to settle disputes … This is a third important side to the WTO’s work. Trade
negotiated in the WTO system, often need interpreting. The most harmonious way to settle these
differences is through some neutral procedure based on an agreed legal foundation. That is the
purpose behind the dispute settlement process written into the WTO agreements.
The WTO began life on 1 January 1995, but its trading system is half a century older. Since
1948, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had provided the rules for the
system.
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The agreements
The WTO Agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property. They spell out the
principles of liberalization, and the permitted exceptions. They include individual countries’
commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open
services markets.
The agreements for the two largest areas — goods and services — share a common three-part
• They start with broad principles: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
(for goods), and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). (The third area, Trade-
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), also falls into this category although at
• They come extra agreements and annexes dealing with the special requirements of
• Finally, there are the detailed and lengthy schedules (or lists) of commitments made by
markets.
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Established on January 1, 1995 WTO is the embodiment of the Uruguary Round resultsand the
WTO stood at 139. 76 Governments became members of the WTO onits first day. The present
membership accounts for more than 90 per cent of world trade.Many more countries have
2.To achieve greater coherence in global economic-policy making incooperation with World
3.To provide a forum for negotiations among its members concerning theirmultilateral trade
5.To introduce the idea of 'sustainable development' in relation to the optimaluse of the world
resources and the need to protect and preserve theenvironment in a manner consistent with the
6.To recognize that there is a need for positive efforts to ensure that thedeveloping countries,
especially, the least developed countries secure a bettershare of the growth of the international
trade.
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Objectives of WTO:
(i) to implement the new world trade system as visualised in the Agreement;
(iii) to ensure that developing countries secure a better balance in the sharing of the advantages
resulting from the expansion of international trade corresponding to their developmental needs;
(iv) to demolish all hurdles to an open world trading system and usher in international economic
renaissance because the world trade is an effective instrument to foster economic growth;
(v) to enhance competitiveness among all trading partners so as to benefit consumers and help in
global integration;
(vi) to increase the level of production and productivity with a view to ensuring level of
(viii) to improve the level of living for the global population and speed up economic
The basic principles of the multilateral trading system, as embodied in the WTO Agreement,
derive mostly from the principles that constituted the foundations of the GATT. Trade without
discrimination is one of these basic principles, guaranteed through the operation of various
clauses included in the multilateral agreements on trade in goods, in the GATS, and in the TRIPs
Agreement. It includes the Most-Favored-Nation Clause and National Treatment. Besides, there
The most-favored-nation clause has been the pillar of the system since the inception of the
GATT in 1947. The Contracting Parties to the GATT 1947 were bound to grant to the products
of other contracting parties treatment no less favorable than that accorded to products of any
other country. Members of the WTO have entered into similar commitments, under the GATT
1994 (Article I) for trade in goods, under the GATS (Article II) in relation to treatment of service
suppliers and trade in services, and under the TRIPs Agreement (Article 4) in regard to the
The national treatment principle condemns discrimination between foreign and national goods or
services and service suppliers or between foreign and national holders of intellectual property
rights. GATT 1994 and the TRIPS Agreement provide for national treatment as one of the main
commitments of WTO Members. Imported goods, once duties have been paid, must be given the
same treatment as like domestic products in relation to any charges, taxes, or administrative or
other regulations (GATT Article 3). With regard to the protection of intellectual property rights,
and subject to exceptions in existing international conventions, Members of WTO are committed
to grant to nationals or other Members treatment no less favorable than that accorded to their
own nationals (Article III). GATS, however, due to the special nature of trade in services, deals
with national treatment under its Part III, Specific Commitments, (Article XVII ), where national
that Members have inscribed in their schedules on specific commitments in trade in services.
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2.3 Transparency
Provisions on notification requirements and the Trade Policy Review Mechanism are set out in
the WTO Agreement and its Annexes, with the objective of guaranteeing the fullest transparency
possible in the trade policies of its Members in goods, services and the protection of intellectual
property rights. Article X of GATT 1994 deals with the publication and administration of trade
regulations; Article III of GATS sets out provisions on transparency as one of the general
obligations and disciplines under that agreement; and Article 3 establishes transparency rules for
Predictable and growing access to markets for goods and services is an essential principle of the
In the case of goods, a basic GATT postulate is that tariffs should normally be the only
instrument used to protect domestic industry. Furthermore, tariffs should be predictable and
stable.
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Security and predictability in trade in goods are achieved through the commitments embodied in
the "binding of tariffs". A "bound" tariff is a tariff in respect of which there is a legal
commitment not to raise it beyond the bound level. The binding of a tariff at a level higher than
the tariff actually applied is considered as a legitimate concession. In this case, the concession is
the binding itself, that is, the commitment not to raise the tariff beyond that level. The developed
countries have normally bound their tariffs at the applied levels. By contrast, and consistently
with open market policies, developing countries have adopted commitments on "ceiling
bindings", that is, bindings at levels higher than the applied rates. This has allowed developing
countries to substantially increase their bound commitments, thus underpinning their open
markets policies, while keeping a certain margin for protection in case of need.
As a general rule, quantitative restrictions are prohibited under the GATT 1994. However, in
some cases, such as safeguard action, quantitative restrictions can be introduced under strictly
defined criteria.
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In the past, tariff negotiations were launched periodically under the auspices of the GATT. These
negotiations served to reduce progressively the level of tariff protection in many countries now
Members of the WTO. Tariff negotiations will remain important in the future, particularly in
relation to agricultural products, where all nontariff barriers have been eliminated and substituted
when imports have increased in such quantities and conditions that they are the cause of serious
injury or threat of such injury to a domestic industry producing a like or directly competing
product. An agreement on safeguards, setting out conditions and criteria for these actions, is one
of the multilateral trade agreements. Measures affecting prices, that is tariffs, are preferable to
The contractual nature of a bound tariff concession lies in the fact that the tariff rate cannot be
increased beyond the bound level. However, countries would not enter into this kind of
commitment without the possibility of revision when the situation of a domestic industry so
requires. The GATT 1994 allows for the possibility of renegotiations. A Member desiring to
withdraw or modify tariff bindings has to renegotiate them with other interested Members and
provide compensation, that is, substantially equivalent tariff concessions on other products.
principles and rules for trade in services with a view to the expansion of such trade under
economic growth of all countries and the development of developing countries. Through general
obligations and principles, the negotiation of specific commitments, and the commitment to
launch further rounds of negotiations on trade in services, the GATS seeks to achieve predictable
(1)The GATT was a set of rules, a multilateral agreement with noinstitutional foundation with
only a small associated secretariat. The WTO is apermanent institution with its own secretariat.
(2) The GATT was applied on a "Provisional basis" even if, after more than 40years,
governments chose to treat it as a permanent commitment. The WTOcommitments are full and
permanent.
(3)The GATT rules applied to trade in merchandise goods. In addition to goods,the WTO covers
(4)While GATT was multilateral instrument by the 1980s many new agreementshad been added
(5)The WTO dispute settlement system is faster, more automatic and thus muchless susceptible
talks areadjudicated under the WTO dispute settlement 'court'. The WTO is also a
managementconsultant for world trade. Its economists keep a close watch on the pulse of the
globaleconomy and provide studies on the main trade issues of the day. The mandate of theWTO
includes trade in goods, trade in services, trade related in investment measures andtrade related
intellectual property rights.A number of simple and fundamental principles run throughout all of
theinstruments which, together, make up the multilateral trading system . They are:-
The industrial sector can be classified as production sector and service sector. Productionsector
refers the industries that are engaged in production and supply of goods. Servicesector refers
providing services and exchanging services to the public as well as society.The growing
importance of services is reflected in the international trade also. The valueof the international
trade in services comes to about one fourth of the value of the valueof the trade in goods.
Services make up a major share of the invisible account in theBalance of payments of a country.
Transport
Travel
Communication
Media
Business services
Insurances
services is their inseparability. That is services cannot be sepearated fromtheir providers, whether
they are persons or machines. This does not, however mean thatall services require the physical
CHARACTERISTICS:
(a)Those that necessarily require the physical proximity of the provider and theuser; and
(b)Those that do not, though such physical proximity may be useful.The services where physical
-The mobile provider and immobile user categorize the first category. In this casethe provider
goes into the place of user and doing services. For example the technicalpeople of L & T
Company in India goes to Srilanka and do the construction work.Similarly a technician may have
to go a plant abroad to rectify a problem with the plant.- Mobile user and immosbile provider
characterizes the second category. I.e. usergoes towards the provider. For example a patient who
wants an open-heart surgery willhave to go to a hospital where the required facilities are
available.-The third category consists of of mobile user and mobile provider. In this caseeither
the provider going to the user or the user going to the provider may achieveproximity. For
Due to the special characteristics and the socio economic and politicalimplications of certain
nationalrestrictions. Protective measures include visa requirements,
includebanking and insurance; transportation, television, radio, film and other forms
The Government of India has set up a number of institutions whose main functions are tohelp an
exporter in its export efforts. It is therefore, necessary for the exporters toacquaint themselves
with these institutions and the nature of help they can render to themso that they can initially
contact them to get whatever help they could get from theseinstitutions in exporting their
products.
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Bibliography:
www.wto.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization
http://www.blurtit.com/q112370.html