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The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT) was a multilateral agreement regulatinginternational trade. According to its preamble, its purpose was the "substantial reduction of tariffsand other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutuallyadvantageous basis." It was negotiated during the United ations!onference on Trade and

mployment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create theInternational Trade #rgani$ation(IT#). %ATT was signed in &', too* effect in &'+, andlasted until &'' it was replaced by the -orld Trade #rgani$ationin &''.

The original %ATT te/t (%ATT &') is still in effect under the -T# framewor*, sub0ect to themodifications of %ATT &''.1&2

Contents

1hide2

& 3ounds

o &.& Annecy 3ound4 &''

o &.5 Tor6uay 3ound4 &'&

o &.7 %eneva 3ound4 &'8'

o &. 9illon 3ound4 &':;8:5

o

&.

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%ATT held a total of nine rounds,

1hide2V T EGATT and WTO trade rounds152

Name StartDurat

ion

Count

ries

Sube!ts

!o"ered

A!#ie"em

ents

Gene"

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April&'

month

s57 Tariffs

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April&''

month

s&7 Tariffs

!ountriese/changed

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anuary &':

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Tariffconcessions worth?.'

billion ofworldtrade

'enne

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:5 Tariffs,AntiCdumping

Tariffconcessions worth?;billion of

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Tradehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:GATT_and_WTO_trade_roundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:GATT_and_WTO_trade_roundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:GATT_and_WTO_trade_roundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:GATT_and_WTO_trade_roundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:GATT_and_WTO_trade_rounds&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:GATT_and_WTO_trade_rounds&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Tradehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:GATT_and_WTO_trade_roundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:GATT_and_WTO_trade_roundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:GATT_and_WTO_trade_rounds&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy)

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worldtrade

To($o

=eptem

ber&'7

months

&;5

Tariffs,nonCtariffmeasures,

"framewor*"agreements

Tariffreductionsworthmore than

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=eptember&'+:

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Tariffs,nonCtariffmeasures, rules,services,intellectualproperty,disputesettlemen

t,te/tiles,agriculture,creationof -T#,etc

The roundled to thecreationof -T#,ande/tendedthe rangeof tradenegotiations,leading toma0orreductionsin tariffs(about;@) andagriculturalsubsidies,an

agreementto allowfull accessforte*tilesandclothingfromdevelopingcountries,and an

e/tensionofintellectual propertyrights.

Do#a ovember5;;&

D &' Tariffs,nonCtariffmeasures

The roundis not yetconcluded

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doha_roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doha_round

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As the 9illon 3ound went through the laborious process of itemCbyCitem tariff negotiations, itbecame clear, long before the 3ound ended, that a more comprehensive approach was needed todeal with the emerging challenges resulting from the formation of the uropean conomic!ommunity (!) and >TA, as well as uropes reCemergence as a significant internationaltrader more generally.

apans high economic growth rate portended the ma0or role it would play later as an e/porter,but the focal point of the

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In the end, the result was an average 7@ reduction in tariffs, e/cept for te/tiles, chemicals, steeland other sensitive products plus a &@ to &+@ reduction in tariffs for agricultural and foodproducts. In addition, the negotiations on chemicals led to a provisional agreement on theabolition of the American =elling Frice (A=F). This was a method of valuing some chemicalsused by the noted =tates for the imposition of import duties which gave domestic manufacturers

a much higher level of protection than the tariff schedule indicated.

However, this part of the outcome was disallowed by !ongress, and the American =elling Fricewas not abolished until !ongress adopted the results of the To*yo 3ound. The results onagriculture overall were poor. The most notable achievement was agreement on a Bemorandumof Agreement on Easic lements for the egotiation of a -orld %rants Arrangement, whicheventually was rolled into a new International %rains Arrangement.

The ! claimed that for it the main result of the negotiations on agriculture was that they"greatly helped to define its own common policy". The developing countries, who played aminor role throughout the negotiations in this 3ound, benefited nonetheless from substantial

tariff cuts particularly in nonCagricultural items of interest to them.

Their main achievement at the time, however, was seen to be the adoption of Fart IL of the%ATT, which absolved them from according reciprocity to developed countries in tradenegotiations. In the view of many developing countries, this was a direct result of the call atU!TA9 I for a better trade deal for them.

There has been argument ever since whether this symbolic gesture was a victory for them, orwhether it ensured their e/clusion in the future from meaningful participation in the multilateraltrading system. #n the other hand, there was no doubt that the e/tension of the JongCTermArrangement 3egarding International Trade in !otton Te/tiles, which later became the BultiC

>iber Arrangement, for three years until &'; led to the longerCterm impairment of e/portopportunities for developing countries.

Another outcome of the

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The Uruguay 3oundbegan in &'+:. It was the most ambitious round to date, hoping to e/pandthe competence of the %ATT to important new areas such as services,capital,intellectualproperty, te/tiles,and agriculture. &57 countries too* part in the round. The Uruguay 3oundwasalso the first set of multilateral trade negotiations in which developing countries had played anactive role.12

Agriculture was essentially e/empted from previous agreements as it was given special status inthe areas of import 6uotas and e/port subsidies, with only mild caveats. However, by the time ofthe Uruguay round, many countries considered the e/ception of agriculture to be sufficientlyglaring that they refused to sign a new deal without some movement on agricultural products.These fourteen countries came to be *nown as the "!airns %roup", and included mostly smalland medium si$ed agricultural e/porters such as Australia,Era$il,!anada,Indonesia,andewKealand.

The Agreement on Agriculture of the Uruguay 3ound continues to be the most substantial tradeliberali$ation agreement in agricultural products in the history of trade negotiations. The goals of

the agreement were to improve mar*et access for agricultural products, reduce domestic supportof agriculture in the form of priceCdistorting subsidiesand 6uotas, eliminate over time e/portsubsidies on agricultural products and to harmoni$e to the e/tent possible sanitary andphytosanitary measures between member countries.

GATT and t#e World Trade Organi8ation[edit]

Main article: Uruguay Round

In &''7, the %ATT was updated (GATT 1994) to include new obligations upon its signatories.#ne of the most significant changes was the creation of the -orld Trade #rgani$ation(-T#).

The e/isting %ATT members and the uropean !ommunitiesbecame the founding membersof the -T# on & anuary &''. The other 5 %ATT members re0oined the -T# in the followingtwo years (the last being !ongoin &''). =ince the founding of the -T#, 5& new nonC%ATTmembers have 0oined and 5' are currently negotiating membership. There are a total of &'member countries in the -T#, with Jaos and Ta0i*istan being new members as of 5;&7.

#f the original %ATT members, =yria121:2and the=>3 Mugoslaviahave not re0oined the -T#.=ince >3 Mugoslavia,(renamed as=erbia and Bontenegroand with membership negotiationslater split in two), is not recognised as a direct =>3M successor state therefore, its application isconsidered a new (nonC%ATT) one. The %eneral !ouncil of -T#, on Bay 5;&;, agreed toestablish a wor*ing party to e/amine the re6uest of =yriafor -T# membership.121+2The

contracting parties who founded the-T#ended official agreement of the "%ATT &'" termson 7& 9ecember &''. Bontenegrobecame a member in 5;&5, while =erbiais in the decisionstage of the negotiations and is e/pected to become one of the newest members of the -T# in5;& or in near future.

-hilst %ATT was a set of rules agreed upon by nations, the -T# is an institutional body. The-T# e/panded its scope from traded goods to include trade within the service sectorandintellectual property rights.Although it was designed to serve multilateral agreements, during

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_propertyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_propertyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textileshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textileshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairns_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade&action=edit&section=9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Communitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_the_Congohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_the_Congohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslaviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslaviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslaviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslaviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia_and_Montenegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia_and_Montenegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Property_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Property_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_propertyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_propertyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textileshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairns_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade&action=edit&section=9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_Roundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Communitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_the_Congohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslaviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslaviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia_and_Montenegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Property_Rights

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several rounds of %ATT negotiations (particularly the To*yo3ound)plurilateralagreementscreated selective trading and caused fragmentation among members. -T# arrangements aregenerally a multilateral agreement settlement mechanism of %ATT.1'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tarifs_and_Trade

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurilateralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurilateralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade#cite_note-9