The General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) was enacted as an attempt to reduce the number of tariffs and trade barriers and to foster international trade in the years following World War II. It was signed in 1947 by over 100 countries and has served the international community for decades. Under the auspices of GATT there have been numerous rounds of trade negotiations on a variety of issues. Beginning in 1986, the Uruguay Round negotiations included the areas of tariffs, services and intellectual property. Over seven years of negotiations, the GATT agreements evolved into their current state. The Uruguay Round concluded in 1994 with numerous agreements to reduce trade barriers and institute more enforceable world trade rules. One of the major results of the Uruguay Round was the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which officially began operations on January 1, 1995. The WTO is a multilateral organization with the mandate to establish enforceable trade rules, to act as a dispute settlement body and to provide a forum for further negotiations into reducing trade barriers. According to the WTO website, there are 147 WTO member countries and observer countries. For a complete list of the member countries, visit the WTO webpage (see description below). Beginning in 2001 and proceeding through at least 2005, the Doha Agenda represents the current round of negotiations.
The official citations for GATT are TIAS 1700 and 55 U.N.T.S. 194 and its Protocol of Provisional Application can be found at TIAS 1700 and 55 U.N.T.S. 308. The WTO agreement is located in the United Nations Treaty Series (U.N.T.S.), volumes 1867, 1868 and 1869. For the exact page location for the agreement you need, it is necessary to consult the U.N.T.S. volumes. As an example, the citation for the Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations is 1867 U.N.T.S. 14. In addition to these locations, there are a number of places where one can find the text of the agreements establishing GATT and the WTO, as well as the history and development of the organizations. The Diamond Library contains numerous resources relating to GATT, the Uruguay Round and the WTO. Presented below are a selection of the library's resources which provide a good entry point for research in these areas.
Beginning in 1952, this series provided access to the text of the agreements that established GATT and set forth the procedures followed therein. After the first edition, the books provided decisions and reports from GATT panels and committees and an updated list of the contracting parties. Indexes are provided in the supplement volumes to assist in finding relevant decisions. The supplements generally cover two to three year periods, with selective editions for individual years. The publication stops after the 42nd supplement in 1995.
Call Number: JX1976.T4 B291 Publication Date: 1953-1995Beginning in 1952, this series provided access to the text of the agreements that established GATT and set forth the procedures followed therein. After the first edition, the books provided decisions and reports from GATT panels and committees and an updated list of the contracting parties. Indexes are provided in the supplement volumes to assist in finding relevant decisions. The supplements generally cover two to three year periods, with selective editions for individual years. The publication stops after the 42nd supplement in 1995.
Publication Date: 2003-2004Vol. 2 and vol. 4, plus supplements 1-42.
Volumes 1-4 and the supplements are also available in print, Call Number JX1976.T4 B291.
The Agreements negotiated in the Uruguay Round, which form the legal framework of the World Trade Organization, will govern world trade into the twenty-first century. This volume covers: * Goods: the updated General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that includes new rules on agriculture, textiles, anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures, import licensing, rules of origin, standards, and pre-shipment inspection. (The original 1947 GATT text is also included in this volume.) * Services: the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) * Intellectual Property: the Agreement on Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) * Disputes: the new procedures for dispute settlement * The legal framework for the World Trade Organization This is the definitive reference for all practising and academic trade lawyers. It is an essential addition to all international law libraries, a vital source book for students taking courses on international economic or trade law and an important resource for economists and political scientists.
Also available in print, Call Number K4603 1984 .A4 1999
Contains complete history of Senate and House documents related to the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) accords. Includes Document Indexes volume. For related material, see GATT Multilateral Trade Negotiations Uruguay Round (Item #308200), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (Item #329090), and Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (Item #330910).
Also available in print, Call Number JX1976.T4 Ur8135 1995
This series provides access to many of the agreements that came about as a result of the Uruguay Round. Individual volumes are devoted to each agreement. They contain the text of the agreement, an explanation of the articles of the agreement and supplementary materials relating to the agreement. They are organized to include an introduction, the actual text and core principles. The writing style uses clear, straightforward language to explain the reasons for and the content of the agreements. For a researcher interested in a specific agreement relating to the WTO, this series would be a good beginning point.
Call Number: K4602 .G462 Publication Date: 2007The BISD is the official, one-stop source for documents pertaining to the operation and scope of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It contains the Protocols for Accession for new WTO member nations along with other legal instruments. The WTO BISD is co-published by the World Trade Organization and Bernan Press.
To see more background and reference works available at Diamond Law Library, including older editions, please try these searches on Pegasus:
You can find a selected list of publications below.
Call Number: JX1976.T4 G226 1991 Publication Date: 1991Provides an explanation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a binding contract between 103 governments which together account for around 90 per cent of world merchandise trade, and how it works.
Call Number: JX1976.T4 Ac851 Publication Date: 1970-1995This annual volume published by the GATT contains information relating to the regular activities of the GATT and the work of GATT members. It is designed to provide interested parties with a review of the GATT activities from the preceding year. Following an introduction that provides an overview of the year, the volumes contain descriptions of activities, information relating to new agreements and actions taken by contracting members. The library collection contains this annual from 1969/1970 to 1994/1995. Following the 1994/1995 edition, this series merged with other international trade publications to form the WTO Annual Report (see description below in WTO resource section).
Call Number: JX1976.T42 (with a call number extension for individual countries) 2nd FloorThis series contains detailed reports relating the countries in GATT and how their internal trade policies interact with GATT policies. The Trade Policy Review Mechanism was created during the Uruguay Round in April 1989. Its purpose was to improve adherence of the contracting parties to GATT rules. The reports aim to increase the transparency of the trade practices of the contracting parties and to examine the impact such policies have on the multilateral trading system. The review volumes contain two reports, one created by the individual country and one by the GATT Secretariat. Reviews are conducted according to a set scheduled determined by the level of international trade engaged in by a particular country.