GATT_send (1)

GATT: 

GATT General Agreement on Trade and Tariff SEMINAR BY NAZMA ANJUM, PRITI PRASAD, SANDEEP JAISWAL & SAKTHISHOBANA

GATT was a treaty aimed to provide a forum that encouraged free trade between the member states by regulating and reducing tariffs on goods.: 

GATT was a treaty aimed to provide a forum that encouraged free trade between the member states by regulating and reducing tariffs on goods.

BACKGROUND OF GATT: 

BACKGROUND OF GATT

Slide 4: 

In post world war period, the victor nations wanted to resolve or prevent war due to economic crisis thorough the economic philosophy of neo-liberalism. They proposed setting up of three international economic institutions. The three institutions were: The International Monetary Fund The World Bank The International Trade Organization

Slide 5: 

The US Congress refused to ratify the treaty establishing the International Trade Organization (ITO). The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (typically abbreviated GATT) was negotiated during the UN Conference on Trade and Employment in 1947 as a draft charter for the ITO. So GATT was a provisional agreement till the ITO is established and becomes operational. It lasted until 1994, and was replaced by the ITO in 1995.

PRINCIPLES: 

PRINCIPLES

TRADE SHOULD BE: : 

TRADE SHOULD BE: Without discrimination Free Predictable More competitive More beneficial for less developed countries

GOALS:: 

GOALS : The principle goal of GATT was to jumpstart international trade through tariff reduction, with the imposition of reciprocity, non-discrimination, and multilateralism. In simple terms, its goals are: Lowering Tariff Antidumping Measures Removal Of Other Non Tariff Barriers

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FEATURES OF GATT Most Favoured Nations Multilateral Negotiations Dispute Settlement

PROVISIONS OF GATT: 

PROVISIONS OF GATT Article I: General Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment Article III: National Treatment on Internal Taxation and Regulation Article XI: General Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions Article XIII: Non-discriminatory Administration of Quantitative Restrictions; Article XVI: Subsidies Article XX: General Exceptions

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GATT INCLUDES Agriculture Health regulations for farm products Textiles and clothing Product standards Investment measures Anti-dumping measures Customs valuation methods Pre-shipment inspection Rules of origin Import licensing Subsidies and counter-measures Safeguards

SPECIAL PROVISIONS OF GATT: : 

SPECIAL PROVISIONS OF GATT: GATT gives high priority to reduction/elimination of tariffs on products of LDCs. refrain from introducing tariffs and NTBs to such imports. refrain from imposing internal taxes to discourage consumption of primary products from LDCs not expect reciprocal commitments from LDCs.

Slide 13: 

In its 47 years, the basic legal text of the GATT remained much as it was in 1947, there were additions in the form of " plurilateral " agreements and continual efforts to reduce tariffs. Much of this was achieved through a series of "trade rounds”- multilateral trade negotiations . Trade rounds offer a package approach to trade negotiations

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GATT ROUNDS ROUND Y EAR NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES SIGNIFICANCE Geneva 1947 23 reduced average trade weighted tariff from 50 to 12% Annecy 1949 13 Toroquay 1951 38 Geneva 1956 26 Dillon 1960-61 26 Kennedy Round 1964-67 62 dealt with problems of Developing Countries (special and differential treatment) Tokyo Round 1973-79 102 dealt with non trade barriers produced the antidumping and subsidies agreement and general system on preferences. Uruguay Round 1986-94 123 established the World Trade Organization

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URUGUAY ROUND - birth of WTO The discussion agenda included fifteen subjects including: Tariffs, Non-tariff barriers, Services, Agriculture, Intellectual property, Dispute settlement, The GATT system etc To bring services and intellectual properties under GATT two different treaties were established: GATS (General Agreement on Trade Agreement) It offers an overall "umbrella" concept for trade in services. Some 150 specific service sectors TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property) Bringing new international rules discipline to the level of protection for patents, copyrights, trade secrets

Slide 16: 

In 1993, the GATT was updated ( GATT 1994 ) to include new obligations upon its signatories. One of the most significant changes was the creation of the WTO. The 75 existing GATT members and the European Communities  became the founding members of the WTO on 1 January 1995. The other 52 GATT members rejoined the WTO in the following two years (the last being Congo in 1997). Since the founding of the ITO, 21 new non-GATT members have joined and 29 are currently negotiating membership. There are a total of 153 member countries in the WTO

LIMITATIONS OF GATT: 

LIMITATIONS OF GATT GATT is an executive agreement under the Protocol of Provisional Application. Contracting parties are not obligated to observe rules that are inconsistent with their domestic laws at the time of entry into GATT. Many countries sidestep or bypass the rules by narrowly defining commodities for tariff purposes.

Slide 18: 

failed to liberalize trade in agricultural products to any significant degree. has condoned managed trade for textiles, largely because of pressure from the US and automobiles (VERs) dispute settlement procedures were not very efficient.

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THANK YOU …