A Brief History of GATT

The WTO's predecessor, the GATT, was established on a provisional basis after the Second World
War in the wake of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic
cooperation - notably the "Bretton Woods" institutions now known as the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund.
This was achieved through the reduction of tariff barriers, quantitative restrictions and subsidies on
trade through a series of agreements. The GATT was a treaty, not an organization.

Slide 1: Intro
GATT stands for general agreement for tariffs and trade.
It was at the behest of United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment that
GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) was instituted in 1947
8 gruelling rounds starting in Geneva in 1947 to Doha in 2001.
the World Trade Organization came into effect in 1995 and replaced GATT.
A multilateral agreement that lays down the rules and regulations for conducting
international trade.
The history of the GATT can be divided into three phases: the first, from 1947 until
the Torquay Round, largely concerned which commodities would be covered by the
agreement and freezing existing tariff levels. A second phase, encompassing three
rounds, from 1959 to 1979, focused on reducing tariffs. The third phase, consisting
only of the Uruguay Round from 1986 to 1994, extended the agreement fully to new
areas such as intellectual property, services, capital, and agriculture. Out of this
round the WTO was born.
Came into existence on 1
st
Jan 1948.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (typically abbreviated GATT) was the
outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade
Organization (ITO).
Basic aim to liberalise trade and reduce barriers.
The creation of GATS took place in 1986. GATS stand for General Agreement on
Trade in Services
The provisions of GATS are similar to those of its counterpart called GATT, but
whereas GATT deals in trade in goods (merchandise), the provisions of GATS apply
on trade in services.



Slide 2: Objective
Developing full use of the resources.
reduce tariffs and other duties to bolster international trade
Expansion of international trade.
Increase of world production ensuring full employment in the participating nations.
Rise in standard of living of the world community as a whole.
Prevent protectionism.
It will reduce the monopoly of a trader on a market and will boost the completion
which in effect will reduce the price and benefit the consumers.

Slide 3: Evaluation
GATT was signed in 1947, only 23 nations were party to it. It increased to 99 by the time of
the seventh round and 117 countries participated in the next, i.e., the Uruguay round.
It achieved considerable trade liberalization. The progressive liberalization of trade,
however, suffered a setback since 1974, although the elimination of tariff barriers
continued, even the developed countries have substantially increased non- tariff barriers
since then.
Thus GATT was converted from a provisional agreement into a formal international
organization called WTO.
How is the WTO different from GATT?
The World Trade Organization is not a simple extension of GATT; on the contrary,
it completely replaces its predecessor and has a very different character. Among
the principal differences are the following:
The GATT was a set of rules, a multilateral agreement, with no institutional
foundation, only a small associated secretariat, which had its origins in the attempt
to establish an International Trade Organization in the 1940s. The WTO is a
permanent institution with its own secretariat.
The GATT was applied on a "provisional basis" even if, after more than forty
years, governments chose to treat it as a permanent commitment. The WTO
commitments are full and permanent.
The GATT rules applied to trade in merchandise goods. In addition to goods, the
WTO covers trade in services and trade-related aspects of intellectual property.
While GATT was a multilateral instrument, by the 1980s many new agreements
had been added of a plurilateral, and therefore selective, nature. The agreements,
which constitute the WTO, are almost all multilateral and, thus, involve
commitments for the entire membership.
The WTO dispute settlement system is faster, more automatic, and thus much less
susceptible to blockages, than the old GATT system. The implementation of WTO
dispute findings will also be more easily assured.
The "GATT 1947" will continue to exist until the end of 1995, thereby allowing all
GATT member countries to accede to the WTO and permitting an overlap of
activity in areas like dispute settlement. Moreover, GATT lives on as "GATT
1994", the amended and up-dated version of GATT 1947, which is an integral part
of the WTO Agreement and which continues to provide the key disciplines
affecting international trade in goods.

Slide 4: Rounds
GATT held a total of 9 rounds:
1.Geneva round(April 1947)
Duration: 7 months
Countries: 23
Subject covered: Tariffs
Achievements : signing of GATT, tariff concessions affecting $10 billion of trade

2.ANNECY(FRANCE)round(April 1949)
Duration:5 months
Countries:13
Subject: Tariffs
Achievements: countries exchanged some 5000 tariff concessions

3.TORQUAY(ENGLAND)round(September 1950)
Duration: 8 months
Countries: 38
Subject: Tariffs
Achievements: Countries exchanged some 8500 tariff concessions. cutting 1948 tariff levels by 25%

4.GEVEVA round(January 1956)
Duration:5 months
Countries:26
Subject: Tariffs, admission of Japan
Achievements: 2.5 billion in tariff reduction

5.Dillon(GENEVA)round(September 1960)
Duration: 11 months
Countries: 26
Subject: Tariffs
Achievements: Tariff concessions of worth 4.9 billion worldwide

6.Kennedy round(MAY 1964)
Duration:37 months
Countries:62
Subject: Tariffs, Anti dumping policies
Achievements: Tariff concessions of worth 40 billion worldwide

7.TOKYO(JAPAN) round(September 1973)
Duration: 74 months
Countries: 102
Subject: Tariffs, non-tariff measures, "framework" agreements
Achievements: Tariff concessions of worth 300 billion worldwide was achieved

8.URUGUAY round(September 1986)led to the creation of WTO
Duration:87 months
Countries:123
Subject: Tariffs, non-tariff measures, rules, services, intellectual property, dispute settlement,
textiles, agriculture, creation of WTO
Achievements: The round led to the creation of WTO, and extended the range of trade negotiations,
leading to major reductions in tariffs (about 40%) and agricultural subsidies, an agreement to allow
full access for textiles and clothing from developing countries, and an extension of intellectual
property rights

9.DOHA round(November 2001)
Duration: ?
Countries: 159
Subject: Tariffs, non-tariff measures, agriculture, labour standards, environment, competition,
investment, transparency, patents
Achievements: The round is not yet concluded.

The round is not yet concluded. Bali Package signed on the 7th December 2013.
At the Ninth Ministerial Conference, held in Bali, Indonesia, from 3 to 7
December 2013, ministers adopted the Bali Package, a series of decisions
aimed at streamlining trade, allowing developing countries more options for
providing food security, boosting least-developed countries trade and helping
development more generally. They also adopted a number of more routine
decisions and accepted Yemen as a new member of the WTO.

Slide 5: GATT to WTO
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 World Trade
Organization (WTO).
The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization states that the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) is an instrument legally
distinct from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade dated October 30,1947,
annexed to the Final Act of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment
(Havana Conference), and referred to as GATT 1947.
GATT 1994, as set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement, consists of: (a) the
provisions of GATT 1947; (b) the provisions of legal instruments which entered into
force under GATT 1947 before the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement; (c)
the Understandings on the interpretation of a number of GATT Articles, adopted at
the end of the Uruguay Round; and (d) the Marrakesh Protocol to GATT 1994. The
provisions of GATT 1947 incorporated into GATT 1994 include the rectifications,
amendments or modifications introduced through the terms of pre-Uruguay Round
legal instruments i.e., instruments which entered into force before the date of entry
into force of the WTO Agreement.
The Marrakesh Protocol to GATT 1994 is the legal instrument that incorporates the
schedules of concessions and commitments on goods negotiated under the Uruguay
Round into GATT 1994, and establishes their authenticity and the modalities for their
implementation.

The 75 existing GATT members and the European Communities became the founding
members of the WTO on 1 January 1995.
WTO is more powerful than GATT. The dispute settlement system is more effective and
faster and difficult to block the rulings given by WTO.
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