Gatt y wto

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND FINANCE
GATT Y WTO
GATT
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (typically abbreviated GATT) was negotiated the UN conference on Trade and Emplyment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization (ITO).
GATT was signed in 1947 and lasted until 1993, when it was replaced by the World TradeOrganization in 1995.The original GATT text (GATT 1947) is still in effect under the WTO framework, subject to the modifications of GATT 1994.The second round took place in 1949 in Annecy, France. 13 countries took part in the round. The main focus of the talks was more tariff reductions, around 5000 in total. The third round occurred in Torquay,England in 1950.Thirty-eight countries took part in theround.8,700 tariff concessions were made totaling the remaining amount of tariffs to 8/4 of the tariffs which were in effect in 1948.
The contemporaneous rejection by the U.S of the Havana Charter signified the establishment of the GATT as a governing world body.The fouth round returned to Geneva in 1955 and lasted until May 1956.Twenty-six countries took part in the round. $2.5 billion in tariffs wereeliminated or reduced. The fifth round occurred once more in Geneva and lasted from 1960-1962.The talks were named after U.S.Treasury Secretary and former Under Secretary of State, Douglas Dillion, who first proposed the talks. Twenty-six countries took part in the round.Along with reducing over $4.9 billion in tariffs, it also yielded discussion relating to the creation of the European EconomicCommunity (EEC).reduced tariffs and established new regulations aimed at controlling the proliferation of non-tariff barriers and voluntary export restrictions. 102 countries took part in the round. Concessions were made on $190 billion worth.
The Uruguay Round began in 1986.It was the most ambitious round to date, hoping to expand the competence of the GATT to important new areas such asservices,capital,intellectual property,textiles,and agriculture. 123 countries took part in the round.
Agriculture was essentially exempted from previous agreements as it was given special status in the areas of import quotas and export subsidies,with only mild caveats. However, by the time of the Uruguay round, many countries considered the exception of agriculture to be sufficiently glaring that theyrefused to sign a new deal without some movement on agricultural products. These fourteen countries came to be known as the “Caims Group” and included mostly small and medium sized agricultural exporters such as Australia,Brazil,Canada,Indonesia,
And New Zealand.
The Agreement on Agriculture of the Uruguay Round continues to be the most substantial trade liberalization agreement in agriculturalproducts in the history of trade negotiations.The goals of the agreement were to improve market access for agricultural products,reduce domestic support of agriculture in the form of price-distorting subsidies and quotas,eliminate over time export subsidies on agricultural products and to harmonize to the extent possible sanitary and phytosanitary measures between member countries.In 1993,the GATTwas 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 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 foundingof the WTO,21 new non-GATT members have joined and 29 are currently negotiating membership. There are a total of 153 member countries in the WTO.
Of the original GATT members,Syria and the SFR Yugoslavia has not rejoined the WTO.since FR Yugoslavia,(renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and with membership negotiations later split in two), is not recognized as a direct SFRY successor state,...