Trade Agreements
Trade agreements are a wide ranging tax, tariff and trade treaties that often include investment guarantees. The most common trade agreements are of the preferential and free trade types and are concluded in order to reduce (or eliminate) tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on items traded between the signatories.
General Agreements of Trade and Tariff (GATT)
A treaty was created following the conclusion of World War II. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was a multilateral agreement regulating international trade. GATT was implemented to further regulate world trade to aide in the economic recovery following the war. According to its preamble, its purpose was the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous basis." It was negotiated during the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment 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 1994. The original GATT text (GATT 1947) is still in effect under the WTO framework, subject to the modifications of GATT 1994. GATT's main objective was to reduce the barriers of international trade through the reduction of tariffs, quotas and subsidies. The General Agreement is applied "provisionally" by all contracting parties. The original contracting parties, and also those former territories of Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom which, after attaining independence, acceded to the General Agreement under Article XXVI:5(c), apply the GATT under the Protocol of Provisional Application, the text of which is reproduced in this volume. Chile applies the General Agreement under a Special Protocol of September 1948. The contracting parties which have acceded since 1948 apply the General Agreement under their respective Protocols of Accession.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
General Agreements of Trade and Tariff (GATT)
A treaty was created following the conclusion of World War II. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was a multilateral agreement regulating international trade. GATT was implemented to further regulate world trade to aide in the economic recovery following the war. According to its preamble, its purpose was the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous basis." It was negotiated during the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment 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 1994. The original GATT text (GATT 1947) is still in effect under the WTO framework, subject to the modifications of GATT 1994. GATT's main objective was to reduce the barriers of international trade through the reduction of tariffs, quotas and subsidies. The General Agreement is applied "provisionally" by all contracting parties. The original contracting parties, and also those former territories of Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom which, after attaining independence, acceded to the General Agreement under Article XXVI:5(c), apply the GATT under the Protocol of Provisional Application, the text of which is reproduced in this volume. Chile applies the General Agreement under a Special Protocol of September 1948. The contracting parties which have acceded since 1948 apply the General Agreement under their respective Protocols of Accession.
World Trade Organization (WTO)