ROUNDS OF NEGOTIATION OF GATT AND AND WTO
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was a multilateral agreement regulating international
trade. According to its preamble, its purpose was the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal reciprocal and mutually advantageous advantageous basis." It was negotiated during the United Nations onference on !rade and mployment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International !rade !rade #rgani$ation (I!#). %A %A!! !! was signed by &' nations in %eneva on #ctober ', *+ and too- effect on anuary , *+/. It lasted until the signature by &' nations in 0arra-esh on April +, **+ of the Uruguay 1ound Agreements, which established the 2orld !rade !rade #rgani$ation (2!#) on anuary , **3. !he original %A!! te4t (%A!! *+) is still in effect under the 2!# framewor-, sub5ect to the modifications of %A!! **+
GATT GATT Rounds: Round s: 6etween *+ and **3 there were / rounds of negotiations between the participating countries. countries. !he first 7 rounds were related to curtailing tariff rates, th round included the non8tariff obstacles. !he /th round was entirely different from the previous rounds because it included a number of new sub5ects for consideration. !his /th round -nown as 9Uruguay 1ound: became most controversial. !he discussions at this round only gave birth to 2orld !rade #rgani$ation (2!#). GATT Rounds:
Round
Year
Venue
Issues and Oer!omes
*+
%eneva
&
*+*
Annency,
'
*383
!or=uay, ngland
!ariff reductions on specific products
+
*33837
%eneva
Induction of uropean ommunity for the first time > &? tariff reduction.
3
*787&
%eneva
1eductions in bilateral tariffs. tal-s begin.
7
*7+8*7
%eneva
;ignature on first %A!! agreement !ariff reductions on specific products
''? reduction is restrictions on manufactured goods
*'8**
%eneva
Non8tariff restrictions, etc.
/
*/78**'
@unta el ste(6eginning in Uruguay and closing at %eneva)
Agriculture, ;ervice, !1I@;, !1I0;, related issues
*.
**3
88
2!# was formed
GATT
%A!! can be divided into three phasesB C !he first phase, from *+ until the !or=uay 1ound, largely concerned with which all commodities would be covered by the agreement and free$ing e4isting tariff levels. C !he second phase, encompassing three rounds, from *3* to **, focused on reducing tariffs. C !he third phase, consisting only of the Uruguay 1ound from */7 to **+, e4tended the agreement fully to new areas such as intellectual property, services, capital, and agriculture. #ut of this round the 2!# was born. 1ounds %A!! held a total of / roundsB C Genea Round " #$%& : !he first round too- place in *+ in %eneva. &' countries participated. !he main focus of the round was tariff concessions, around +3, in total. C Annecy 1ound D *3 B!he second round too- place in *+* in Annecy,
+ Genea Round " #$**"#$*, : !he fourth round returned to %eneva in *33 and lasted until 0ay *37. &7 countries participated. E&.3 billion in tariffs were eliminated or reduced. C illon 1ound 8 *78*7& B !he fifth round occurred once more in %eneva and lasted from *7 to *7&. !he tal-s were named after U.;. !reasury ;ecretary and former Under ;ecretary of ;tate, ouglas illon, who first proposed the tal-s. &7 countries participated. Along with reducing over E+.* billion in tariffs, it also yielded discussion relating to the creation of the uropean conomic ommunity(). C -enned( Round " #$,%"#$,& :
!he si4th round was the last to ta-e place in %eneva from *7+ until *7 and was named after the late U; @resident Fennedy. 77 countries participated. oncessions were made on E+ billion worth of tariffs. C To.(o Round " #$&/"#$&$ B 1educed tariffs and established new regulations aimed at controlling the proliferation of non8tariff barriers and voluntary e4port restrictions. & countries participated. oncessions were made on E* billion worth. C Urugua( Round " #$0,"#$$/ : !he Uruguay 1ound began in */7. &3 countries participated. It was the most ambitious round to date, hoping to e4pand the competence of the %A!! to important new areas such as services, capital, intellectual property, te4tiles, and agriculture . C !he un-el raft !e4t or un-el @ac-age or un-el raft Act embodying the results of Uruguay 1ound was released on &th ecember **. C !he Uruguay 1ound concluded on 3th ec **' and as many as &3 countries including India signed the
!o remove this deadloc- 0r. Arthur un-el, irector %eneral of %A!!, compiled a very detailed document, popularly -nown as un-el @roposals. !his proposal culminated into the
