Description
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is both an ag reement and an organization with a secretariat that operates from the Centre William Rappard on the Rue de Lausan ne in Geneva. The
secretariat employs about 150 perso ns. Its director general is a former Swiss diplomat, Arthur Dunkel.
Membership
The membership has grown from 23 founding "contracting parties" (governments) in 1948 to more than 90, re presenting fou r-fifths of world trade. The newest member is Mexico.
GATT Principles
The guiding principles of GATT include the following :
Trade without discrimination through application of Most Favored Nation principles;
Reliance on tariffs rather than oth er commercial measures of protection,such as quotas, where protection of domestic industries is necessary ; Provision of a stable and predictable basis for trade through negotiated "bindings" of tariffs at fixed minimum levels ; Settlement of disputes through consultation, conci l iation and, as a last resort, dispute settlement procedures.
Although parties ag ree to these principles, GATT recognizes the rules may have to be suspended.
Previous GATT Rounds
Geneva 1 (April-October 1947). Tw enty-three countries, representing a volume of half the world's trade, were negotiating tariff cuts . The session gave legal status to the overall agreement.
Some 45, 000 agreements regarding the red uction and binding of ind ividual tariff levels were made.
Annecy (1949). The session principally involved negotiations with nations that wanted to join. Some 5,000 concessions were made.
Torquay (1950-1951). Some 8,700 concessions were made, resulting in appreciable tariff reductions of 25 percent.
Geneva 2 (1955- 1956). Twenty-five countries were represented , and there were negotiated red uctions in tariffs affecting some $2 billion in international trade.
Dillon (May 1961-March 1962).Twenty-two nations and the enti re European Community were represented. After the est ablish ment of the E.C. in 1957, GATT gai ned more prominence. This ro und resu lted in large-scale tariff negotiations involvi ng nearly $5 billion in wo rld trade, and some 4,400 concessions were made.
Kennedy (November 1963-May 1967). A one-third red uction in tariffs covering about $40 billion of world trade was made. An anti-dumping code was also established. The round was a starting point of work in the treatment of developing countries.
Tokyo (September 1973-November 1979). In the most extensive set of talks, over 90 cou ntries were involved in negotiations aimed not only at eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, but also at reshaping the multilateral trading system. Fou r agreeme nts were adopted, improving the framework for the conduct of international trade. Also, six agreements were established . They covered new rules on government procurement, technical barriers to trade, customs valuation, import lice nsing, anti-dumping and countervailing measures.
Tariffs were red uced on thousands of agricultu ral and industrial products, and tariffs on manufactured prod ucts in industrial countries were reduced by about 34 percent.
SOURCE: "GAIT at a Glance," New York Tim es, September 15, 1986. Copyright © 1986 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission.
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