GENERAL AGREEMENT ON

TRADE AND TARIFF

AND WORLD TRADE
ORGANISATION

Submitted by :-
INTRODUCTION
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT), the predecessor of WTO, was born
in 1948 as result of the international desire
to liberalise trade.
The GATT was transformed into a World

Trade Organisation (WTO) with effect from

January, 1995.
India is one of the founder members of the

IMF, World Bank, GATT and the WTO.

GATT adopted the following principles:

Non-discrimination: The principle of non-

discrimination requires that no member
country shall discriminate between the
members of GATT in the conduct of
international trade.

Prohibition of Quantitative Restrictions:

GATT rules seek to prohibit quantitative
restrictions as far as possible and limit
restrictions on trade to the less rigid tariffs.

Consultation: By providing a forum for

continuing consultation, it sought to resolve
disagreements through consultation.
GATT ROUNDS
 Following the UR agreement, GATT was
converted from a provisional agreement
into a formal international organization
called World Trade Organization (WTO), with
effect from January 1, 1995
World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization(WTO) is aninter
Governmental organisation which
regulatesinternational trade. The WTO officially
commenced on 1 January 1995 under
theMarrakesh Agreement, signed by 123
nations on 15 April 1994, replacing theGeneral
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT), which
commenced in 1948.
 The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the
global rules of trade between nations. Its main
function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly,
predictably and freely as possible.

WTO is an organisation for liberalising trade, a forum

for governments to negotiate trade agreements and
a place for them to settle trade disputes
 Functions of WTO

WTO is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Its

functions are:
Administering the multilateral trade

agreements which together make up the

WTO
Acting as a forum for multilateral trade

negotiations
Seeking to resolve trade disputes

WTO is not a Free trade institution. It

permits tariffs and other forms of protection

but only in limited circumstances.
Principles of WTO
Non discrimination
Free Trade: Promote free trade between
nations through negotiations.
Stability in the trading system: Member
countries are committed not to raise tariff
and non tariffs barriers arbitrarily.
Promotion of Fair Competition: WTO
provides for transparent, fair and
undistorted competition.
It discourages unfair competitive practices
such as export subsidies and dumping.
Difference between GATT &
WTO
GATT is an agreement.
WTO is an
organization.
It was designed with an
attempt to establish
It is establishes to
International Trade serve its own
Organizations purpose.
It was applied on a
provisional bases
GATT covered only

Its activity are full
goods. and permanent.
Disputes settlement
It covers goods,
mechanism slow & at services, IPR.
times in conclusive.

Dispute settlement
system is fast