Introduction to GATT

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Signed in 1947 A multilateral agreement regulating trade among about 150 countries. Aimto reduce national trade barriers and to stop the competitive trade policies that had so hobbled the global economy prior to World War .

OBJECTIVES OF GATT:
TO RAISE STANDARD OF LIVING

TO ENSURE FULL EMPLOYMENT AND STEADY GROWING VOLUME OF REAL INCOME AND EFFECTIVE DEMAND TO DEVELOP THE FULL USE OF RESOURCES OF THE WORLD
TO EXPAND PRODUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

The purpose of GATT

Reduction of barriers to international trade:
Tariff barriers Quantitative restrictions
Subsidies on trade through a series of agreements.

GATTWTO
By the 1980s the system had a thorough overhaul. This led to the Uruguay Round and ultimately to the WTO.
In Marrakesh Agreement (1 January 1995), the GATT was displaced by the newly created World Trade Organization (WTO).

The development of GATT

GATT

International agreement

international organizations

GATT1997

WTO

GATTs function and purpose now

Three major areas of concern in international trade : 1. Goods 2. Services, and 3. Intellectual property rights

 Most of the value of new medicines and other high technology products lies in the amount of invention, innovation, research, design and testing involved. Films, music recordings, books, computer software and on-line services are bought and sold because of the information and creativity they contain, not usually because of the plastic, metal or paper used to make them. Many products that used to be traded as lowtechnology goods or commodities now contain a higher proportion of invention and design in their value.

Why are intellectual property rights considered to be a trade issue?

The importance of IP
Ideas and knowledge Invention, innovation, research, design and testing Creators

Intellectual property rights

Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.

Types of Intellectual Property Rights

The rights of authors of literary and artistic works Copyright and rights related to copyright

Intellectual Property Rights

rights of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations Trademarks, including service marks Geographical indications Industrial designs

Industrial property

Patents Layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits

Undisclosed information, including trade secrets

TRIMS

FEATURES OF TRIMS : Abolition of restrictions imposed on foreign capital Offering equal rights to foreign investor to those of domestic investor No restriction on any area of investment

No ceiling on FI I.e. 100% FI

Domestic Sales requires an investor to sell a certain proportion of its output in the host country Export Performance requires that a minimum proportion or value of production in host country be exported

Export Controls certain products may not be exported

Other GATT/WTO Agreements Re: TRIMS General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS): -The TRIMS Agreement applies only to trade in goods.

GATS
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which extends multilateral rules and disciplines to services in regarded as landmark achievement of the UR.

Because of the special characteristics and the socioeconomic and political implications of certain services, they have been generally subject to various types of national restrictions. Protection measures include visa requirements, investment regulation, restriction on repatriation, marketing regulations, restrictions on employment of foreigners, compulsions to use local facilities etc.
Heavily protected services in different countries include banking and insurance, transportations, television, radio, film and other forms of communication

WTO Currently WTO rules against China's restrictions Judges at the World Trade Organisation have handed down a landmark ruling - most of China's curbs on foreign books, films and DVDs are illegal. The ruling, which is now final, affects distribution in China of foreign films for theatrical release, DVDs, music, books and journals. China has said it "regrets" the WTO's decision. China allows up to 70 foreign films a year to be shown in local cinemas. Foreign distributors regarded the process as restrictive. Jonathan Bithrey reports.

WTO talks: No compromise on Indian interests India on Tuesday insisted that services must take top priority in world trade talks. We have our interests and there is no question of agreeing only to those sectors where the developed countries are interested, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in Rajya Sabha. He was replying to a calling-attention motion on the status of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Sharma said in the present round of negotiations services will be an integral part. He assured the House that there is no question of coming under pressure when it comes to trade policy. India will come under only one pressure, the pressure of its interest, the pressure of its people and the pressure of its farmers. There is no question of we being pro-US.