- home
- documents
- legal texts
- pre-wto legal texts
Pre-WTO legal texts
In the period from 1947 to 1986 there were a number of agreements which developed the basis for international trade relations. The original General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which incorporated relevant sections of the Havana Charter, was negotiated in 1947 and came into force in 1948. Subsequent years saw a series of eight negotiating rounds under the GATT, until the launch of the Uruguay Round in 1986.
Official
documents?
If you are looking for the official documents of the
WTOs bodies, go
to documents online database
The texts reproduced in this section do not have the legal standing of the original documents which are entrusted and kept at the WTO Secretariat in Geneva.
GATT documents
(archive at
Stanford University)
Havana Charter
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, held in Havana, Cuba, in 1947, adopted the Havana Charter for the International Trade Organization which was meant to establish a multilateral trade organization. For various reasons, the charter never came into force.
- Full text of the Havana Charter
> pdf format (126 pages, 241 KB)
back to top
GATT 1947
Pending the entry into force of the Havana Charter, a mechanism was needed to implement and protect the tariff concessions negotiated in 1947. To do so, it was decided to take the Chapter on Commercial Policy of the Havana Charter and convert it, with certain additions, into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. To bring the GATT into force quickly, a Protocol of Provisional Application was developed. Thus, the GATT was born. The GATT 1947 Agreement was brought into the Uruguay Round agreements by GATT 1994.
-
Full
text of GATT 1947
> MS Word (65 pages, 247 KB)
> pdf (105 pages, 353 KB)
back to top
Tokyo Round codes
The Tokyo Round negotiations (1973-1979) developed agreements on anti-dumping measures, government procurement, technical barriers to trade and other non-tariff measures which were known as 揷odes?
- Antidumping:
- Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (Document
code LT/TR/A/1)
> MS Word (19 pages, 123 KB) > pdf (19 pages, 40 KB) - Agreement
on Interpretation and Application of Articles VI, XVI and
XXIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Document
code LT/TR/A/3)
> MS Word (30 pages, 176 KB) > pdf (30 pages, 64 KB)
- Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (Document
code LT/TR/A/1)
- Balance-of-Payments:
Declaration on Trade Measures (Document
code LT/TR/DEC/1)
> MS Word (4 pages, 48 KB) > pdf (4 pages, 11 KB) - Civil Aircraft:(Document
code LT/TR/PLURI/1)
> MS Word (10 pages, 74 KB) > pdf (10 pages, 22 KB) - Customs
Valuation: Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Document
code LT/TR/A/2)
> MS Word (38 pages, 222 KB) > pdf (38 pages, 76 KB) - Developing Countries:
- Differential
and more favourable treatment: Decision on Differential and
More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of
Developing Countries (Document
code LT/TR/D/1)
> MS Word (4 pages, 42 KB) > pdf (4 pages, 10 KB) - Dispute
Settlement: (Document
code LT/TR/U/1)
> MS Word (9 pages, 79 KB) > pdf (9 pages, 24 KB) - Government
Procurement: (Document
code LT/TR/PLURI/2)
> MS Word (23 pages, 148 KB) > pdf (23 pages, 50 KB) amended in 1987 - Import
Licensing: (Document
code LT/TR/A/4)
> MS Word (8 pages, 64 KB) > pdf (8 pages, 18 KB) - Safeguards:
Decision on Safeguard Action for Development Purposes (Document
code LT/TR/D/2)
> MS Word (2 pages, 33 KB) > pdf (2 pages, 6 KB) - Subsidies:
Agreement on Interpretation and Application of Articles VI, XVI
and XXIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Document
code LT/TR/A/3)
> MS Word (30 pages, 176 KB) > pdf (30 pages, 64 KB) - Technical
Barriers to Trade: (Document
code LT/TR/A/5)
> MS Word (26 pages, 153 KB) > pdf (26 pages, 50 KB) - Arrangement
regarding Bovine Meat (Document
code LT/TR/PLURI/3)
> MS Word (7 pages, 62 KB) > pdf (7 pages, 17 KB) - International
Dairy Arrangement (Document
code LT/TR/PLURI/4)
> MS Word (27 pages, 146 KB) > pdf (27 pages, 52 KB)
back to top
Kennedy Round codes
The Kennedy Round negotiations (1964-67) produced an agreement, also known as a code, on multilateral rules for anti-dumping.
> pdf format (35 pages, 67 KB)
back to top
Other major legal instruments
- Decision on differential and more favourable treatment, reciprocity and
fuller participation of developing countries (Enabling clause)
1979
> Browse text
> pdf format (3 pages, 8 KB)