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GATT - Historical Perspectives
The
inception of GATT took place in 1948 with 23 original signatories,
including Pakistan. The current signatories account for around 90
percent of total world trade. The objective of the agreement is to
help facilitate world trade through substantial reduction of tariffs
and other trade barriers among the signatory countries. Seven rounds
of negotiations had been completed before the Uruguay round.
The
first round of the agreement was held in 1947 in Geneva
(Switzerland). This round saw the creation of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade. In 1949, the second round took place at Annecy
(France). It involved negotiations with nations that desired GATT
membership. During discussions special emphasis was laid on tariff
reduction. The third round, in 1951, was held at Torquay (England).
It continued accession and tariff reduction negotiations. Five years
later, the fourth round was held in 1956 in Geneva.
The
next round spread over a period of two years (1960-62). It was held
in Geneva and was popularly dubbed the Dillon Round. It was
concerned with revision of the GATT and the addition of more
countries.
Succeeding
rounds seemed to take more time to arrive at conclusions. The sixth
round covered a period of three years (1964-67) and was again held
in Geneva. This round was a hybrid of an earlier product by product
approach to negotiations and the new formula tariff reduction
approach with across the board tariff reductions. This round is
famous as the Kennedy Round. The seventh round of talks, known as
the Tokyo Round, was initiated in 1973 and completed in 1979; it
also took place in Geneva.
It
focused on the negotiations of additional tariff cuts and developed
a series of arrangements governing the use of a number of nontariff
measures. It is considered significant because dynamic measures were
tabled and approved. The eighth round was again held in Geneva in
September 1986.
This
round is popularly dubbed the Uruguay Round and its significance is
realized by the fact that, in addition to the measures taken for
expanding and liberalizing trade, some new areas and disciplines
were introduced to strengthen the role of GATT and widen its scope.
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