WTO/GATT Research Guide

Added: 05/25/2006

Signed in 1947 in Bretton Woods, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or GATT is a multilateral agreement designed to regulate trade among 150 countries worldwide. GATT research is responsible for looking into ways to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers and eliminate preferences on mutually advantageous basis. The Agreement also actively participated in the creation of the World Trade Organization, which came into being in January 1995.

Until the creation of WTO, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade functioned as an organization conducting new trade agreements, commonly known as rounds that addressed diverse trade issues and resolved international trade disputes. There have been eight rounds of GATT negotiations addressing a number of trade issues. The latest, the Uruguay Round was completed in December 1993 after mere than seven years of negotiations and resulted in the agreement among 117 countries. It addressed such issues as services, tariffs and trade related aspects of intellectual property.

The Uruguay Round was approved by the US Congress in December 1994 and went into effect in January 1995. Created by the agreement was also the World Trade Organization, which enforces trade rules and provides a forum for negotiating reduction of trade barriers and resolving policy disputes.

Another important concern of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is the research on the World Trade Organization. The GATT research guide is focused on the sources from the United States and provides pointers with for research covering a wide variety of materials in print, electronic and microfiche formats. All resources can be divided into eight sections, including GATT/WTO Legal Instruments, Official Documents, Schedules on Tariffs and Services, Dispute Settlement and more. An online guide lists important sources in electronic, print and microfiche formats that aid GATT research into the numerous agreements and other aspects of International Trade.

All references are organized in accordance with the major activities of the World Trade Organization. Further guide sections describe such key resources as schedules on tariffs and services; legal instruments of GATT and WTO and their interpretation; negotiation and drafting history; the US practice of transnational trade law; and agreements known as TRIMS - Agreement on Trade-related Investment Measures, and TRIPS - Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The latest version of the GATT research guide was written by Jeanne Rehberg and published in September 2003.

It lists essential sources for the research of the World Trade Organization system, as well as the predecessor system under the GATT 1947. GATT and WTO materials are composed of the WTO organizational structure; schedules and tariffs; official documents; dispute settlement reports; and trade policy reviews. Among the related materials are additional research guides; US legislative government websites; meetings, speeches and news; articles and books; terminology and statistics.

Additional GATT research guides include Revised Guide to International Trade Law Sources on the Internet, Electronic Information System for International Law and Guide to Electronic Sources for International Law. The latter is composed of International Economic Law, International Commercial Arbitration, Private International Law and International Intellectual Property Law among others.

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