General Agreement On Trade In Services By Wto
The general agreement on tariffs and trade gatt is a legal agreement between many countries whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas.
General agreement on trade in services by wto. Tisa is based on the wto s general agreement on trade in services gats which involves all wto members. Creating a credible and reliable system of international trade rules. Gatt the organisation and gatt the agreement. This trade topics page will take you to information available on the wto website on issues handled by the wto s councils and committees and its trade agreements wto services.
And promoting trade and development through progressive liberalization. Service trade expansion has big prospects though countries are in general reluctant to liberalise it. The gats was inspired by essentially the same objectives as its counterpart in merchandise trade the general agreement on tariffs and trade gatt. General agreement on trade in services members recognizing the growing importance of trade in services for the growth and development of the world economy.
Stimulating economic activity through guaranteed policy bindings. The general agreement on trade in services gats is the first multilateral agreement covering trade in services. Wishing to establish a multilateral framework of principles and rules for trade in services with a view to the expansion of such trade under conditions of transparency and progressive liberalization. The gats agreement covers all services there are 161 tradable services under gats financial services banking insurance etc education telecommunications maritime transport etc.
In 1995 gatt was replaced by the world trade organisation wto. Ensuring fair and equitable treatment of all participants principle of non discrimination. The trade in services agreement tisa is a trade agreement currently being negotiated by 23 members of the world trade organization wto including the eu. It also set in motion a process for the progressive removal of restrictions on international services trade.
General agreement on tariffs and trade was established in 1947. It was negotiated during the last round of multilateral trade negotiations called the uruguay round and came into force in 1995. The treaty was created to extend the multilateral trading system to service sector in the same way the general agreement on tariffs and trade gatt provides such a system for merchandise trade. The general agreement on trade in services of the world trade organization wto commonly known as the gats established a multilateral framework of rules and principles for trade in services a large and fast growing segment of world trade.
As far as the old system or gatt was concerned there were two gatts.