The Trade Facilitation Agreement and Its Relationship With Other Wto Agreements

The Trade Facilitation Agreement is the first multilateral treaty adopted in the WTO since the organization was created. This book looks at how the Agreement is structured and how it relates to existing WTO agreements, such as the Customs Valuation Agreement, the Agreement on Rules of Origin, the Agreement on Import Licensing, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on Pre-shipment Inspection. The publication includes the full text of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created in 1947 and operated almost five decades on a provisional basis until 1995 when the WTO was established. Its goal is to improve the welfare of peoples of its member countries, specifically by lowering trade barriers and providing a platform for the negotiation of trade. The organization deals with the rules of trade between nations at a global or near global level; it is responsible for negotiating and implementing new trade agreements and charged with policing Member Countries’ adherence to all WTO agreements. In 2007 there were 150 Member States.