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- JUIN 1978
THE GATT MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS
WHAT THE MTN's ARE
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Acron Texer
Most trading countries (other than China and the USSR) are members of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The GATT was signed in 1947
and contains a set of rules governing world trade the most important being
that, except when they are proceeding (as the Community has done) to a
customs union or a free trade area, countries should treat each other alike on trade matters (the so-called most favoured nation (MFN) principle);
that tariff reductions should be negotiated from time to time, and that
the new levels should then be "bound" (that is, guaranteed against
increase);
that there should also be some rules governing when restrictions (to
safeguard balance of payments or to avoid market disruption) may be
imposed; and
that there should also be some rules governing non tariff barriers (or non tariff measures as they are often called).
(Certain additional provisions in recognition of the problems of developing
countries Part IV of the GATT were added at a later stage).
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The GATT multilateral trade negotiations (MTN's) are one of the occasions
foreseen in the GATT where contracting parties seek to agree to reduce trade
barriers. Most rounds were concerned mainly with tariffs, but during the last -
the Kennedy Round concluded in 1967 there was a lot of discussion on other
barriers to trade, and it was clear from the start that there would be this time
too, if only because, as the level of tariffs has progressively come down, the
importance of other barriers to trade has increased in proportion.
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THE LAUNCHING OF THE PRESENT ROUND
3 The negotiations were launched at a Ministerial GATT meeting in Tokyo in
September 1973. It was agreed then that the negotiations should be conducted on the basis of the principle of mutual advantage, mutual commitment and strict
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