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Table of contents back to top
I. Preamble
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A. Text of the Preamble
B. Interpretation and Application
of the Preamble
1. Legal relevance of Preamble
(a) Environmental context (b) Integrated
WTO system (c) Interpretation
of Article XX(g) of the GATT 1994 (d) Special
needs of developing countries 2. Relationship
with other WTO Agreements
(a) GATT 1994
(i) Article
XX(g)
(ii) Article
XXIV
(b) SCM
Agreement
II.
Article I back to top
A. Text of
Article I
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article I
1. Article I
III.
Article II back to top
A. Text of
Article II
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article II
1. Article II:2
(a) Single undertaking 2. Article
II:4
IV.
Article III back to top
A. Text of
Article III
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article III
1. Article III:1
(a) “implementation, administration and
operation … of the Multilateral Trade Agreements”
2. Article III:2
(a) “forum for negotiations among its Members”
(i) 1996 Singapore Ministerial Conference
(ii) 1998 Geneva Ministerial Conference
(iii) Doha Ministerial Conference
3. Article III:3
(a) “Shall administer the Understanding on Rules
and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes”
4. Article III:4
(a) “Shall administer the Trade Policy Review
Mechanism”
5. Article III:5
(a) “The WTO shall cooperate … with the IMF
and … World Bank”
(i) General
(ii) Observer status
(iii) Cooperation agreements do not modify, add to
or diminish rights and obligations of Members
(iv) No requirement for WTO panels to consult with
IMF
(b) “with a view to achieving greater coherence
in global economic policy-making”
(i) General
(ii) Annual reports
V.
Article IV back to top
A. Text of
Article IV
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article IV
1. Article IV:1
(a) “there shall be a Ministerial Conference …
which shall meet at least once every two years”
(i) 1996 Singapore Ministerial Conference
(ii) 1998 Geneva Ministerial Conference
(iii) 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference
(iv) 2001 Doha Ministerial Conference
(v) 2003 Cancun Ministerial Conference
(b) “The Ministerial Conference shall carry out
the functions of the WTO”
(i) Competencies of the Ministerial Conference
(ii) Competencies under other Agreements
(iii) Working parties
(c) “Ministerial Conference shall … take
decisions on all matters under any of the Multilateral Trade
Agreements”
(d) “in accordance with the specific
requirements for decision-making in this Agreement and in the relevant
Multilateral Trade Agreements”
(e) Rules of procedure
2. Article IV:2
(a) “there shall be a General Council”
(b) “The General Council shall also carry out
the functions assigned to it by this Agreement”
(i) General
(c) “the General Council shall establish its
rules of procedure”
(d) “the General Council shall … approve the
rules of procedure for the committees …”
3. Article IV:3: “the General Council shall
convene … to discharge the responsibilities of the Dispute Settlement
Body (DSB)”
(a) General
(b) “The DSB … shall establish such rules of
procedure”
(c) Special Session of the Dispute Settlement Body
4. Article IV:4: “the General Council shall …
discharge the responsibilities of the Trade Policy Review Body”
(a) Country reviews
(b) “the Trade Policy Review Body shall …
establish such rules of procedure”
5. Article IV:5
(a) “Council for Trade in Goods”
(i) Functions
(ii) Rules of procedure
(b) “Council for Trade in Services”
(i) Functions
(ii) Rules of procedure
(c) “The Council for Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)”
(i) Functions
(ii) Rules of procedure
(d) The Councils “shall operate under the
general guidance of the General Council”
6. Article IV:6
(a) “the [Council for Trade in Goods] … shall
establish subsidiary bodies”
(b) Subsidiary bodies shall establish … rules of
procedure subject to approval of their respective Councils:
(c) “the [Council for Trade in Services] …
shall establish subsidiary bodies as required”
(d) “the [TRIPS Council] shall establish
subsidiary bodies as required”
7. Article IV:7: Committees established by the
Ministerial Conference or General Council
(a) Committee on Trade and Development
(i) Establishment and terms of reference
(ii) Rules of procedure and observer status
(iii) Reporting
(iv) Activities
(v) Reference to GATT practice
(b) Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions
(i) Establishment and terms of reference
(ii) Rules of procedure
(iii) Reporting
(iv) Activities
(c) Committee on Budget, Finance and
Administration
(i) Establishment and terms of reference
(ii) Rules of procedure
(iii) Reporting
(iv) Activities
(d) Committee on Market Access
(i) Establishment and terms of reference
(ii) Rules of procedure
(iii) Reporting
(iv) Activities
(e) Committee on Trade and Environment
(i) Establishment and terms of reference
(ii) Rules of procedure
(iii) Reporting
(iv) Activities
(f) Committee on Regional Trade Agreements
(i) Establishment and terms of reference
(ii) Rules of procedure
(iii) Reporting
(iv) Activities
(g) Trade
Negotiations Committee (TNC)
8. Article
IV: 8
(a) Bodies
provided for under Plurilateral Trade Agreements
(i) International
Dairy Council
(ii) International
Meat Council
(iii) Committee
on Trade in Civil Aircraft
(iv) Committee
on Government Procurement
VI.
Article V back to top
A. Text of
Article V
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article V
1. Article
V:1
(a) “Shall
make appropriate arrangements for effective cooperation with other
intergovernmental organizations”
(b) Observer
status
2. Article
V:2
(a) “may
make appropriate arrangements … with non-governmental organizations”
(i) Guidelines
for Arrangements on Relations with Non-Governmental Organizations
(ii) Procedure
to provide observer capacity
VII.
Article VI back to top
A. Text of
Article VI
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article VI
1. Article
VI:1
(a) WTO
Secretariat
2. Article
VI:2
(a) “the
Ministerial Conference shall appoint the Director-General”
(b) “regulations
setting out the powers, duties, conditions of service and term of office
of the Director-General”
3. Article
VI:3
(a) “The
Director-General shall … determine the duties and conditions of
service of the WTO Secretariat”
4. Article
VI:4
(a) The
responsibilities of the Director-General and the staff of the
Secretariat
VIII.
Article VII back to top
A. Text of
Article VII
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article VII
1. Article
VII:1
(a) “the
Director-General shall present to the Committee on Budget, Finance and
Administration the annual budget estimate and financial statement of the
WTO”
(b) “the
Committee on Budget, Finance & Administration shall … make
recommendations”
2. Article
VII:2
(a) “Committee
on Budget, Finance and Administration shall propose … financial
regulations”
(b) “provisions
setting out the scale of contributions”
(c) Doha
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund
3. Article
VII:3
(a) “The
General Council shall adopt the financial regulations and the annual
budget estimate”
4. Article
VII:4
(a) “Each
Member shall … contribute to the WTO …”
IX.
Article VIII back to top
A. Text of
Article VIII
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article VIII
1. Article VIII:1,
VIII:2 and VIII:3
(a) General
2. Article VIII:4
3. Article VIII:5
(a) Headquarters
Agreement
(b) Transfer of assets
X.
Article IX back to top
A. Text of
Article IX
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article IX
1. Article
IX:1
(a) “The
WTO shall continue the practice of decision-making by consensus”
2. Article
IX:2
(a) “The
Ministerial Conference and the General Council shall have the exclusive
authority to adopt interpretations of this Agreement and of the
Multilateral Trade Agreements”
(i) Statements
by the Appellate Body
(b) Requests
for authoritative interpretations
3. Article
IX:3 and IX:4: Waivers
(a) Decision-making
procedures for granting a waiver
(i) Interpretation
of waivers
(b) Waivers
granted
4. Article
IX:5
XI.
Article X back to top
A. Text of
Article X
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article X
1. Article X:1
(a) “Amendments
to this Agreement or the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 1”
2. Article X:8
(a) Amendments
to the Multilateral Trade Agreements in
Annexes 2 and 3
(i) Annex 2:
Dispute Settlement Understanding
(ii) Annex
3: TPRM
3. Article X:9
(a) Additions
to Plurilateral Trade Agreements
(b) Deletions
of Plurilateral Trade Agreements
4. Article
X:10
(a) “Amendments
to a Plurilateral Agreement shall be governed by the provisions of that
Agreement”
XII.
Article XI back to top
A. Text of
Article XI
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article XI
1. General
(a) Members
(b) Observers
2. Article XI:1
(a) “The contracting
parties to GATT 1947 … shall become original Members of the WTO”
3. Article XI:2:
Least-developed countries
XIII.
Article XII back to top
A. Text of
Article XII
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article XII
1. General
(a) Observer
status for applicants for accession
(b) Accession
working parties under GATT 1947
(c) Least-developed
countries
2. Article
XII:1
(a) “Any
State or separate customs territory … may accede to this Agreement”
3. Article
XII:2
(a) Decision-making
procedures on accession
(b) Working
parties on accession
(i) Establishment
(ii) Terms of
reference
(c) Accession
decisions adopted by the WTO
4. Article
XII:3: Accession to a Plurilateral Trade Agreement
(a) Agreement on
Government Procurement
(b) Other
Plurilateral trade agreements
XIV.
Article XIII back to top
A. Text of
Article XIII
B. Interpretation and
Application of Article XIII
1. Article XIII:1
(a) “This Agreement
… shall not apply as between any Member and any other Member … if
either … does not consent”
XV.
Article XIV back to top
A. Text of
Article XIV
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article XIV
1. Transition
from GATT 1947 to the WTO
2. Article
XIV:1
(a) Date of
entry into force of the WTO Agreement
3. Article
XIV:3
(a) Notifications
of acceptance of the WTO Agreement
(i) Acceptance
before 1 January 1995
(ii) Acceptance
after 1 January 1995
4. Article
XIV:4
(a) Acceptance
and entry into force of the Plurilateral Trade Agreements
(i) International
Dairy Agreement
(ii) International
Bovine Meat Agreement
(iii) Agreement
on Civil Aircraft
(iv) Agreement
on Government Procurement
XVI.
Article XV back to top
A. Text of
Article XV
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article XV
1. Article XV:1
(a) “Any
member may withdraw from this Agreement”
2. Article XV:2
(a) “Withdrawal
from a Plurilateral Trade Agreement”
XVII.
Article XVI back to top
A. Text of
Article XVI
B. Interpretation and Application
of Article XVI
1. Article
XVI:1
(a) “the
WTO shall be guided by the decisions, procedures and customary practices
followed by the CONTRACTING PARTIES to GATT 1947”
(b) Status
of bilateral agreements
(c) Status
of subsequent agreements
(d) Status
of unadopted panel reports
(e) Status
of decisions by GATT 1947 Council
(f) Status
of adopted panel reports
(g) Status
of panel findings that are not appealed
(i) Relationship
with Paragraph 1(b) of GATT 1994
2. Article
XVI:2
(a) “the
Director-General to the CONTRACTING PARTIES to GATT 1947, …, shall serve
as Director-General of the WTO”
3. Article
XVI:4
(a) “Each
Member shall ensure the conformity of its laws, regulations and
administrative procedures”
4. Article
XVI:5
(a) “Reservations
in respect of any of the provisions of the Multilateral Trade Agreements”
(b) “Reservations
in respect of a provision of a Plurilateral Trade Agreement”
5. Article
XVI:6
(a) Registration
of the Agreement
XVIII.
Explanatory Notes back to top
A. Text of
Explanatory Notes
B. Interpretation and Application
of Explanatory Notes
XIX.
Declaration on the Contribution of the World Trade Organization to Achieving Greater Coherence in Global Economic Policymaking
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A. Text
B. Interpretation and Application
XX.
Declaration on the Relationship of the World Trade Organization with the International Monetary Fund
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A. Text
B. Interpretation and Application
XXI.
Decision on the Acceptance of and Accession to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization
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A. Text
B. Interpretation and Application
XXII.
Decision on Measures in Favour of Least-Developed Countries
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A. Text
B. Interpretation and Application
1. Least-Developed Countries
(LDCs) in the Doha Round
XXIII.
Understanding in Respect of Waivers of Obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994
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A. Text
B. Interpretation and Application
XXIV.
Accessions under Article XXXIII back to top
XXV. WTO Membership
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XXVI. WTO Observers
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XXVII.
Doha Texts back to top
A. Doha Declaration
B. Declaration on the
Trips Agreement and Public Health
C. Implementation-Related
Issues and Concerns
D. Procedures for Extensions
under Article 27.4 for Certain Developing Country Members
E. European Communities —
the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement
F. European Communities —
Transitional Regime for the EC Autonomous Tariff Rate Quotas on Imports
of Bananas
XXVIII.
The July Package back to top
XXIX.
General Interpretative Note to Annex 1A back to top
A. Text of General
Interpretative Note to Annex 1A
B. Interpretation and
Application of General Interpretative Note to Annex 1A
1. General
(a) Presumption
against conflict
(b) Issue of
lex specialis/conflict
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