Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs)

This Agreement, negotiated during the Uruguay Round, applies only to measures that affect trade in goods. Recognizing that certain investment measures can have trade-restrictive and distorting effects, it states that no Member shall apply a measure that is prohibited by the provisions of GATT Article III (national treatment) or Article XI (quantitative restrictions).

 

Examples of inconsistent measures, as spelled out in the Annex's Illustrative List, include local content or trade balancing requirements. The Agreement contains transitional arrangements allowing Members to maintain notified TRIMs for a limited time following the entry into force of the WTO (two years in the case of developed country Members, five years for developing country Members, and seven years for least-developed country Members). The Agreement also establishes a Committee on TRIMs to monitor the operation and implementation of these commitments.

 

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Introduction

What are trade-related investment measures?

Understanding the TRIMs Agreement — a historical and technical explanation

 

The Doha mandate: Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) in the 2001 ministerial decision on implementation

Summary of the TRIMs Agreement   

Browse or download the text of the “TRIMs agreement” from the legal texts gateway

Find decisions of WTO bodies concerning the TRIMs Agreement in the Analytical Index — Guide to WTO Law and Practice

Work on TRIMs in the WTO, and official documents

The Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures monitors the operation and implementation of the TRIMs Agreement and affords Members the opportunity to consult on any matters related. The Committee reports to the Council for Trade in Goods. The current chair is .

Work in the TRIMs Committee

Search Documents Online
Documents of the Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures use the code G/TRIMS/* (where * takes additional values)
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  • Annual Reports of the Committee on TRIMs to the Council for Trade in Goods (Document code varies)   > search    > help
  • Minutes of the Committee on TRIMs (Document code G/TRIMS/M/*)   > search    > help
  • Reports and working documents of the Committee on TRIMs (Document code G/TRIMS/W/*)   > search    > help

  

Other official TRIMs documents

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> help with downloading these documents

  • Decisions of the Council for Trade in Goods on the extension of the transition period for the elimination of TRIMs notified under Article 5.1 of the TRIMs Agreement (Document code varies)   > search
  • Notifications of inconsistent TRIMs (Article 5.1) (Document code G/TRIMS/N/* and keyword “5.1”)
       > search
  • Notifications of TRIMs that have been eliminated (Article 5.2) (Document code G/TRIMS/N/* and keyword “5.2”)   > search
  • Notifications of relevant publications (Article 6.2) (Document code G/TRIMS/N/2*)  > search
  • Documents on dispute settlement involving the TRIMs agreement (Document code G/TRIMS/D/*)   > search
  • Observer Status (Document code G/TRIMS* and keyword “observer”)   > search
  • Rules of Procedure (Document code G/TRIMS/W/* and keyword “Rules of Procedure”)   > search

You can perform more sophisticated searches from the Documents Online search facility by defining multiple search criteria such as document symbol, full text search or document date.

  

 
Notification obligations
DISPUTES 
> List of disputes citing the TRIMs agreement

 

Committee meetings