Trade in Goods

20 important questions on Trade in Goods

Four functions of WTO

1) implementing, administering and carrying out the WTO Agreement and its annexes;
2) acting as a forum for ongoing Multilateral Trade Negotiations;
3) servings as a tribunal for resolving disputes;
4) reviewing the trade policies and practices of WTO member states.

The WTO has five main organs: 

1) a Ministerial Conference, which oversees the operations of the WTO; 

2) the General Council, which carries on the functions of the Ministerial Conference in the intervals between the meetings of the Conference and that also functions as the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body and Trade Policy Review Body; 

3) a Council for Trade in Goods; 

4) a Council for Trade in Services; and 

5) a Council for Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Some of the provisions of GATT 1994 are directly effective, which means that:

a.      Both private and juridical persons can rely on these provisions in GATT 1994

  • Higher grades + faster learning
  • Never study anything twice
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Discover Study Smart

The requirement that goods be “alongside” in Free Alongside Ship (FAS) trade term (as the term is used in the Incoterms) means the goods have:

a.      been put within reach of the ship’s lifting tackle

Awards issued by an ICSID tribunal 

are binding but not final; therefore, they can be reviewed or revised.

Generalised system of preferences

Right to obtain tariff concession from another developed state on a non-reciprocal basis

National treatment rule

Once imported goods are in the territory of the state they must be treated as domestic goods
Affects goods inside the country (in contrast to MFN)

Export control programmes

- Wassenaar Agreement (restrictions on development of military capabilities)
- Australia group (curbing the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons)
- Zangger Committee
- Nuclear suppliers group (limiting proliferation of nuclear weapons)
- Missile technology control regime (limiting proliferation of missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads)

Agreements multilateral agreement

1. Customs valuation
2. Pre-shipment inspections
3. Agreement on technical barriers to trade
4. Agreement on application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures
5. Agreement on trade-related investment measure
6. Agreement on import-licensing procedures
7.  Anti-dumping code
8. Subsidies
9. Safeguards
10. Agreement on agriculture, agreement on textile and clothing, agreement on rules of origin

What is a national treatment?


Once goods are legally
imported, they must
be treated the same
way as domestic
goods (no additional
requirements).


General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT 1994)


Annex to the Agreement
Establishing the World
Trade Organization that
sets out the rules under
which the member states
of that organization
are committed to
negotiate reductions
in customs tariffs and
other impediments to
international trade in
goods.

Bound tariff rates


The highest tariff rates
a WTO member state
may set on imports from
another member state.

Integrated program for commodities (IPC)


Proposal of developing
countries that would
establish a Common
Fund to underwrite the
costs of maintaining a
buffer stock of primary
commodities as a way to
stabilize supplies.


Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement)



Defines the measures
that WTO member states
may take to protect
the life and health of
humans, animals, and
plants.


Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs Agreement)


Forbids provisions

commonly found in
foreign investment laws
that distort or reduce
international trade,
including provisions
that discriminate against
foreigners and that
impose quantitative
restrictions on the use
of foreign products by
foreign-owned local
enterprises.


Agreement on Import-Licensing Procedures


Requires that the importlicensing

procedures of
WTO member states
be neutral in their
application and that they
be administered in a fair
and equitable manner.


Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994 (Anti-dumping Code)


Agreement on
Implementation of
Article VI of GATT
1994 (Anti-dumping
Code)
Allows WTO member
states to counter
dumping through the
application of antidumping
duties.


Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement


Classifies subsidies as

prohibited, actionable,
and nonactionable;
forbids the first class and
allows affected WTO
member states to request
consultation, to obtain a
remedy from the WTO, or
to impose countervailing
duties independently.

Agreement on textiles and clothing


Establishes a process
for the phasing-out
of existing special
arrangements governing
international trade in
textiles and clothing and
the integration of those
products into the GATT
system.

Agreement on rules of origin


Establishes a threeyear
program aimed
at bringing about an
international system
of harmonized rules of
origin.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

  • A unique study and practice tool
  • Never study anything twice again
  • Get the grades you hope for
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Remember faster, study better. Scientifically proven.
Trustpilot Logo