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1、Principles of the trading system,The WTO agreements are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities. They deal with: agriculture, textiles and clothing, banking, telecommunications, government purchases, industrial standards and product safety, food sanitatio
2、n regulations, intellectual property, and much more. But a number of simple, fundamental principles run throughout all of these documents. These principles are the foundation of the multilateral trading system.,Principles of the trading system,Seven principles are of particular importance in underst
3、anding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO: 1. Trade without discrimination 2. Freer trade: gradually,through negotiation 3. Predictability: through binding and transparency . 4. Promoting fair competition 5. Encouraging development and economic reform 6. Reciprocity. 7. Safety valves,Trade without d
4、iscrimination,1. Most-favoured-nation (MFN): treating other people equally 2. National treatment: Treating foreigners and locals equally,1. Most-favoured-nation (MFN): treating other people equallyUnder the WTO agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. Grant
5、someone a special favour (such as a lower customs duty rate for one of their products) and you have to do the same for all other WTO members.,Some exceptions are allowed.,countries can set up a free trade agreement that applies only to goods traded within the group discriminating against goods from
6、outside. Or they can give developing countries special access to their markets. Or a country can raise barriers against products that are considered to be traded unfairly from specific countries. And in services, countries are allowed, in limited circumstances, to discriminate. But the agreements on
7、ly permit these exceptions under strict conditions. In general, MFN means that every time a country lowers a trade barrier or opens up a market, it has to do so for the same goods or services from all its trading partners whether rich or poor, weak or strong.,This principle is known as most-favoured
8、-nation (MFN) treatment . It is so important that it is the first article of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which governs trade in goods. MFN is also a priority in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Propert
9、y Rights (TRIPS) , although in each agreement the principle is handled slightly differently. Together, those three agreements cover all three main areas of trade handled by the WTO.,2. National treatment: Treating foreigners and locals equally Imported and locally-produced goods should be treated eq
10、ually at least after the foreign goods have entered the market. The same should apply to foreign and domestic services, and to foreign and local trademarks, copyrights and patents. This principle of “national treatment” (giving others the same treatment as ones own nationals) is also found in all th
11、e three main WTO agreements (Article 3 of GATT, Article 17 of GATS and Article 3 of TRIPS), although once again the principle is handled slightly differently in each of these.,Non-Discrimination.,It has two major components: (1) the most favoured nation (MFN) rule. Both are embedded in the main WTO
12、rules on goods, services, and intellectual property, but their precise scope and nature differ across these areas. The MFN rule requires that a WTO member must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members, i.e. a WTO member has to grant the most favorable conditions under which it a
13、llows trade in a certain product type to all other WTO members.Grant someone a special favour and you have to do the same for all other WTO members. (2) the national treatment policy. National treatment means that imported goods should be treated no less favorably than domestically produced goods an
14、d was introduced to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade .,Freer trade: gradually, through negotiation,Lowering trade barriers is one of the most obvious means of encouraging trade. The barriers concerned include customs duties (or tariffs) and measures such as import bans or quotas that restrict qua
15、ntities selectively. From time to time other issues such as red tape and exchange rate policies have also been discussed.,Opening markets can be beneficial, but it also requires adjustment. The WTO agreements allow countries to introduce changes gradually, through “progressive liberalization”. Devel
16、oping countries are usually given longer to fulfil their obligations.,Predictability: through binding and transparency,Binding: In the WTO, when countries agree to open their markets for goods or services, they “bind” their commitments. For goods, these bindings amount to ceilings on customs tariff rates. Sometimes countries tax imports at rates that are lower than the bound rates. Frequently this is the case in developing countries. In developed countries the rates actually charged and the
