The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was a Bretton Woods organizations created after World War II along with the World Bank and IMF. The WTO was established in 1995 by the Final Act of the Uruguay Round. Below are basic sources for research on the GATT& and WTO. There are many research guides to the WTO written with a legal emphasis. Examples include the NYU Law Library Guide and UC Berkeley Library Guide.
Analytical Index: Guide to GATT Law and Practice. Comprehensive guide to the interpretation and application of the WTO agreements by WTO bodies.
Basic Instruments and Selected Documents. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Vols. 1-4. Doe Ref HF1721 .C65. See also the supplement volumes.
Basic Instruments and Selected Documents. World Trade Organization. Vols. 1-12 (1995-2006). Doe Ref. K4602 .G46
Trade Policy Review Series. Country series examining the trade policies and practices of the WTO Member nations. Each country is reviewed every few years. The series is also available in print at the UCB libraries.
World Trade Report. - WTO Flagship Publication.
WTO Status of Legal Instruments. Covers legal instruments drawn up by WTO members in relation to the Marrakesh Agreement and plurilateral trade agreements annexed to the Agreement
WTO Analytical Index: Guide to WTO Law and Practice. Guide to decisions of WTO panels and bodies. The UC Berkeley Libtraries have several volumes in print. See the latest in Doe Reference.
WTO Dispute Settlement Procedures: A Collection of the Relevant Legal Texts. Ready answers to technical questions relating to the WTO dispute settlement process.
Documents Issued. Microfiche set containing documents from 1984 to 1996 de-restricted by GATT. The fiche set includes committee reports, press releases, speeches, etc. Documents are arranged by fiche number. These documents can be accessed through the List and Index of Documents Issued.
GATT Digital Library. Online library of more than 30,000 GATT documents from 1947 to 1994 is a joint project of the WTO and Stanford University.
Regional Trade Agreements Gateway. Database containing information on regional trade agreements that have been announced to the WTO. List of all agreements as well as by criteria and country.
WTO Documents Online. Central portal for WTO documents online. Includes the following:
Data on WTO member tariffs are two types: bound rates (the ceiling rates as listed in members “schedules” or commitments; and applied rates, the rates members currently charge, which can be lower than the bound rates. There are separate schedules for goods (under the GATT) and services (under GATS).
Current Situation of Schedules of WTO Members. Table with links to each Member’s original goods schedule and any subsequent modifications. Scroll down for the historic and current tables.
Schedules of Commitments and Lists of Article II Exemptions. Service schedules under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
Services Database. Set of inked databases that provides information on Members' commitments under the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), services commitments in regional trade agreements (RTA), applied (current) measures in services, and service statistics.
Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I-Tip). Set of linked databases that provides information on members' services commitments in regional trade agreements, applied measures in services, and services statistics. Includes a portal for Trade in Services and Trade in Goods. Includes both tariff and non-tariff measures affecting trade in goods
Tariff Analysis Online. Offers tariff rates on products at a high level of detail, as well as import statistics and software allowing users to analyze data. Registration required.
Tariff Download Facility. Provides standardized tariff statistics with the ability to compare between countries easily.
WorldTradeLaw.net. Dispute Settlement Commentaries (DSCs) provide detailed summaries of the legal findings and conclusions as well as commentaries on WTO Panel reports, WTO Appellate Body reports, WTO Arbitrations, and NAFTA Chapter 20 Panel reports.
World Trade Online. The online equivalent to the print newsletter called Inside U.S. Trade, a weekly report on governmental and industry trade issues. Access the current newsletter, plus an archive of past issues.
WTO Reporter. Tracks the progress of multilateral trade negotiations, negotiating positions of parties, policy decisions, dispute settlement activities, accession of new members, and reactions of countries to major developments. Covers evolving rules for trade administered by the WTO.
The last major GATT agreement was the Final Act embodying the results of the Uruguay round, concluded at Marrakesh in 1994. The final results include about 60 agreements, annexes, and decisions. The agreements include:
The Berkeley Libraries have the historic legal instruments of the following rounds of multilateral trade negotiations.
Settling WTO disputes is the responsibility of the Dispute Settlement Body, comprised of all WTO members. The Body has the authority to establish panels of experts to consider the case, and to accept or reject the panels’ findings or an appeal.
Basic Instruments and Selected Documents. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Vols. 1-4. Doe Ref HF1721 .C65. See also the supplement volumes. The BISDs for both the GATT and WTO contain dispute settlements for these time periods.
Basic Instruments and Selected Documents. World Trade Organization. Vols. 1-12 (1995-2006). Doe Ref. K4602 .G46
Dispute Settlement Reports. In print at the Law Library. This is the only WTO authorized paginated version of official reports of dispute settlements.
Dispute Settlements Gateway - Gateway to the online (unofficial) texts of dispute settlements.
WTO Panel Reports. See also GATT Panel Reports. Via WorldTradeLaw (UCB Only). Panel reports
International Trade Statistics. Annual summary publication of world trade statistics.
Country Profiles:
WTO Tariff Data. Includes the following:
WTO Trade Statistics. Interactive database with data on the following:
International Trade and Market Access Data Interactive Tool. Merchandise and trade in services interactive mapping tool.
Trade Monitoring Database. The database provides information on trade measures implemented by WTO members and observers since October 2008. The data is taken from the regular Trade Monitoring Reports prepared by the WTO Secretariat.
Trade Policy Reviews. All WTO members are reviewed via the WTO Trade Policy Review Board. The frequency of each country’s review varies according to its share of world trade. Each country review is online here.