GATT agreement

Since GATS is an Annex to the GATT agreement it should be noted that the provisions of GATS are governed by those of GATT and that both documents incorporate the same basic principles. 

Article XXIII on dispute settlement is considered to be well balanced and equitable and provides that if any Party should consider that another Party fails to carry out its obligations or commitments under the agreement, it may make written representations or proposals to the other Party or Parties concerned and the latter should give sympathetic consideration to the representations or proposals so made. If no satisfactory settlement could he arrived at, the GATT agreement provides for a formal dispute settlement procedure in Articles XXII and XXIII. 

Burchfiel and co-workers, in I. Kayton, ed.. Practice Under Gatt s Uruguay Round Agreements Act, Patent Resources Institute, 1995. 

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 15 756 18 158, 198, 540 General Area Detector Diffraction System (GADDS), 26 431-432 General Electric... 

Developments to Date. It often has been stated that the basic policy objective of efforts to harmonize the U.S. and European laws is the achievement of consistent and effective protection of health and the environment. However, economic considerations — in particular, the avoidance (or minimization) of non-tariff trade barriers — constitute the principal force behind virtually all of these multilateral efforts. The trade in chemicals and chemical products constitutes a significant part of the overall trade between Western industrialized nations. Specifically, the U.S. enjoys a favorable balance in its chemicals trade, and this is particularly significant given the current recession. Thus, any unnecessary barriers to this trade may impose substantial burdens upon certain segments of the American chemical industry, and may constitute violations of the international General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). 

International agreements and regional cooperation e.g. GATT, European Acquis, specify the requirements for the free movement of goods and the elimination of technical barriers to trade, mutual recognition of test results and technical harmonization, in order to meet the needs of the market. The quality concept is being broadened to include additional aspects, tools and procedures. 

In September, 1986, the United States raised the EU hormone ban in the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In 1987, after a series of informal bilateral discussions, the United States invoked dispute settlement under the Tokyo Round Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. Formal bilateral consultations were held on two occasions without a satisfactory resolution. The United States then requested that the matter be referred to a group of technical experts. The European Union blocked the formation of the technical expert group, and the dispute went unresolved. 

Disputes shall be settled in accordance with the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) provisions. A WTO panel shall seek advice on scientific or technical issues from experts chosen by the panel and the parties involved in the dispute. It is important to note that the Codex Alimentarius texts are the basis for decisions taken in such connections. When a country introduces regulations that are more detailed, or stricter, than similar Codex provision, that country should be prepared to defend the measures taken on scientific grounds in front of a WTO panel. 

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