Link Between GATT and WTO Agreement

Relationship Between WTO and GATT In his 2008 book, From GATT 1947 to GATT 1994, Mavroidis argues that the relationship of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement and the many understandings has been resolved by WTO jurisprudence instead of legislative fiat. Conversely, the relationship of the GATT with other annexes has been resolved through legislative means. The WTO Appellate Body has consistently maintained that WTO Agreement is one agreement and that the GATT is one of its annexes. The legal implication is that the GATT disciplines have to be construed in a manner that takes into account the WTO Agreement. Given these factors, GATT need to take into account the WTO Agreement since it’s considered as one of its annexes. GATT should consider the WTO Agreement since it (GATT) exists as the World Trade Organization’s umbrella treaty for trade in different goods or products. For instance, on New Zealand’s complaint regarding some measures imposed by Indonesia on importation of horticultural products, animals and animal products by Indonesia, WTO Appellate Body ruled that GATT measures should be adopted in consideration of WTO Agreement.[footnoteRef:1] In this complaint, New Zealand stated that some of the measures adopted by Indonesia for some of its products were inconsistent with some provisions of GATT 1994. Additionally, some of these measures were inconsistent with some provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the Import Licensing Agreement, and Agreement on Preshipment Inspection. The WTO Appellate Body not only involved some third-party member countries in this dispute resolution process, but focused on ensuring consistency between GATT and WTO Agreement. In this regard, GATT measures adopted by Indonesia were required to take into account the WTO Agreement as part of resolving the dispute. [1: World Trade Organization, ‘DS477: Indonesia – Importation of Horticultural Products, Animals and Animal Products’ (2017) accessed 26 Jan 2019] General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is not only linked to the WTO Agreement, but also associated with other multilateral agreements on trade in goods that comprise Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement. Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement comprises different agreements on different aspects of trade in goods. Some of these agreements are in Agriculture, Textiles and Clothing, Preshipment Inspection, and Import Licensing Procedures. GATT 1994 is also listed as one of the multilateral agreements in Annex 1A of the World Trade Organization Agreement. GATT is related to the other multilateral agreements on the premise that their provisions are used in dispute resolution. As demonstrated in New Zealand’s complaint regarding Indonesia’s practice, GATT and other multilateral agreements in Annex 1A were used in resolving the dispute. However, provisions of the other multilateral agreements supersede GATT’s provisions when resolving a conflict. If a conflict exists between GATT and other multilateral agreements in Annex 1A, the provisions of these other agreements shall prevail to resolve the dispute. Mavroidis considers that the WTO Appellate Body will defer to the legislative solution advanced in an understanding, to extent that it regulates an issue left unregulated or obscure in the GATT. Mavroidis’s argument is supported by stages in an ordinary normal WTO dispute settlement case, which permit the Appellate Body to modify the legal findings and conclusions of a panel.[footnoteRef:2] Through this process, WTO Appellate Body can uphold the panel’s findings and conclusions or reverse if they disagree with it. During this process, the Appellate Body conducts a legal analysis of the panel’s findings and conclusions. This step provides an avenue through which the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization can defer to the legislative solution advanced in an understanding. [2: World Trade Organization, ‘The Process – Stages in a Typical WTO Dispute Settlement Case’ (2018) accessed 26 Jan 2019] Bibliography World Trade Organization, ‘DS477: Indonesia – Importation of Horticultural Products, Animals and Animal Products’ (World Trade Organization, 2017) accessed 26 Jan 2019 World Trade Organization, ‘The Process – Stages in a Typical WTO Dispute Settlement Case’ (World Trade Organization, 2018) accessed 26 Jan 2019