The main differences between GATT and WTO

The main differences between GATT and WTO are:

1) GATT is temporary. The GATT was never approved by the legislatures of the member states, and there was no provision in it to establish the organization. The WTO and its agreements are permanent.

As an international organization, the WTO has a good legal basis because its members have ratified the WTO agreement, and the agreement itself sets out how the WTO operates.

2) The WTO has "members" and the GATT has "contracting states", which illustrates the fact that the GATT is only a legal text from a formal point of view.

3) GATT deals with goods**, and the WTO also deals with services** and intellectual property.

4) Compared with the original GATT system, the WTO dispute settlement mechanism is faster and more proactive, and the rulings made will not be obstructed.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and ** of 1947 is abbreviated as GATT, which has two meanings. The first is that as an international organization, it is the predecessor of the WTO, but GATT, as an international institution, is not recognized by international law, that is, it does not have the qualification of an international legal person. Since GATT does not have international legal personality, it is necessary to establish a formal international economic organization.

In other words, after the establishment of the WTO in 1995, the GATT no longer existed as an international institution. The second is as a general agreement on tariffs and **, the abbreviation of this agreement. After the establishment of the WTO, this agreement was still retained.

The main differences between GATT and WTO are: (1) GATT is temporary. The GATT was never approved by the legislatures of the member states, and there was no provision in it to establish the organization.

The WTO and its agreements are permanent. As an international organization, the WTO has a good legal basis because its members have ratified the WTO agreement and the agreement itself provides for it.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), referred to as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, is a multilateral international agreement and organization on tariffs and norms signed in Geneva by 23 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France in 1947.

On April 15, 1994, the Uruguay Round Ministerial Meeting of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade held in Marrakech, Morocco, decided to establish a more global world ** organization to replace the GATT established in 1947.

The main differences between GATT and WTO are:

1) GATT is temporary. The GATT has never been approved by the legislatures of the member states, and there is no organizational provision in it. The WTO and its agreements are permanent.

As an international organization, the WTO has a good legal basis because its members have ratified the WTO agreement, and the agreement itself sets out how the WTO operates.

2) The WTO has "members" and the GATT has "contracting states", which illustrates the fact that the GATT is only a legal text from a formal point of view.

3) GATT deals with goods**, and the WTO also deals with services** and intellectual property.

4) Compared with the original GATT system, the WTO dispute settlement mechanism is faster and more proactive, and the rulings made will not be obstructed.

First, the main contacts are:

1) The World Trade Organization (WTO) inherits the basic principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): the principle of free and fair competition; the principle of non-discriminatory treatment; the principle of most-favoured-nation (where a member of a tariff or trade agreement grants a preference to another country or region in respect of goods**, then this preference must be given unconditionally to all member states); the principle of national treatment; the principle of reciprocity; the principle of tariff concessions; the principle of transparency; the principle of prohibition and quantity limitation; the principle of open markets, etc.

2) The WTO has inherited the GATT's membership, organizational mechanism and operating mechanism.

3) The WTO's consensus decision-making method, dispute settlement mechanism, and trade review mechanism also follow the GATT practice.

Second, the main differences are:

1) The WTO is a permanent organization with international legal personality, while the GATT is only a provisional agreement. And the organizational structure is also more perfect. The highest authority of the WTO is the "Council of Ministers" (which is attended by the foreign trade and economic cooperation ministers of the member states) (equivalent to the general meeting of shareholders), which has legislative, judicial and other powers.

When the Council of Ministers is not in session, the General Council (Board of Directors), composed of representatives of all members, performs the duties of the Council of Ministers, and the Director-General (General Manager) is responsible for the handling and coordination of day-to-day affairs.

2) Some of the provisions enacted by the WTO are more legally efficient than the GATT, so they operate more efficiently.

3) The content of the WTO is broader than that of the GATT, so the scope of jurisdiction is also broader. The GATT covers only goods**, while the WTO covers not only goods, but also services and intellectual property.

4) Uniformity of obligations undertaken by WTO members. WTO members, regardless of their size, must abide by all multilateral agreements under their jurisdiction, accept WTO agreements and agreements in a "package" manner, and cannot selectively participate in one or more agreements or make reservations to agreements and agreements under their jurisdiction. However, many of the GATT's agreements are implemented in a code-like manner, which may or may not be acceptable to the parties.

The main differences between GATT and WTO are:

1) GATT is temporary. The GATT has never been approved by the legislatures of the member states, and there is no provision to establish an organization. The WTO and its agreements are permanent.

As an international organization, the WTO has a good legal basis, because its members have already ratified the WTO agreement, and the agreement itself stipulates it.

1. GATT is a multilateral treaty that adjusts the rights and obligations of the States parties, while the WTO is an international organization;

2. The scope of GATT adjustment is only limited to blind shed goods, and the WTO also includes services, investment measures related to the world, and intellectual property rights related to the world;

3. The WTO's dispute settlement mechanism is more effective than GATT;

4. GATT is temporary, while WTO is permanent.

Answer]: The predecessor of the WTO is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). GATT stands for "Agreement on the Provisional Application of the General Agreement on Tariffs and **".

After World War II, in order to learn lessons and avoid a global economic crisis, the first postponement was initiated by the United States, and 23 countries, including China, signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Customs. During the existence of the GATT, a total of eight rounds of multilateral negotiations were held, and after the Uruguay Round, the parties to the negotiations reached the Agreement on the Establishment of the World Organization, and the World Organization (WTO) was established.

Specifically, the main differences between GATT and WTO are as follows.

GATT is temporary. The GATT has never been approved by the legislatures of the Member States, and there is no provision in it to establish an organization, and it is not a substantive international organization. The WTO and its agreements are permanent and a substantive international organization.

As an international organization, the WTO has a good legal basis, and the agreement itself sets out how the WTO operates.

The GATT agreement is a plurilateral agreement, while the WTO agreement is a multilateral agreement. A plurilateral agreement implies that members can choose to participate on a rolling basis, while a plurilateral agreement means that members must participate in their entirety, i.e., a member may not sign a GATT clause if he considers that certain clauses are not suitable for that member; The WTO agreement, on the other hand, is a package agreement, and if you want to participate, you must participate in it. As a result, the two are also different in their approach to the issue, with the GATT emphasizing unanimous adoption and the WTO emphasizing "adoption unless all members unanimously oppose it".

The WTO has "member states", while the GATT only has "member states". This illustrates the fact that, from a formal point of view, the GATT is only a legal text, and the GATT's legal provisions are only persuasive, while the WTO's legal provisions are mandatory.

GATT deals with goods**, and the WTO also includes services**, intellectual property rights related to **, investment measures, and will be extended to environmental protection in the future.

The WTO dispute settlement mechanism is faster and more automatic than the original GATT system, and the adjudication of the WTO will not be hindered. In the event of a dispute, the GATT can only be resolved through bilateral or multilateral negotiations, while the WTO has a very complete dispute settlement mechanism, so it is very fast in terms of speed and efficiency.

Organizationally, there is a substitutionary relationship between the WTO and the GATT

1. From a legal point of view, the WTO is a formal international organization different from GATT, and is a subject of international law like a sovereign state, with the status of a legal person.

2. The WTO's adjustment of extensive economic and trade relations has led to the lack of corruption. In addition to the trade in goods, it will also adjust the protection of intellectual property rights, international investment measures, environmental protection, services, etc., which will surely promote economic cooperation and sustainable development in various fields among members.

3. The WTO is a unified multilateral management body.

4. The WTO has a sound institutional system.

5. There is also an organizational link between the WTO and the GATT.