PREFACEThe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade came into force on January 1948. This booklet contains the complete text of the General Agreement together with all amendments which have become effective since its entry into force. The text
is identical to that published, since as Volume IV in the series Basic Instruments and Selected Documents. A
guide to the legal sources of the provisions of the Agreement is provided in an appendix. An Analytical Index, containing notes on the drafting,
interpretation and application of the articles of the Agreement has been prepared and published by the secretariat. A second publication,
complementary to this one, contains the text of the agreements reached as a result of the Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (The General Agreement is applied "provisionally" by all contracting parties. The
original contracting parties, and also those former territories of Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom which, after attaining independence, acceded to the General
Agreement under ArticleXXVI:5(
c), apply the GATT under the Protocol of Provisional Application,
the text of which is reproduced in this volume. Chile applies the General
Agreement under a Special Protocol of September 1948. The contracting parties which have acceded since 1948 apply the General Agreement under their respective Protocols of Accession.
For the convenience of the reader,
asterisks mark the portions of the text which should be read in conjunction with notes and supplementary provisions in Annex Ito the Agreement.
In accordance with ArticleXXXIV, Annexes A to I are an integral part of the Agreement. The
Schedules of tariff concessions annexed to the General Agreement (not here reproduced) are also, in accordance with Article II, an integral part of the Agreement.
By the Decision of 23 March 1965, the CONTRACTING
P
ARTIES
changed the title of the head of the GATT secretariat from "Executive Secretary" to "Director-General". However, in the
absence of an amendment to theGeneral Agreement to take account of this change, the title "Executive Secretary" has been retained in the text of Articles XVIII:12(
e), XXIII and
XXVI:4, 5 and 6. The Decision of 23 March 1965 provides that the duties and powers conferred upon the Executive Secretary by the General
Agreement "shall be exercised by the
person holding the position ofDirector-General, who shall, for this purpose, also hold the position of
Executive Secretary".
TABLE OF CONTENTSPageP
REFACE
... .......... ......... ..... ..... ..... ........................................... ..................... ........................ ..............iii
T
EXT OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ONT ARIFFS AND TRADE PREAMBLE PART
I
Article Ii General Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment. ........................ ..............2
Article II
Schedules of Concessions ......... ..................... ........................ PART
II
Article III
National Treatment on Internal Taxation and
Regulation........................... .................... ....................... .............6
Article IV
Special Provisions relating to Cinematograph
Films .................................... .................... ....................... .............8
Article V
Freedom of Transit .................. .................... ....................... .............8
Article VI
Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties .......................
10
Article VII
Valuation for Customs Purposes. ....................... ............. 12
Article VIII
Fees and Formalities connected with Importation and Exportation ................. .................... ....................... .............14
Article IX
Marks of Origin ....................... .................... ....................... ............. 15
Article X
Publication and Administration of Trade
Regulations ......................... .................... ....................... .............16
Article XI
General Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions. .............17
Article XII
Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance of Payments. .............18
Article XIII
Non-discriminatory Administration of Quantitative restrictions. .................... ....................... .............21
Article XIV
Exceptions to the rule of Nondiscrimination .................. ............. 23
Article XV
Exchange Arrangements. .................... ....................... .............24
Article XVI
Subsidies................................... .................... ....................... ............. 26
Article XVII
State Trading Enterprises ....... .................... ....................... .............27
Article XVIII
Governmental Assistance to Economic Development. .............28
Article XIX
Emergency Action on Imports of Particular Products. .............36
Article XX
General Exceptions. .................... ....................... .............37
Article XXI
Security Exceptions ................. .................... ....................... .............38
Article XXII
Consultation............................. .................... ....................... .............39
Article XXIII
Nullification of Impairment. .................... ....................... .............39
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
P
ART
III
PageArticle XXIVTerritorial Application _ Frontier Traffic _ Customs Unions and Free-trade Areas. ....................... .............41
Article XXVJoint Action by the Contracting Parties. ....................... .............44
Article XXVIAcceptance. Entry into Force and Registration ................ .............45
Article XXVIIWithholding or Withdrawal of Concessions .................... ............. 46
Article XXVIIIModification of Schedules. .................... ....................... .............46
Article XXVIII bis Tariff Negotiations .................. .................... ....................... .............48
Article XXIXThe Relation of this Agreement to the Havana
Charter................................. .................... ....................... .............49
Article XXXAmendments............................ .................... ....................... .............50
Article XXXIWithdrawal .............................. .................... ....................... .............51
Article XXXIIContracting Parties. .................... ....................... .............51
Article XXXIIIAccession .................................. .................... ....................... ............. 51
Article XXXIVAnnexes .................................... .................... ....................... .............
52
Article XXXVNon-application of the Agreement between Particular Contracing Parties ..... .................... ....................... PART
IV
T
RADE AND
D
EVELOPMENT
Article XXXVIPrinciples and Objectives ....... .................... ....................... .............53
Article XXXVIICommitments .......................... .................... ....................... ............. 55
Article XXXVIIIJoint Action .............................. .................... ....................... .............56
Annexes A to G _ Relating to Article I ................. .................... ....................... .............58
Annexe H_ Relating to Article XXVI ........ .................... ....................... .............60
Annexe I_ Notes and Supplementary Provisions ....... ....................... PROTOCOL OF PROVISIONAL APPLICATION. .................... ....................... APPENDIX. ........ ......... ..... .... ..... ........................................ .................... ....................... .............79
I.
Source and Effective Date of GATT Provisions. ....................... .............81
II.
Key to Abbreviations used in this Appendix and to Provisions in
Supplementary Agreements affecting
the Application of CertainPortions of the General Agreement. .................... ....................... .............89