International Trade Regulation Seminar:
World Trade Organization

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") was originally signed as part of the Bretton Woods system of agreements.  The GATT was followed by a series of Multilateral Trade Negotiations ("MTNs"):

The last round resulted in the World Trade Organization which is comprised of a number of legal texts including the Agreement establishing the WTO, GATT 1947, GATT 1994, GATS, TRIPS, TRIMS and the Dispute Settlement Agreement.  The membership of the WTO is constantly changing.


Legal Texts

There are many sources for the legal texts of the GATT and WTO, including:

  • Uruguay Round: Final Texts of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreements
    • Law Annex K4603 1987 A4 1994
  • Uruguay Round from the WTO web site, including the Final Acts
  • Basic Instruments and Selected Documents ("BISD") (Law Annex HF 1721 C76 ), also available on Lexis at INTLLAW:BISD.
  • Basic Documents of International Economic Law
    • Law Reserve K 3820 A35 B37 1990
  • The GATT Uruguay Round: A Negotiating History (1986-1992) (Law Annex K4603 1987 G38 1993 )
  • Status of Legal Instruments (Law Annex K 4603 1995 A46 W67 1996)
  • Analytical Index: Guide to GATT Law and Practice (Law Reserve K4603 1947 .A53 1995)(current through 1995) covers trade agreements through January 1, 1995. Includes documents with interpretation and commentary.
  • WTO Analytical Index: Guide to WTO Law and Practice (Law annex K4608 2003) Continues the Gatt Analytical Index, with coverage beginning in January 1, 1995. Also available online at the WTO web site. Learn more about the WTO Analytical Index.
  • GATT Digital Library (Stanford University Library) - includes over 30,000 public documents and 200 publications of the GATT.
  • The Legal Texts: The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, Law Annex K 4603 1987 A4 1999


The WTO Structure

The WTO structure includes the


WTO Documents

The documents produced by the WTO bodies are available in

  • GATT/WTO Documents (microfiche) (Law Micro KJE 5062 C65 A413) (1947-1996), located using the List & Index of Documents (Law Micro Index KJE 5062 C65 A413).
  • GATT Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) (Law Annex HF 1721 C76) cover through 1996, also available on Lexis under INTLLAW:BISD.
  • WTO web site (1995 to date; select materials 1986-1994)
  • WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) (Law Annex K4608 2003b), which so far consists of only one volume covering 1995.
  • See Juan M. Mesa, "Legal and Documentary Research at WTO: the New Documents On-Line Database", 4 Journal of International Economic Law 245 (2001), which describes the WTO online documents system, and provides guidance for effectively using the system.

Each WTO/GATT document, like a United Nations document, has a unique identifier called a document symbol. For example, the symbol WT/GC/M/1 :

  • the first portion of the document number indicates the collection, WT = World Trade Overseeing Body;
  • the second portion indicates the series, GC = the General Council;
  • the type of document is indicated by M = Minutes,
  • followed by a sequential number = 1.

Refer to the Guide to Documentation (Law Micro Indexes KJE 5062 C65 A413) accompanying the List & Index of Documents which explains the GATT/WTO system of document symbols.  Also, refer to the WTO's online document guide.

It is important to realize that many documents remain restricted for some period and therefore, may not be available. The WTO has specific procedures for derestricting documents. It may be possible to request panel reports that have not yet been published, by contacting the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Publications which track developments include:


Dispute Settlement

Dispute settlement is an important feature of the GATT and WTO.  The adopted panel reports under GATT 1947 as well as the new process established under the Dispute Settlement Understanding of the Uruguay Round, Panel and Appellate Body Reports, are published in:

  • World Trade and Arbitration Materials (Law Annex HF 1371 W68)
  • International Trade Law Reports (Law Annex K 3943 A495 I57)
  • Handbook of WTO Dispute Settlement (Law Annex K 4602.2 1991, updated)
  • World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Decisions: Bernan's Annotated Reporter (Law Annex K 4600 A495 W67)
  • LexisNexis (INTLAW:GTTWTO)
  • Westlaw (WTO-DEC)
  • WTO web site (1995- ) disputes can be found chronologically, by subject, and by country. (These are the preferred methods of searching for disputes, as the WTO now maintains an archival list of panel and appellate body reports on its web site.)
  • International Legal Materials (ILM) (Law Annex, HeinOnline and Westlaw (ILM)) includes selected dispute settlement reports.
  • Please note: Unadopted panel reports are not generally available.
  • Worldtradelaw.net: (access limited to BULaw students, access controlled by IP address).

Finding disputes to which the US is a party:

It may be helpful to consult a secondary source to understand how the dispute settlement process works, such as A Handbook on the WTO Dispute Settlement System, (Law Annex K 4610 H36 2004), published by the WTO.

Finally, it is important to remember that all the agreements are, at their base, agreements to fix tariffs.  The particular schedules of tariff levels and specific commitments a country has agreed to are usually contained separately from individual agreements.


Citing WTO Documents

Bluebook Rule 21.8.4 cover WTO and GATT material, within 6 subparts.

  • Subpart (a): WTO Panel and Appellate Body materials;
  • Subpart (b): GATT panel decisions;
  • Subpart (c): Reports from the WTO Secretariat;
  • Subpart (d): Founding agreements;
  • Subpart (e): Ministerial documents;
  • Subpart (f):  Other documents such as press releases.



Secondary Sources for WTO Research

  • Tariff Negotiations and Renegotiations under GATT and the WTO: Procedures and Practices (2001) (Law Annex K 4600 H63 2001)
  • World Trade Law: The GATT-WTO System, Regional Arrangements and U.S. Law (1998, with supplements) (Law Annex K 4600 B43 1998)
  • The World Trade Organization: Constitution and Jurisprudence (1998) (Law Annex K4603 1994 J33)
  • The World Trade Organization: Law Practice and Policy (2003) (Law Annex K4610 A31994 M38 2003)
  • Journal of International Economic Law (Law Annex HF 1371 J675): includes frequent lists of books on the WTO in the "Book Survey" section. Also available on Westlaw (JINTECL) and Lexis (2NDARY;UKECL).
  • World Trade Review: Economics, Law, International Institutions (Law Annex HF 1371 W686) View the table of contents.
  • Refer to a current list of WTO publications, then search for those titles in BU's online catalog.
  • Search the WTO Bibliography Database to find citations to related articles and books.
  • Bibliography of Trade Related Law Journal Articles from the United States International Trade Commission.


General International Secondary Sources

Looking at secondary sources, including law review articles and treatises and loose-leaf services, is a very helpful first step for any legal research project, including international trade research projects.

Legal periodicals include law review articles. The footnotes of law review articles provide a wealth of references for further research, and may even cite primary materials, such as legislation and case law. There are many resources for finding articles related to international trade.

  • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) (BULaw only): This database, secured by IP address, is available from any computer on the BU campus. The IFLP indexes articles about international and comparative law of countries other than United States, British Isles, and British Commonwealth.
  • European Legal Journals Index (Law Annex Ref KJC 6.5 E87) indexes articles from legal periodicals published in Europe.
  • Legal Journals Index (Law Annex Ref K33 .L44 through 1999 and via Westlaw (LJI)(1986 to date)), which indexes articles from legal periodicals published in the United Kingdom (member state of the EU) is likely to have articles on EU related topics.
  • Search the Legal Resource Index (1980 to present) on LexisNexis (LGLIND), Westlaw (LRI) or Legaltrac (BULaw only).
  • Search the full-text law review databases on LexisNexis (ALLREV) and Westlaw (JLR), most journals dating from the early 1990s.
  • Search law reviews available via HeinOnline (BU only), including older law review articles not available via LexisNexis and Westlaw. Articles are all in Adobe's Portable Document Format (.pdf).
  • PAIS: Public Affairs Information Service: This database contains citations to articles related to political science which can often be useful when looking at international issues (BU only).
  • Econlit: Includes abstracts of articles related to economics. (BU only)
  • Check the location of periodicals at the BU Pappas Law Library

 

Books, treatises and loose-leaf services

  • Search the BU online catalog by WORD to find materials related to international trade, including:
    • The Law of International Trade (Law Annex K3943 .H68 2002)
    • International Economic Law (Law Annex K3820 .L69 2002)
    • International Trade and Investment in a Nutshell (Law Reserve K3943 .F657 2000)

If you do not find the materials you require in the BU collection, you can search the catalogs of libraries from around the world through the online catalog Worldcat, then request to borrow the materials through interlibrary loan. Please consult a reference librarian with any question.


Web sites and databases for WTO and trade information


Other WTO Guides


Page maintained by Terri Gallego-O'Rourke
Last updated: December 2005