INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAWS

International Trade Laws govern trade in a way that the states should have the power to restrict or regulate the trade of goods and services. In most of the states it’s governed by the World Trade Organisation, but some states are party to other trade agreements as well.

The World Trade Organization is the “only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations”. It is “Rules-Based, Member-Driven”, multinational organization, founded in 1994. The main goal of World Trade Organisation is to promote trade and commerce of various goods and services between different countries of the world, to generate employment, creating demand for products, to raise the level of living and an enormous and consistently developing real income. While promoting trade and commerce, WTO also promotes optimum use of resources with the aim of sustainable development, focusing on both preserving and protecting the environment and to upgrade the methods for doing as such in a way steady with their individual needs and concerns at the various level of economic development. The World Trade Organisation gives a “common institutional framework for the conduct of trade relations among its Members in matters related to” the WTO agreements.

States after joining WTO, undergo a “single undertaking” which acts as the acceptance for all the WTO agreements as a single indivisible package. In making that undertaking, members of WTO consent to the “Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation” and also to dozens of “covered agreements” controlling different grounds of trade between states. WTO Members, under these agreements, consented to the restrictions imposed on the tariff barriers such as import tax and non-tariff barriers, for example, licenses, local participation, standard measures etc. Members of WTO also commits for other provisions related to trade as well. For example, Intellectual Property Rights, Standard of product, customs valuation, agriculture, discounts etc. 

World Trade Organisation also has separate legal agreements exclusively dealing with solutions to various problems. For example, to deal with any tobacco-control related dispute, WTO has “General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade”, to deal with the issues related to technical barriers, WTO has “Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade” (TBT Agreement) and “Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights” (TRIPS) exclusively deals with disputes related to Intellectual Property Rights.

Preferential Trade Agreements: Some states are not only the member of WTO but also are parties to other trade agreements. These agreements are also called as Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) which are usually bilateral or trilateral or regional agreements. States which are the member to Preferential Trade Agreements generally give preference to each other by reducing or exempting the tariff barriers (import duties) and by increasing restrictions or obligations on the parties more than what is imposed under WTO agreements. For example, having a high level of intellectual property protection better than what is provided under TRIPS. PTAs may also have the provision of internal dispute resolution based on the structure and procedure followed by the World Trade Organisation.