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General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: Multilateral Trade Negotiations Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

Abstract

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Type
Treaties and Agreements
Copyright
Copyright © 1994

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Footnotes

page 982 note *

[Reproduced from the text supplied by the GATT Secretariat. The Introductory Note was prepared for International Legal Materials by Amelia Porges, I.L.M. Corresponding Editor for GATT and formerly Senior Legal Officer, GATT Secretariat.

[The complete text of the April 15, 1994 Final Act, the Agreement on Government Procurement, the International Bovine Meat Agreement and the decisions adopted at Marrakesh has been reprinted by the U.S. Government Printing Office and are available from the National Technical Information Service for $32 (order no. PB94-173937; telephone (703) 487-4650, or (703) 553-6847 for rush service). The Uruguay Round market access schedules for the U.S. are available from the same source, as well as all texts and the U.S. schedules on diskette. Each of these publications can be downloaded from the FedWorld electronic bulletin board for the paper-copy price using a credit card; paper or diskette copies can also be ordered on-line (modem: (703) 321-8020, Internet: fedworld.gov (192.239.92.201)). The text of the Uruguay Round legal instruments in 31 volumes, including all three official language texts and the complete market access schedules of all participants, is available from the GATT Secretariat Publications Office for 3,750 Swiss francs: telephone (+41) 22 739-5208, fax (+41) 22 739- 5458.]

References

page 1126 note 1 During the legal drafting process, it was agreed that the French-and Spanish-language texts of the GATT incorporated into GATT 1994 had to be consistent with the English-language text and with the terminology used in other texts in the Final Act. Accordingly, a list of rectifications to these texts of the GATT was agreed by the TNC and adopted in paragraph 2(c) of the “GATT 1994” text. On May 10, 1994 the GATT Council (acting for the CONTRACTING PARTIES) decided to initiate procedures for correction of the French-language text and authentication of a corrected Spanish-language text of the GATT.

page 1127 note 2 Footnote 1 to paragraph l(b)(iii) refers to a list of waivers under GATT Article XXV:5 which appeared in the December Final Act text [33 I.L.M. 24 (1994)]. This list included all waivers in force as of December 1993, except for the 1955 waiver for Section 22 of the United States Agricultural Adjustment Act (BISD 3S/32); it was corrected in March 1994 to add a 1957 waiver granted to Cuba (BISD 6S/27), and is to be finally updated by the first session of the Ministerial Conference of the WTO.

page 1128 note 3 Decision on “Interpretation of Article XXXV”, L/7435. The December text was adopted without substantive change.

page 1129 note 4 GATT document number L/7458, Decision of May 10, 1994 on “Arrangements for the Continued Operation of the Mechanism”.

page 1129 note 5 Decision of February 22, 1994 on Extension of the April 1989 Decision on Improvements to the GATT Dispute Settlement Rules and Procedures, L/7416. The text which was in the December Final Act appears at 33 I.L.M. 152 (1994) and was adopted almost verbatim.

page 1130 note 6 Twenty-five least-developed countries participated in the Uruguay Round; under the Decision they will retain the one-year grace period for schedules even if the WTO Agreement enters into force before April 1995.

page 1131 note 7 Article XXVI:5(c) (GATT 1947) provides for succession to contracting party status by governments attaining independence or commercial autonomy, upon sponsorship by the former metropolitan government. 60 governments became contracting parties under Article XXVI:5(c) before April 15, 1994. A complete list appears at p. 1052-1053 of the Analytical Index (Guide to GATT Law and Practice), sixth ed. (GATT, 1994).

page 1131 note 8 Twenty-one governments are now negotiating accession to GATT or resumption of contracting party status: Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Panama, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Chinese Taipei, Ukraine. Fourteen governments can succeed to contracting party status under Article XXVI:5(c) (GATT 1947) upon request: Angola, Bahamas, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Yemen.

page 1148 note 1 The body concerned shall be deemed to have decided by consensus on a matter submitted for its consideration, if no Member, present at the meeting when the decision is taken, formally objects to the proposed decision.

page 1148 note 2 The number of votes of the European Communities and their member States shall in no case exceed the number of the member States of the European Communities.

page 1148 note 3 Decisions by the General Council when convened as the Dispute Settlement Body shall be taken only in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding.

page 1148 note 4 A decision to grant a waiver in respect of any obligation subject to a transition period or a period for staged implementation that the requesting Member has not performed by the end of the relevant period shall be taken only by consensus. The terms “country” or “countries” as used in this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements are to be understood to include any separate customs territory Member of the WTO. In the case of a separate customs territory Member of the WTO, where an expression in this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements is qualified by the term “national”, such expression shall be read as pertaining to that customs territory, unless otherwise specified.

page 1154 note 1 The waivers covered by this provision are listed in footnote 7 on pages 11 and 12 in Part II of document MTN/FA of 15 December 1993 and in MTN/FA/Corr.6 of 21 March 1994. The Ministerial Conference shall establish at its first session a revised list of waivers covered by this provision that adds any waivers granted under GATT 1947 after 15 December 1993 and before the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement, and deletes the waivers which will have expired by that time.

page 1158 note 1 Nothing in this Understanding is intended to modify the rights and obligations of Members under Articles XII or XVXILB of GATT 1994. The provisions of Articles XXD. and XXm of GATT 1994 as elaborated and applied by the Dispute Settlement Understanding may be invoked with respect to any matters arising from the application of restrictive import measures taken for balance-of-payments purposes.

page 1171 note 1 This condition is understood in terms of number of sectors, volume of trade affected and modes of supply. In order to meet this condition, agreements should not provide for the a priori exclusion of any mode of supply.

page 1172 note 2 Typically, such integration provides citizens of the parties concerned with a right of free entry to the employment markets of the parties and includes measures concerning conditions of pay, other conditions of employment and social benefits.

page 1173 note 3 The term “relevant international organizations” refers to international bodies whose membership is open to the relevant bodies of at least all Members of the WTO.

page 1176 note 4 It is understood that the procedures under paragraph 5 shall be the same as the GATT 1994 procedures.

page 1177 note 5 The public order exception may be invoked only where a genuine and sufficiently serious threat is posed to one of the fundamental interests of society.

page 1178 note 6 Measures that are aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective imposition or collection of direct taxes include measures taken by a Member under its taxation system which: (i) apply to non-resident service suppliers in recognition of the fact that the tax obligation of non-residents is determined with respect to taxable items sourced or located in the Member's territory; or (ii) apply to non-residents in order to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes in the Member's territory; or (iii) apply to non-residents or residents in order to prevent the avoidance or evasion of taxes, including compliance measures; or (iv) apply to consumers of services supplied in or from the territory of another Member in order to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes on such consumers derived from sources in the Member's territory; or (v) distinguish service suppliers subject to tax on worldwide taxable items from other service suppliers, in recognition of the difference in the nature of the tax base between them; or (vi) determine, allocate or apportion income, profit, gain, loss, deduction or credit of resident persons or branches, or between related persons or branches of the same person, in order to safeguard the Member's tax base. Tax terms or concepts in paragraph (d) of Article XIV and in this footnote are determined according to tax definitions and concepts, or equivalent or similar definitions and concepts, under the domestic law of the Member taking the measure

page 1179 note 7 A future work programme shall determine how, and in what time-frame, negotiations on such multilateral disciplines will be conducted.

page 1179 note 8 If a Member undertakes a market-access commitment in relation to the supply of a service through the mode of supply referred to in subparagraph 2(a) of Article I and if the cross-border movement of capiul is an essential part of the service itself, that Member is thereby committed to allow such movement of capital. If a Member undertakes a market-access commitment in relation to the supply of a service through the mode of supply referred to in subparagraph 2(c) of Article I, it is thereby committed to allow related transfers of capital into its territory.

page 1179 note 9 Subparagraph 2(c) does not cover measures of a Member which limit inputs for the supply of services.

page 1180 note 10 Specific commitments assumed under this Article shall not be construed to require any Member to compensate for any inherent competitive disadvantages which result from the foreign character of the relevant services or service suppliers.

page 1183 note 11 With respect to agreements on the avoidance of double taxation which exist on the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement, such a matter may be brought before the Council for Trade in Services only with the consent of both parties to such an agreement.

page 1185 note 12 Where the service is not supplied directly by a juridical person but through other forms of commercial presence such i a branch or a representative office, the service supplier (i.e. the juridical person) shall, nonetheless, through such presence : accorded the treatment provided for service suppliers under the Agreement. Such treatment shall be extended to the presence rough which the service is supplied and need not be extended to any other parts of the supplier located outside the territory here the service is supplied.

page 1188 note 1 The sole fact of requiring a visa for natural persons of certain Members and not for those of others shall not be regarded as nullifying or impairing benefits under a specific commitment.

page 1193 note 1 This paragraph is understood to mean that each Member shall ensure that the obligations of this Annex are applied with respect to suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks and services by whatever measures are necessary.

page 1194 note 2 The term “non-discriminatory” is understood to refer to most-favoured-nation and national treatment as defined in the Agreement, as well as to reflect sector-specific usage of the term to mean “terms and conditions no less favourable than those accorded to any other user of like public telecommunications transport networks or services under like circumstances”.

page 1199 note 1 When “nationals” are referred to in this Agreement, they shall be deemed, in the case of a separate customs territory Member of the WTO, to mean persons, natural or legal, who are domiciled or who have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in that customs territory.

page 1199 note 2 In this Agreement, ‘Paris Convention” refers to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property; “Paris Convention (1967)” refers to the Stockholm Act of this Convention of 14 July 1967. “Berne Convention” refers to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works; “Berne Convention (1971)” refers to the Paris Act of this Convention of 24 July 1971. “Rome Convention” refers to the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, adopted at Rome on 26 October 1961. “Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits” (JPIC Treaty) refers to the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits, adopted at Washington on 26 May 1989. “WTO Agreement” refers to the Agreement Establishing the WTO.

page 1199 note 3 For the purposes of Articles 3 and 4, “protection* shall include matters affecting the availability, acquisition, scope, maintenance and enforcement of intellectual property rights as well as those matters affecting the use of intellectual property rights specifically addressed in this Agreement.

page 1208 note 5 For the purposes of this Article, the terms “inventive step” and “capable of industrial application” may be deemed by a Member to be synonymous with the terms “non-obvious” and “useful” respectively.

page 1208 note 6 This right, like all other rights conferred under this Agreement in respect of the use, sale, importation or other distribution of goods, is subject to the provisions of Article 6

page 1209 note 7 Other use” refers to use other than that allowed under Article 30.

page 1210 note 8 It is understood that those Members which do not have a system of original grant may provide that the term of protection shall be computed from the filing date in the system of original grant.

page 1211 note 9 The term “right holder” in this Section shall be understood as having the same meaning as the term “holder of the right” in the IPIC Treaty.

page 1212 note 10 For the purpose of this provision, “a manner contrary to honest commercial practices” shall mean at least practices such as breach of contract, breach of confidence and inducement to breach, and includes the acquisition of undisclosed information by third parties who knew, or were grossly negligent in failing to know, that such practices were involved in the acquisition.

page 1214 note 11 For the purpose of this Part, the term “right holder” includes federations and associations having legal standing to assert such rights

page 1217 note 12 Where a Member has dismantled substantially all controls over movement of goods across its border with another Member with which it forms part of a customs union, it shall not be required to apply the provisions of this Section at that border.

page 1217 note 13 It is understood that there shall be no obligation to apply such procedures to imports of goods put on the market in another country by or with the consent of the right holder, or to goods in transit.

page 1217 note l4 For the purposes of this Agreement: “counterfeit trademark goods” shall mean any goods, including packaging, bearing without authorization a trademark which is identical to the trademark validly registered in respect of such goods, or which cannot be distinguished in its essential aspects from such a trademark, and which thereby infringes the rights of the owner of the trademark in question under the law of the country of importation; “pirated copyright goods” shall mean any goods which are copies made without the consent of the right holder or person duly authorized by the right holder in the country of production and which are made directly or indirectly from an article where the making of that copy would have constituted an infringement of a copyright or a related right under the law of the country of importation.

page 1227 note 1 The DSB shall be deemed to have decided by consensus on a matter submitted for its consideration, if no Member, present at the meeting of the DSB when the decision is taken, formally objects to the proposed decision.

page 1228 note 2 This paragraph shall also be applied to disputes on which panel reports have not been adopted or fully implemented,

page 1228 note 3 Where the provisions of any other covered agreement concerning measures taken by regional or local governments or authorities within the territory of a Member contain provisions different from the provisions of this paragraph, the provisionsof such other covered agreement shall prevail.

page 1229 note 4 The corresponding consultation provisions in the covered agreements are listed hereunder: Agreement on Agriculture, Article 19; Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, paragraph 1 of Article 11; Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, paragraph 4 of Article 8; Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, paragraph 1 of Article 14; Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures, Article 8; Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994, paragraph 2 of Article 17; Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT 1994, paragraph 2 of Article 19; Agreement on Preshipment Inspection, Article 7; Agreement on Rules of Origin, Article 7; Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures, Article 6; Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Article 30; Agreement on Safeguards, Article 14; Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Article 64.1; and any corresponding consultation provisions in Plurilateral Trade Agreements as determined by the competent bodies of each Agreement and as notified to the DSB

page 1230 note 5 If the complaining party so requests, a meeting of the DSB shall be convened for this purpose within IS days of the request, provided that at least 10 days’ advance notice of the meeting is given

page 1235 note 7 If a meeting of the DSB is not scheduled within this period at a time that enables the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 4 of Article 16 to be met, a meeting of the DSB shall be held for this purpose.

page 1237 note 8 If a meeting of the DSB is not scheduled during this period, such a meeting of the DSB shall be held for this purpose.

page 1237 note 9 The “Member concerned” is the party to the dispute to which the panel or Appellate Body recommendations are directed.

page 1237 note l0 With respect to recommendations in cases not involving a violation of GATT 1994 or any other covered agreement, see Article 26.

page 1238 note 11 If a meeting of the DSB is not scheduled during this period, such a meeting of the DSB shall be held for this purpose. 1

page 1238 note 12 If the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator within ten days after referring the matter to arbitration, the arbitrator shall be appointed by the Director-General within ten days, after consulting the parties.

page 1238 note 13 The expression “arbitrator” shall be interpreted as referring either to an individual or a group.

page 1240 note l4 The list in document MTN.GNS/W/120 identifies eleven sectors.

page 1241 note 15 The expression'arbitrator” shall be interpreted as referring either to an individual or a group.

page 1241 note 16 The expression “arbitrator” shall be interpreted as referring either to an individual or a group or to the members of the original panel when serving in the capacity of arbitrator.

page 1241 note 17 Where the provisions of any covered agreement concerning measures taken by regional or local governments or authorities within the territory of a Member contain provisions different from the provisions of this paragraph, the provisions of such covered agreement shall prevail.

page 1251 note 1 This list does not alter existing notification requirements in the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement or, where applicable, the Plurilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement.