It's really very easy to understand the concept of GATT to all my friends who still having doubt in GATT and GATS

1. The acronym “GATT” standsforthe “General AgreementonTariffsandTrade”.It isan agreement
betweenStatesaimingateliminatingdiscriminationandreducingtariffsandothertrade barrierswith
respectto trade ingoods.
The GATT wasoriginally,and isstill today,onlyconcernedwithtrade ingoods,althoughitsmain
principlesnowalsoapplytotrade inservices,andintellectual propertyrightsasdealtwithrespectively
by the General AgreementonTrade inServices andthe TRIPSAgreement. The GATTis a WTO
agreementthatdealsexclusivelywithtrade ingoods,butitisnot the onlyone.
The GATT wasconcludedin1947 and isnow referredtoas the GATT 1947. The GATT 1947 was last
amended,lastin1965. Later on, additional disciplineswereagreedtoinside agreements,suchasthe
TokyoRoundagreements,whichdidnotamendthe GATT1947 as such,but only,boundthe GATT
ContractingPartiesthatbecame a party to thisside agreements.The GATT1947 was terminatedin
1996. However,the provisionsof the GATT1947 as well asall legal instrumentsconcludedunderthe
GATT 1947 are integratedintothe GATT1994, subjectto clarificationsbroughtaboutbyUnderstandings
whichalsoformintegral partsof the GATT 1994.
For international trade incommercialservices,January1st1995 markeda milestoneinhistory.After
nearly8 yearsof negotiating,the GeneralAgreementonTrade inServices(GATS) came intoeffect.It
was aimedatsettinggloballyacceptedrulesandstandardsforthe cross-bordertrade incommercial
servicessuchastelecommunication,banking,insurance,tourismormanagementconsulting.The rapid
growthof the service sectorsince the 1970’s requiredalegal frameworkfortrade inservicesthat
appearsevenmore importanttodayas“… the servicessectoristhe largestandfastest-growingsectorof
the worldeconomy.
However,fromthe veryfirstdayof the ideaabouta rulingaccord on services,criticshave risentheir
massive doubtsaboutitsbenefitsonworldeconomicwelfare.Whileadvocatesof the GATSpromote
thisagreementasmostvaluable inbothlegal andeconomicdimensions2,skeptical opponentscondemn
it as “globalization’slastfrontier”towardsatotallycommercialized,profit-drivensociety3.Butwhois
rightin that issue?DoesGATSreallyenforce andfacilitate fairinternational trade inservicesandinturn
increase prosperityinthe majorityof participatingeconomies?Ordoesthe agreementcontribute toa
furthermercilesscommercialization,eveninverysensitive areasof publicservicesasmanypeople tend
to fear?DoesGATS make the global marketplace afairerandmore efficientone ordoessocietyhave to
pay an evenhigherprice thanitgetsinturn?
Thisspecial researchpaperisintendedtoexamine the prosandconsof the General Agreementon
Trade inServices.Itattemptstogive a descriptionof itsmajorfeaturesandanassessmentof itsmost
significantimpacts - advantageousorthreateningorevenboth - inorderto figure outthe strengthsand
weaknesses of the contract.At first,some glancesatrecenthistoryaboutthe journeyfromthe goods-
relatedpredecessorof the GATSto the World Trade Organizationare carriedout (section2).