Glossary

Definitions of terms used throughout CountryReports.

This glossary contains 1,144 terms used throughout CountryReports — political, economic, cultural, historical, and geographic terminology referenced in country profiles and articles. Terms are drawn from authoritative sources including the Library of Congress.

GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade): An intergovernmental agency related to the United Nations and headquartered in Geneva, GATT was established in 1948 as a multilateral treaty with the aim of liberalizing and stabilizing world trade. GATT’s fundamental principles included nondiscriminatory trade among members, protection of domestic trade through the customs tariff, and agreement on tariff levels through negotiations among the contracting parties. The Uruguay Round of major multilateral trade negotiations, the eighth such round of negotiations, began at Punta del Este in September 1986.
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): An intergovernmental agency related to the United Nations and headquartered in Geneva, GATT was established in 1948 as a multilateral treaty with the aim of liberalizing and stabilizing world trade. GATT’s fundamental principles include nondiscriminatory trade among members, protection of domestic trade through the customs tariff, and agreement on tariff levels through negotiations among the contracting parties. The Uruguay Round of major multilateral trade negotiations, the eighth such round of negotiations, began at Punta del Este in September 1986 and was still underway at the end of 1991.; Source: Library of Congress
most-favored-nation status: Under the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), when one country accords another most-favored- nation status it agrees to extend to that country the same trade concessions, e.g., lower tariffs or reduced nontariff barriers, which it grants to any other recipients having most-favored- nation status. As of January 1992, Albania had not been a member of GATT and had not received most-favored-nation status from the United States.; Source: Library of Congress
Uruguay Round: The trade negotiating round, under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT--q.v.), concluded at the end of 1993. It pitted the United States against France and some other European Union (EU--q.v.) states over EU agricultural subsidies, with Germany in the middle. A compromise was reached, including agreement for establishing a World Trade Organization (WTO). On January 1, 1996, GATT was succeeded by the WTO.
World Trade Organization (WTO): Established 1995 as successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), aimed at liberalizing and securing international trade. Formed in the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, the WTO had 115 member nations in 1996, and fifteen others applied WTO rules to their trade policies. Administered by a general council, trade dispute negotiation panel, and secretariat.