|
accounting rate In telecoms, the charge made by
one country’s telephone
network operator for calls originating in another country.
ad valorem
tariff A tariff rate charged as percentage of the price.
Agenda
21 The Agenda for the 21st Century — a declaration from
the 1992 Earth Summit (UN Conference on the Environment and Development)
held in
Rio de Janeiro.
agricultural product Defined
for the coverage of the WTO’s Agriculture Agreement, by the agreement’s
Annex 1. This excludes, for example, fish and forestry products.
It includes various
degrees of processing for different commodities.
anti-dumping duties GATT’s
Article 6 allows anti-dumping duties to be imposed on goods that
are deemed to be exported below their normal prices, thus causing
injury to producers of competing products in the importing country.
These duties are equal to the difference between the goods’ export
price and their normal value, if dumping causes injury.
Appellate
Body An independent seven-person body that considers appeals
in WTO disputes. When one or more parties to the dispute appeals,
the Appellate
Body reviews the findings in panel reports.
Article XX (i.e. 20)
A GATT article listing allowed exceptions to the trade rules.
ATC The WTO
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, which integrated trade in this
sector back to GATT rules on 1 January 2005. The ATC expired
on 1 January 2005.
AVE Ad-valorem equivalent:
a specific or other non-ad-valorem duty that is converted to its
percentage or
ad valorem
equivalent.
automaticity In disputes,
the “automatic” chronological
progression for settling trade disputes in regard to panel establishment,
terms of reference, composition
and adoption procedures.
Basel Convention A multilateral
environmental agreement dealing with hazardous waste.
Berne Convention A
treaty, administered by WIPO,
for the protection of the rights of authors in their literary and artistic
works.
binding, bound See “tariff binding”
BIT Bilateral
investment treaties
border protection Any
measure which acts to restrain imports
at point of entry.
box In agriculture,
a category of domestic support. Green box: supports considered
not to distort trade and therefore permitted with no limits. Blue
box: permitted
supports linked to production, but subject to production limits, and therefore
minimally trade-distorting. Amber box: supports considered to distort trade
and therefore subject to reduction commitments.
BSE Bovine spongiform
encephalopathy,
or “mad cow disease”.
BTA Border tax adjustment
CAP Common
Agricultural Policy — The EU’s comprehensive system of production
targets and marketing mechanisms designed to manage agricultural trade
within the EU and with the rest of the world.
carry forward When
an exporting country
uses part of the following year’s quota during the current year.
carry
over When an exporting country utilizes the previous year’s
unused quota.
CBD Convention on Biological
Diversity. It aims for the equitable sharing of
benefits arising
out of the utilization of genetic resources, and includes provisions
concerning the access to genetic resources and the transfer of relevant
technologies.
circumvention Getting
around commitments in the WTO such as commitments to limit agricultural
export subsidies. Includes avoiding quotas and other restrictions by
altering the country of origin of a product; measures taken by exporters
to evade
anti-dumping or countervailing duties.
CITES Convention on International
Trade in Endangered
Species. A multilateral environmental agreement.
Codex Alimentarius FAO/WHO
commission that deals with international standards on food safety.
commercial
presence Having
an office, branch, or subsidiary in a foreign country. In services, “mode
3” (see “modes
of delivery”).
compound tariff A tariff
expressed as a combination of an “ad
valorem” duty and a “specific” duty, added together or one subtracted
from the other.
compulsory licensing For
patents: when the authorities license
companies or individuals other than the patent owner to use the rights
of the patent — to
make, use, sell or import a product under patent (i.e. a patented product
or a product made by a patented process) — without the permission of
the patent owner. Allowed under the WTO’s TRIPS (intellectual property)
Agreement provided certain procedures and conditions are fulfilled. See
also government
use.
counterfeit Unauthorized
representation of a registered trademark carried on goods identical
or similar to goods for which the trademark is registered,
with a view to
deceiving the purchaser into believing that he/she is buying the original
goods.
countervailing
measures Action taken by the importing country, usually in the
form of increased duties, to offset subsidies given to producers or exporters
in the exporting
country.
CTD The WTO Committee
on Trade and Development
CTE The WTO Committee
on Trade and Environment.
CTG Council for Trade
in Goods — oversees
WTO agreements on goods.
customs union Members
apply a common external tariff (e.g. the European Union).
deficiency
payment A type of agricultural domestic support, paid
by governments to producers
of certain commodities and based on the difference between a target price
and the domestic market price or loan rate, whichever is the less.
de
minimis A
minimal
(i.e. small) permitted amount: for trade-distorting domestic support
in agriculture (of the amber box type), developed countries are allowed
up
to 5% of their
agricultural production, developing countries up to 10%.
distortion When
prices and production
are higher or lower than levels that would usually exist in a competitive
market.
domestic support (Sometimes “internal
support”.) In agriculture,
any domestic subsidy or other measure which acts to maintain producer
prices at levels above
those prevailing in international trade; direct payments to producers,
including deficiency payments, and input and marketing cost reduction
measures available
only for agricultural production.
DSB Dispute Settlement
Body — when the
WTO General Council meets to settle trade disputes.
DSU Dispute Settlement
Understanding, the WTO agreement
that covers
dispute settlement — in full, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures
Governing the Settlement of Disputes.
dumping Occurs when goods
are exported at a price
less than their normal value, generally meaning they are exported for
less than they are sold in the domestic market or third-country markets,
or
at less than
production cost.
EEP Export Enhancement
Programme — programme of US export
subsidies given generally to compete with subsidized agricultural exports
from the EU
on certain export
markets.
electronic commerce The
production, advertising, sale and distribution of products via
telecommunications networks.
EST Environmentally-sound
technology.
EST&P Environmentally-sound
technology and products.
ex ante, ex post Before
and after a measure is applied. exhaustion In intellectual
property protection,
the principle that once a product has been sold on a market, the intellectual
property owner no longer has any rights over it. (A debate among WTO
member governments is whether this applies to products put on the market
under
compulsory licences.)
Countries’ laws vary as to whether the right continues to be exhausted
if the product is imported from one market into another, which affects
the owner’s
rights over trade in the protected product. See also parallel imports.
export-performance
measure Requirement that a certain quantity of production must
be exported.
FDI Foreign direct investment.
food
security Concept which discourages opening
the domestic market to foreign agricultural products on the principle
that a country
must be as self-sufficient as possible for its basic dietary needs.
Framework (Sometimes
Agreed Framework) Annexes of General Council decision of 1 August
2004 outlining key points of modalities in agriculture and non-agricultural
market access.
free trade area (FTA) Trade
within the group is duty-free but members
set their own tariffs on imports from non-members (e.g. NAFTA).
free-rider A casual
term used to infer that a country which does not make any trade
concessions, profits, nonetheless, from tariff cuts and concessions made
by other countries
in negotiations under the most-favoured-nation principle.
GATS The WTO’s
General Agreement on Trade in Services.
GATT General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade, which has been superseded as an international
organization
by the WTO. An updated General Agreement is now the WTO agreement governing
trade in goods. GATT 1947: The official legal term
for the old (pre-1994) version of
the GATT. GATT 1994: The official legal term for new
version of the General Agreement, incorporated into the WTO, and including
GATT 1947.
general
obligations Obligations
which should be applied to all services sectors at the entry into force
of the GATS agreement. geographical indications Place names (or words
associated with
a place) used to identify products (for example, “Champagne”, “Tequila” or “Roquefort”)
which have a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic because
they come from that place.
government use For patents:
when the government itself
uses or authorizes other persons to use the rights over a patented product
or process, for government purposes, without the permission of the patent
owner. See also compulsory licensing.
GSP Generalized System
of Preferences — programmes
by developed countries granting preferential tariffs to imports from
developing countries.
Harmonized
System An international nomenclature developed by the
World Customs Organization, which is arranged in six-digit codes allowing
all participating countries
to classify
traded goods on a common basis. Beyond the six-digit level, countries
are free to introduce national distinctions for tariffs and many other
purposes.
harmonizing
formula Used in tariff negotiations for much steeper reductions
in higher tariffs than in lower tariffs, the final rates being “harmonized” i.e.
closer together. Examples include “Swiss formula” and “tiered formula”.
initial
commitments Trade liberalizing commitments in services which
members are
prepared to make
early
on.
integration programme In
textiles and clothing, the phasing out of Multifibre Arrangement
restrictions in four
stages starting on 1 January
1995 and ending
on 1 January 2005.
intellectual property rights Ownership
of ideas, including literary and artistic works (protected by copyright),
inventions (protected
by patents), signs for distinguishing goods of an enterprise (protected
by trademarks)
and other elements of industrial property.
internal support See “domestic
support” (agriculture).
International
Office of Epizootics (Now known in English as the World Organization
for Animal
Health.) Deals with international standards concerning animal health.
IPRs Intellectual
property rights.
ITA Information Technology
Agreement, or formally the
Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products.
ITC The International
Trade Centre, originally established by the old GATT and is now
operated
jointly by the WTO and the UN, the latter acting through the UN Conference
on Trade
and
Development (UNCTAD). Focal point for technical cooperation on trade
promotion of developing countries.
July Package Package of
Doha Development Agenda
issues negotiated in July 2004 and agreed by the General Council on 1
August 2004.
The package sealed key issues that were deadlocked at the 2003 Cancún
Ministerial Conference. Included frameworks or outlines of modalities
in agriculture
and non-agricultural market access.
LCA Life cycle analysis — a
method of assessing whether a good or service is environmentally
friendly.
LDCs Least-developed
countries.
linear formula Tariff
reduction formula in the form of a linear function. The simplest form
is a straight percentage cut e.g. a cut of 80% or 32%. Linear formulas
have
less
of a narrowing
effect on the final range of tariffs.
Lisbon Agreement Treaty,
administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),
for the protection
of geographical
indications and their international registration.
local-content requirement Demand
that the investor purchase a certain amount of local materials
for incorporation in the product.
Madrid Agreement Treaty,
administered by
the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), for the repression of false or deceptive
indications of source on goods.
mailbox In intellectual
property, refers to the requirement
of the TRIPS Agreement applying to WTO members which do not yet provide
product patent protection for pharmaceuticals and for agricultural chemicals.
Since
1
January 1995, when the WTO agreements entered into force, these countries
have to establish a means by which applications of patents for these
products can
be filed. (An additional requirement says they must also put in place
a system for granting “exclusive marketing rights” for the products whose
patent applications have been filed.)
MEA Multilateral environmental
agreement.
MFA Multifibre
Arrangement (1974-94), under which countries whose markets are disrupted
by increased imports
of textiles and clothing from another country were able to negotiate
quota restrictions.
MFN Most-favoured-nation
treatment (GATT Article 1, GATS
Article 2 and TRIPS
Article 4), the principle of not discriminating between trading partners.
mixed
tariff A tariff expressed as a conditional combination
of an “ad
valorem” duty
and a “specific” duty, one applying below a limit, the other applying
above it.
modality A way to proceed.
In WTO negotiations, modalities set broad
outlines — such
as formulas or approaches for tariff reductions — for final commitments.
modes
of delivery How international trade in services is supplied
and consumed. Mode
1: cross border supply; mode 2: consumption abroad; mode 3: foreign commercial
presence; and mode 4: movement of natural persons.
Montreal Protocol A
multilateral environmental agreement dealing with the depletion
of the
earth’s ozone layer.
multifunctionality Idea that agriculture
has many functions in addition to producing food and fibre, e.g.
environmental
protection, landscape
preservation, rural
employment, food security, etc. See non-trade concerns.
multi-modal Transportation
using more than one mode. In the GATS negotiations, essentially door-to-door
services that include international shipping.
national schedules In
services, the equivalent of tariff schedules in GATT, laying down
the commitments
accepted — voluntarily
or through negotiation — by WTO members.
national treatment The
principle of giving others the same treatment as one’s own nationals.
GATT Article 3 requires that imports be treated no less favourably
than the same or
similar domestically-produced
goods once they have passed customs. GATS Article 17 and TRIPS Article
3 also deal with national treatment for services and intellectual property
protection.
natural persons People,
as distinct from juridical persons such as companies and organizations.
non-ad-valorem
tariff A tariff
that is not expressed
as
a percentage of the price or value. Can be “specific”, “compound”, “mixed” or
some other form. These other forms can be determined by complex technical
factors; for example, the duty can be based on the percentage content
of the agricultural
component (sugar, milk, alcohol content, etc.) or its strength (e.g.
the degree of sweetness).
non-agricultural products In
the non-agricultural market access
negotiations, products not covered by Annex 1 of the Agriculture Agreement.
Fish
and forestry products are therefore non-agricultural, along with industrial
products in general.
non-linear formula For
tariff reductions (or subsidy cuts), a formula
in the form of a mathematical function that is non-linear, usually designed
so that higher tariffs have proportionately steeper cuts. The “Swiss
formula” is
a particular kind of non-linear formula.
non-trade concerns Similar
to multifunctionality. The preamble of the Agriculture Agreement
specifies
food security and environmental
protection as examples. Also cited by members are rural development and
employment, and poverty alleviation.
NTBs Non-tariff barriers,
such as quotas, import
licensing systems, sanitary regulations, prohibitions, etc. Same as “non-tariff
measures”.
NTMs Non-tariff measures,
such as quotas, import licensing systems, sanitary regulations,
prohibitions, etc.
Same as “non-tariff
barriers”.
nuisance
tariff Tariff so low that it costs the government more to collect
it than the revenue
it generates.
nullification and impairment Damage
to a country’s benefits
and expectations from its WTO membership through another country’s change
in its trade regime or failure to carry out its WTO obligations.
offer In a negotiation,
a country’s proposal for its own further liberalization,
usually an offer to improve access to its markets.
panel In the WTO dispute
settlement procedure, an independent body established by the Dispute
Settlement Body, usually
consisting of three experts, to examine and issue recommendations on
a particular dispute in the light of WTO provisions.
parallel imports When
a product made
legally (i.e. not pirated) abroad is imported without the permission
of the intellectual property right-holder (e.g. the trademark or patent
owner).
Some countries allow
this, others do not.
Paris Convention Treaty,
administered by the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), for the protection of industrial intellectual
property, i.e. patents, utility models, industrial designs, etc.
peace
clause Provision
in Article 13 of the Agriculture Agreement saying agricultural subsidies
committed under the agreement cannot be challenged under other WTO agreements,
in particular
the Subsidies Agreement and GATT. Expired at the end of 2003.
piracy Unauthorized
copying of materials protected by intellectual property rights
(such as
copyright, trademarks, patents, geographical indications, etc) for commercial
purposes
and unauthorized commercial dealing in copied materials.
PPM Process
and production method.
price undertaking Undertaking
by an exporter to raise
the export price
of the product to avoid the possibility of an anti-dumping duty.
product-mandating Requirement
that the investor export to certain countries or region.
protocols Additional
agreements attached to the GATS. The Second Protocol deals with
the
1995 commitments on financial services. The Third Protocol deals with
movement of natural persons.
prudence, prudential In
financial services, terms used
to describe an objective of market regulation by authorities to protect
investors and depositors, to avoid instability or crises.
PSI Preshipment
inspection — the practice of employing specialized private
companies to check shipment details of goods ordered overseas — i.e.
price, quantity, quality, etc.
QRs Quantitative restrictions — specific
limits on the quantity or value of goods that can be imported (or exported)
during a specific time period.
reform
process/programme The Uruguay Round Agriculture Agreement
starts a reform process. It sets out a first step, in the process, i.e.
a programme for reducing subsidies
and protection
and other reforms. Current negotiations launched under Article 20 are
for continuing the reform process.
Rome Convention Treaty,
administered by
the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and International Labour Organization
(ILO),
for the
protection of the works of performers, broadcasting organizations and
producers of phonograms.
rules of origin Laws,
regulations and administrative procedures which determine a product’s
country of origin. A decision by a customs authority on origin
can determine whether a shipment
falls within a quota limitation,
qualifies
for a
tariff preference or is affected by an anti-dumping duty. These rules
can vary from country to country.
S&D (Sometimes “SDT”.) “Special and
differential treatment” provisions
for developing countries. Contained in several WTO agreements.
safeguard
measures Action taken
to protect a specific industry from an unexpected build-up of imports — generally
governed by Article 19 of GATT. The Agriculture Agreement and Textiles
and Clothing Agreement have different specific types of safeguards: “special
safeguards” in
agriculture, and “transitional safeguards” in textiles and clothing.
See also SSM.
schedule In general, a
WTO member’s list of commitments
on market access (bound tariff rates, access to services markets). Goods
schedules can
include commitments
on agricultural subsidies and domestic support. Services commitments
include bindings on national treatment. Also: “schedule of concessions”, “schedule
of specific commitments”.
schedule of concessions List
of bound tariff rates.
sensitive products In
the agriculture negotiations, all countries will be
allowed extra
flexibility in market access for these products.
Singapore issues Four
issues introduced to the WTO agenda at the December 1996 Ministerial
Conference in Singapore: trade and investment, trade and competition
policy, transparency
in government
procurement, and trade facilitation. Currently only trade facilitation
is
part
of the negotiations.
SP Special products: products
for which developing countries are to be given extra flexibility
in market
access for food
and livelihood
security and rural development. Agreed in the 1 August 2004 agriculture
framework.
specific
commitments See “schedule”.
specific tariff A tariff
rate charged as fixed amount per quantity such as $100 per ton.
See “ad valorem tariff”.
SPS Sanitary and phytosanitary
measures or regulations — implemented
by governments to protect human, animal and plant life and health, and
to help ensure
that
food is safe
for consumption.
SSM Special safeguard
mechanism: in the agriculture negotiations, a safeguard that developing
countries
will be able to use
to deal with
import surges, price falls or both.
subsidy There are two
general types of subsidies:
export and domestic. An export subsidy is a benefit conferred on a firm
by the government that is contingent on exports. A domestic subsidy is
a benefit
not
directly linked to exports. See also “domestic support”.
swing In textiles
and clothing, when an exporting country transfers part of a quota from
one product
to another restrained product.
Swiss formula A kind of “non-linear” tariff
reduction formula — i.e.
one that has proportionately steeper cuts on higher tariffs — whose coefficient
also sets the maximum possible final tariff.
tariff binding Commitment
not to increase
a rate of duty beyond an agreed level. Once a rate of duty is bound,
it may not
be raised without compensating the affected parties.
tariff escalation Higher
import duties on semi-processed products than on raw materials,
and higher
still on finished products. This practice protects domestic processing
industries and
discourages the development of processing activity in the countries where
raw materials originate.
tariff peaks Relatively
high tariffs, usually on “sensitive” products,
amidst generally low tariff levels. For industrialized countries, tariffs
of 15%
and above are generally recognized as “tariff peaks”.
tariffication Procedures
relating to the agricultural market-access provision in which all non-tariff
measures
are converted into tariffs.
tariffs Customs duties
on merchandise imports. Levied either on an ad valorem basis (percentage
of value) or on a specific
basis (e.g.
$7 per 100 kgs.). Tariffs give price advantage to similar locally-produced
goods and raise revenues for the government.
TBT The WTO Agreement
on Technical Barriers
to Trade.
Tiered formula Approach
to tariff reductions that sets higher cuts for higher tariffs by
grouping products into
tiers according to
the height
of their tariffs. Agreed in the 1 August 2004 framework for agriculture,
which also
prescribes a tiered approach for reducing trade-distorting domestic supports.
TMB The Textiles
Monitoring Body, consisting of a chairman plus 10 members acting
in a personal capacity, oversaw the implementation
of commitments
under the Agreement
on Textiles and Clothing.
TPRB, TPRM The Trade
Policy Review Body is the General Council
operating under special procedures to review trade
policies
and practices
of individual WTO members under the Trade Policy Review Mechanism.
trade
facilitation Removing obstacles to the movement of goods across
borders (e.g. simplification
of customs procedures).
trade-balancing measure Requirement
that the investor use earnings from exports to pay for imports.
transitional
safeguard
mechanism In textiles and clothing, allows members to
impose restrictions against individual exporting countries if the importing
country can show that
both overall imports
of a product and imports from the individual countries are entering the
country in such increased quantities as to cause — or threaten — serious
damage to the relevant domestic industry.
transparency Degree to
which trade policies
and practices,
and the process by which they are established, are open and predictable.
TRIMs Trade-related
investment measures (note small “s”).
TRIPS Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (note capital “S”).
UNCITRAL United
Nations Centre for International Trade Law, drafts model laws such
as the
one on government
procurement.
UNCTAD The UN Conference
on Trade and Development.
UPOV International Union
for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (Union
internationale
pour la protection des obtentions végétales)
Uruguay Round Multilateral
trade negotiations launched at Punta del Este, Uruguay in September
1986 and concluded
in Geneva
in December 1993. Signed by Ministers in Marrakesh, Morocco, in April
1994.
Uruguay Round approach For
tariff reductions, a flexible formula that specifies
average
percentage reductions, allowing variations around the average subject
to a minimum percentage cut.
variable levy Customs
duty rate which varies in response
to domestic
price criterion.
VRA, VER, OMA Voluntary
restraint arrangement, voluntary export restraint, orderly marketing
arrangement. Bilateral
arrangements
whereby an
exporting country (government or industry) agrees to reduce or
restrict exports without
the importing country having to make use of quotas, tariffs or
other import
controls.
waiver Permission granted
by WTO members allowing a WTO member not to comply
with normal commitments. Waivers have time limits and extensions
have to be justified.
Washington Treaty Treaty
for the protection of intellectual
property
in respect
of lay-out designs of integrated circuits.
WCO World Customs
Organization, a multilateral body located in Brussels through
which participating
countries seek
to simplify and rationalize customs procedures.
WIPO World
Intellectual Property Organization.
|
