In the global economy, the year 1948 was a historical landmark with the formation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which is a multilateral treaty on rules, terms and conditions for international trade of the 117 participating countries. Although GATT is a treaty, it has virtually assumed the role of a global commercial policy envisaged under the International Trade Organisation.

It is a myth that the GATT served as an instrument for fostering liberalisation and freer trade and the progress of the global economy in the post war era. It is also believed -that the multilateral trade system established by the GATT ensures a stable and predictable basis for trade as well as trade tranquility.

The Uruguay Round:

The Eighth Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (MTN) of the GATT participants commonly referred to as the Uruguay Round – was launched at Punta Del Este in Uruguay, Latin America, in September 1986 in a special session and after eight weary years, has been concluded on the 15lh December, l”993, at Geneva.

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The Treaty of the Uruguay Round will become effective in April 1995.

The Uruguay Round of the GATT, however, grossly differs from its earlier rounds, involving many different rules of international trade and negotiations which are redefined, restructured, refashioned, besides the addition of new issues of strategic importance and far-reaching implications in evolving an altogether New International Economic Order (NIEO) in the forthcoming century.

The South Commission, in its third meeting at Mexico, on 5-8 August 1988, explicitly described the Uruguay Round as “an attempt to tackle issues of strategic importance for the design and management or the global economy, including the linkages between money, trade and finance. In a number of respects, the outcome of the Uruguay Round may vitally affect the domestic development and future options of the developing countries.”

A nutshell review the eighth Rounds of the GATT is captured in.