Digests / Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
Research Guides & Bibliographies
The World Trade Organization or WTO began on January 1, 1995 and is located in Geneva Switzerland. It was created by the Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-1994). It currently has a membership of 146 countries and is a forum for trade negotiations. It administers WTO trade agreements, handles trade disputes, and monitors national trade policies. WTO documents may be found at:
1. WTO Documents - Microform. 1995-1996. This set of documents is indexed by List & Index of Documents Issued…. WTO documents 1995- are now available online.
2. Basic Instruments and Selected Documents/World Trade Organization (BISD WTO). 1995- . Includes treaties, agreements, dispute settlement panel reports, etc.
3. WTO Guide to Documentation.
4. Documents that are first released as “Restricted,” generally eventually become “Derestricted,” and available for public use. The following are indexes and lists of documents remaining restricted and derestricted:
5. Dispute Settlement Reports/World Trade Organization. 1996- .
6. World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Decisions. 1996/97- . This is an annotated reporter, with helpful commentary.
7. International Trade Law Reports. Vol. 1, 1996- .
8. Dispute Settlement Commentaries – Electronic Resource. Includes summary and analysis of all WTO dispute settlement reports and arbitrations.
9. Annual Report/World Trade Organization. 1996- .
The predecessor to the WTO, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) came into force in 1947. It also governed the trade relations of its signatory countries.
For detailed information on finding GATT materials in the Law Library, ask for the handout "GATT: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Sources of GATT Documents and GATT Information," available at the Reference Desk on S-1. This handout describes the major publications of and about GATT and how to find GATT documents on microfiche or film.
Listed below are the some basic resources for GATT documents:
1. Many of the basic GATT materials (the treaty, decisions of dispute settlement panels, etc.) are published in Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) 1952-1995.
2. GATT documents are available on microfiche 1947-1994. Indexed in annual volumes.
3. Selective GATT materials are available online via the WTO Documents Online website. Legal texts, Dispute Settlement Reports, and Uruguay Round documents by subject.
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