THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GATT 1947 AND THE WTO

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to discover the aims behind applied the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1947 and the main reasons which led to replace it by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994. Also, exploring the main differences between the GATT 1947 and the WTO and evaluating the impact of the WTO. Methodology /approach: This article has employed descriptive and comparative methods. The following materials were referenced as part of this article: books, journal articles, reports, agreements. Findings: This article has found that after the Second World War there was a need to establish an international regime to cancel trade barriers. Moreover, this article has discovered that, in the 1940s, the negotiators intended to create an International Trade Organization (ITO) in order to complete the Bretton Woods system, which includes the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. ITO was adopted to organise trading the goods. However, it failed because the United States Congress did not approve it. Then the GATT 1947 was provisionally applied according to the Protocol of Provisional Application, which was signed in late 1947. Finally, it has been found that the GATT 1947 faced many difficulties, which led to replacement of it by the WTO in 1994. The latter tried to address shortages in the GATT 1947. Nevertheless, there are some matters that need further improvement. originality/value: This article contributes to increase the understanding of the idea behind applied the GATT and discover the main reasons led to setup WTO and the limitations of the latter.