International Organizations (Part – III)

Agriculture subsidies are categorized into indirect and di- rect farm subsidies. India provides direct subsidies in very limited forms like food subsidy, etc. Though, direct farm subsidies are very common in most of the developed coun- tries. Indirect farm subsidies are not provided in the form of cash but indirectly supporting the farmers. For example - providing cash directly to the farmers to buy fertilizers is an example of direct subsidy, but subsidizing fertilizer compa- nies to provide cheap urea to farmers amounts to indirect subsidies. Other examples of indirect subsidies may include -cheap credit facilities, farm loan waivers, reduction in elec- tricity and irrigation bills, investments in agricultural re- search, farmer training, environmental assistance, etc. Hence, statements 1 and 4 are correct, while statements 2 and 3 are incorrect.

Special Safeguard Mechanism' (SSM) is a tool of "World Trade Organization that allows developing countries to raise tariffs temporarily to deal with import surges or price falls. It is a special protection mechanism for developing countries that allows them to raise tariffs on agricultural imports that are injurious to domestic farmers.

A most-favoured-nation (MFN) clause requires a country to provide any concessions, privileges, or immunities granted to one nation in a trade agreement to all other WTO (previously GATT) member countries. Although its name implies favouritism toward another nation, it denotes the equal treatment of all countries. The members of the WTO agree to accord MFN status to each other. However, exceptions allow for preferential treatment of developing countries, regional free trade areas and customs unions.

GATT stands for 'General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade'. The GATT was signed on October 30, 1947 by 23 countries in Geneva, Switzerland. The tariff concessions came into effect by June 30, 1948 through a 'Protocol of Provisional Application' and so the GATT was born with 23 founding members (officially 'contracting parties'). It was a legal agreement minimizing barriers to international trade by elimination quotas and tariffs. The Secretariat or headquarters of GATT (Now WTO) was established in Geneva, Switzerland.

GATT stands for 'General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade'. The GATT was signed on October 30, 1947 by 23 countries in Geneva, Switzerland. The tariff concessions came into effect by June 30, 1948 through a 'Protocol of Provisional Application' and so the GATT was born with 23 founding members (officially 'contracting parties'). It was a legal agreement minimizing barriers to international trade by elimination quotas and tariffs. The Secretariat or headquarters of GATT (Now WTO) was established in Geneva, Switzerland.

Arthur Dunkel's draft treaty for the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) was presented in December, 1991. In this round of talks, the GATT ambit was being expanded to cover not only trade in goods but also trade in services (GATS), trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) and trade-related investment measures (TRIMs).

Arthur Dunkel was the Director General of the GATT during 1980-1993. He was at the helm of the launch of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations in September, 1986 and steered the multilateral trading system to the doorstep of what is now known as the World Trade Organization.

Arthur Dunkel's draft for the Uruguay Round of GATT was widely seen as the last chance for any breakthrough in this so far stalemated GATT round. In the field of textiles, Dunkel draft did not reiterates the operation of the multi-fibre agreements. Instead of this, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) was negotiated in the Uruguary Round, which replaced the Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles (or Multi-fibre Agreement) of 1973. Other three statements are correct about the Dunkel draft.

The Uruguay round was the 8th round of multilateral trade negotiations conducted within the framework of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), spanning from 1986 to 1993 and embracing 123 countries as 'contracting parties. The Uruguay round led to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Agreement on TRIMs (Trade-Related Investment Measures) is a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement that restricts preference of domestic firms and thereby enable international firms to operate more easily with foreign markets. This agreements, negotiated during the Uruguay Round, applies only to measures that affect trade in goods. Recognizing that certain investment measures can have trade-restrictive and distorting effects, it states that no member shall apply a measure that is prohibited by the provisions of GATT Article III (national treatment) or Article XI (quantitative restrictions). It is one of the four principal legal agreements of the WTO trade treaty, which was concluded in 1994 and came into force in 1995.