W

CHAPTER 40
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
Background.-Bretton Woods conference held in 1944 was the starting point
a new world order. It was envisaged that the new world economic order would be orGair
around three international institutions-() The International Bank for Reconstruction a
Development (BRD also called the Worid Bank); (i) International Monetary Fund (M
and (ii) International Trade Organisation (ITO). While the first two institutions cama in
existence and exist even today, the third institution i.e. ITO never came into existenca
After having been approved by the Governments of the U.S. and the U.K., proposalst
the establishment of ITO were discussed at an International Conference on Trade and
Employment first in London in 1946, then at Geneva and finally in Havana in 1947-1948. A
Charter foi an ITO was signed by 53 nations. To come into force it was required to be
ratified by the member nations. The ITO never came into existence as the U.S. Senate did
not ratify it so was the case of other countries who failed to ratify it. The main reason for
the non-ratification by the U.S. Senate was that it was not prepared to accept a formai
structure like the ITO.
However, despite the non-adoption of the Charter of ITO, U.S., U.K. and some other
developed nations were keen to ensure reduction of trade barriers. Some of the
participants in the London Conference on Trade and Employment requested that
simultaneously with the continuing discussions of Trade Charter at Geneva, extensive
trade tariff negotiations be started. 23 nations participated in these negotiations and as a
result of this an extensive set of bilateral trade concessions were then extended to all
participants and were incorporated in a General Agreement on Tariff and Trade, 1947.
Since the ITO charter had not come into existence, the U.S.
and other countries wanted to
have the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT)
Since the implementation of some of the clauses of GATT implemented as early as
possible.
in some of the countries the GATT itself required parliamentary approval
could not be applied. To overcome this difficulty a
"Protocol of Provisional Application" (PPA) was
of GATT. This protocol came into effect on signed in late 1946 by 22 original members
this Protocol. January 1, 1948 and GATT was applied throug
As per preamble of the GATT the
main objectives were
living; (i) ensure the full employment, to increase to--() raise the standard o
the volume of real income and
demand; (ii) ensure better utilization of resources of
of production and international trade. the world and (iv) ensure efrecuv
Since the
establishment expansio
of negotiations to reduce the tariffs of the GATT, eight
held. These rounds of negotiations are
and trade barriers in round
the trade in goods have beei
1. The Geneva Round
being summarised below:
of negotiations were (1947).-Participated
held between by 23 countries Geneva HOu
resulted in exchange 10 April
to 30
of tariff cuts for 45000 October, 1947. These
basis.
negotiato
products worth $10 billion of trade on annuau
2. The Amnesty
Round,
(France) in 1949. In this round nine n e 1949.-The second round was
held at
countriesin
to 32, In this round custom duties were reduced Joined bringing the membership Amnesiy
of GA
3. The respect of 5,000 items
Torguay Round, of goods.
(Britain) in 1950-51.38
countries 1950-1951.-he
participated. The third
European
levels were not satisfied and felt that the negotiations were
round
disadvantageous
was
countries with
held at
Torgua
to them.
low tarif
4. The Geneva Round 1955-56-The Fourth Pvantageous tothem.
(Switzerland) in 1955.1956. European Countries were anaund was held at Geneva
from negotiations and thus the number fell down to 22, disappointed and withdrew
See also IAS (2006) a. 8(a); IAS (2008) Q. 6(a).
wORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 639

Round (Geneva) 1960-61.-The Fifth Round was heid at

T h e Dillon
in 1960-61. In Round EEC joined negotiations as
this a trade block.
Geneva (Swilzerland).

obtained the authority under Trade Agreements Extension Act,

S. Government
The U.
draw
maximur advantage and participate in multilateral trade.
1958 to Sixth Round, known as the Kennedy
The Kennedy Round, 1964-67.-The About 35 developing countries also
tions was attended by 48 countries.
Round of negotiations
cent reduction offer in industrial tariffs
articipated under special procedures. Fifty per
eleven industrialized countries.
was announced by
Round, 1973-1979.-The Tokyo Round of negotiations and
were
7. The Tokyo levels of development
countries coming from different
attended by as many as 99the lokyo Round, a number of agreements in specific
non-tariff
eConomic systems. During were reached.
on agricultural products
measures and
September 1986 to December, 1993.-The
8. The Uruguay Round, culminated on
Round of negotiations began in Uruguay in September, 1986 and
Uruguay consensus a GATT
15, 1993. Delegations from 117 countries accepted by
December economic growth into
international markets and to ensure global
world trade treaty to open or the Dunkel Draft Act
The Dunkel Draft Text or Dunkel Package
the twentieth century. Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations was
released
embodying the results of Uruguay Multilateral Trade Negotiations
were
December, 1991. The Uruguay Round of
20 India signed the
1993. As many as 125 countries including
on
concluded on 15th December, on Tariffs and
15, 1994 at Marrakesh (Morocco). The General Agreement
Final Act on April as the Dunkel Agreement, finally
emerged as
1994 more popularly known
Trade (GATT)
in 1995.
World Trade Organisation (WTO) continued to
industrialized countries, the GATT
Established and nurtured by the treatment to developing
some special and preferential
serve their interests though discriminated under the garb
and large they were
COuntries was provided in GATT rules, by rules "voluntary export restraints",
clauses" "safeguard"
of clauses such as "escape allowed large scale version of GATT
These clauses and safeguards
orderly agreements". industrialised countries. Moreover, there were certain reasons
rules especially by the the GATT rules.
conduct most of trade outside
which enabled countries to and
case from the beginning
was treated as a special
In the first place, agriculture removed majority of
rules. Secondly, though developed countries
thus escaping GATT countries. Thirdly, the
remained affecting developing
barriers yet some other still and restrictive
tariff several bilateral, discriminatory
U.S. and the EEC had concluded was also
side-tracked due to the
outside the GATT rules. Fourthly, GATT Article XIX of the GATT
arrangements
use of subsides. Fifthly,
"safeguards" rules under free-trade areas
increasing and
GATT. Sixthly, customs union
undermined the effective working of distorted and abused. Seventhly
the GATT had been
permitted under Article XIX of lacked enforcing
mechanism. Last but not
the
GATT was a mandatory body, it it telt by and
though countries, was
of more and more of new developing
east with the emergence had outlined their utility.
large that the GATT rules devised half a century ago culmination of Uruguay Round of
result of the
Establishment of WTO.-As a on April 15, 1994,
at Marrakesh (Morocco)
negotiations for more than seven years World Trade
the establishment of
AT
125 countries including India agreed to on
as many as The new World Trade Organisation
(WTO) which came into effect the
organisation (WTO). members including
India replaced
January 1, 1995 with the backing of 85 founding
General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) started on 12th
liberalised world trade
Thetour-day ministerial meeting to usher in Mr. Peter Sutherland,
stated that
at Marrakesh. The Director-General of GATT,
April, 1994 agenda, working on consensus
thewTO would play an active role, setting the trade policy
non-discrimination. The world treaty
and basing itself on the fundamental principles of 235 bilion to the
to add an annual $
Signed by 125 countries including India is estimated is expected to boost world trade by
within decade. The treaty
World Economic income a
effect on 15th April, 1994, 125
$ 755 billion eacn year by 2005 i.e. decade after it takes
multilateral system slashing tariffs upto
countries signen ne historic pact creating a new
 640

40 per cent in the biggest package of market access concessions

INTERNATIOONALUN
doveloped and the developing countries participati in the historic ever negotiate
Marrakesh signed six major agreements running into 500 pages of trade conteren
20,000 pagos of individual national concessions on market access for
fina ct and
culminating eight years of Uruguay Round of GATT talks. The four da ds and
at Marrakesh culminated in signing of six documents (as part of Marr inisterial meeneetine
kesh Declarati
including agreements in the establishment of the Preparatory
Committee
acceptance of the agreement establishing WTO as well as the fo the WTO
environment and organisational and financial consequences followinapacts
from of trad
WTO. These agreements led to the replacement of the GATT by WTO, Thet i n g
world body to oversee a comprehensive set of rules and disciplines
of world commerce including trade in services and intellectual covering everythusaset
coverina
property nrotoe
Marrakesh Declaration calls for common action on the trade front
measures till the establishment of WTO in January, 1995. with no retaln
aliaton
The WTO is in fact the main crgan for
implementation
of
Agreements. It is the negotiating forum for the members. It can be Multilateral Tad.de
economic pillar of world wide trade and commerce dimensions regarded as the
alongwith third
the Internatin
Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and ational
Bank). Development (Wate
Membership
There are two types of members-(i)
original; and (i) other members. The original
members comprises of (a) the members to the GATT as on the date of
this agreement and (b) the European Communities which accept this entry into
force of
Multilateral Trade Agreements and which schedules of Agreement and the
annexed to the GATT 1994 and for which schedules concessions and commitments are
to the General
of specific commitments are
Agreement on Trade in services. annexed
Besides the original members, other States
Multilateral Trade Agreements annexed thereto. may accede to this Agreement and the
The decision on accession is taken the
Ministerial conference by a two-thirds by
become Universal majority of the members. The WTO is
tending
Organisation. China has already become its member. Russia may to
follow the suit in near future. At the time of aso
ugct, 2005, 72 more member joined and establishment WTO had 76 members. By
thus WTO comprised of 148 19tn
then two more members. Sineg
members joined and by 18th
members. At present it has 164 December, 2005, WTO comprised or l
members.
Withdrawal from Membership
Any member may withdraw from this
agreement by giving a written notice
Director General of the WTO. The withdrawal
months takes effect upon the expiry Or Saiu six
Structure
The WTO consists
of the following bodies:
(1) The Ministerial
highest body, is composed ofConference.-The
the Ministerial Conference, wtivetheof
the WTO and representations of all the members.
carries out the functions r It is the execu

has the authority to take decisionsofonthe WTO. It meets atleast once every two years.
ral Trade
Agreements on the request of the all matters under any of
Muna
(2) The General members.
Conference (MC) its functionsCouncil.-In between the meetings tings of the Ministerial
of tne Osedof
are carried out
representatives of all the members. It by the General Council Wn
necessary. It is thus an executive forumcanof meet as many times as IS araoriate anu has three

unctiona council working under its the WTO. The e General Council
ommissions are following:
functional

supervision and guidance. ne e

() Council for Trade in
(i) Council for Trade in Goods;
(1) Council for Services; and
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights(n
wORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
641

sidiary
bodies.-The above three council may establish subsidiary
bodies.
approval
of their respective councils, these subsidiary bodies shall make
the
Subjectto rules of procedure.
respective
their lement Body.-The disputes settlement understanding
The Dispute
(3) Settleme
isputes Body. The Disputes Settlement Body is empowered to
envisaged
a
and to frame rules of procedure as it
deems necessary for the
man
chairma
own
have its responsibilities.
of its
discharge
Review Body.-As envisaged in
Trade Policy Review Body
(4) Trade Policy have its
Council. The Trade Policy Review Body may
General
chall be convened by theftrame such rules of procedure as are necessary
for the discharge
Own chairman and may
of its responsibilities.
the Committee on
The Committee on Trade and Development and
(5) on Budget Finance
Restrictions and Committee
Balance of Payment committees were to be established by the General Council
to
Administration.-These Multilateral Trade
the Agreement and by the
the functions assigned to them by Council. The General
carry out iunctions assigned to them by
the General
additional deem
Arguments and such functions as it may
establish such additional committees with these
Council may also the members of
of all members shall be
The representatives
appropriate.
committees.
Trade Agreements.-These
Plurilateral
(6) Bodies provided under the under those agreements
and shall
the functions provided to them Council shall be kept
bodies shall carry out of the WTO. The General
the institutional framework
operate within of these bodies on a regular basis.
informed of the activities Secretariat headed by a Director
S e c r e t a r i a t . - T h e WTO provides
for a
Conference. The
(7) The the Ministerial
Director General shall be appointed by functions,
General. The setting the powers,
Conference shall also adopt regulations General. The members of the
Ministerial
of office of the Director down
conditions of services
and terms
Director General who
shall also lay
the
shall be appointed by adopted by the
staff of the Secretariat in accordance with the regulations
conditions of service
their duties and
Ministerial Conference.
Azevedo.
Director-General is Robert the
The current establishing WTO,
Article ll of the Agreement
Functions of WTO.-As per
main functions of the WTO
are :
administration and the
promotion of
implementation operation, and also of
(i) to facilitate the of 1994) and the Multilateral Trade Agreements
the agreement (i.e.
the Plurilateral Trade Agreements; member in respect
of
negotiations among its of
forum for the agreements
i) to provide the relations regarding their matters under its members
multilateral trade further negotiations among
also to provide a forum for framework for implementation
GATT and relations and a
multilateral trade
regarding their
of the result of such negotiations; settlement of disputes;
and procedures governing the
administer the rules
to (TPRM);
(0 Review Mechanism
to administer the Trade Policy
International
(iv) Monetary Fund (IMF), the and its
with the
International
World Bank
()to co-operate Development (1BRD) or policy
Reconstruction and
economic
coherence in global
5ank for to bring about greater
aifiliated agencies
making. shall be by consensus.
decision-making
in the GATT, the the decision snall be
or is not possible
Decision-Maklng.-As
arrived at Council shall be
the consensus cannot be the General
Dut wnere Conference and
Decisions in Ministerial
arrived at by voting. of the votes cast, each member of the WTO the having one vote. Ihis is
relevant Multilateral
or in
de oy a majority in the agreement
any other provision
Trada Are
 642

The Ministerial Conference and the General Council possess the

INTERNATIONAL LA
exclusi
to adopt interpretaions of this agreements as well as the
Multilateral Trade Authori
The decisions regarding the said interpretations shall be nade
of the members. In exceptional circumstances an
ma by a
obligation
by the Ministerial conference provided that such a decision is
three-fourths
of a member
ber mav
Agreernents.
h0rity
may be
fourths of the members. Decisions under Plurilateral Trade
taken by a maiorih waived
by the provisions of the such agreements. Agreements shall be e
Dispute Settlement
Settlement Body (DSB) which isMechanism.-The
WTO provides for a
responsible for settlement of Disn
Settlement Body (DSB) may establish panels for disputes. The DisR
appellate body, may adopt reports of panels andspecific investigations, may constita
surveillance to ensure compliance with rules Appellate Body and may exeroic
also authorize
and recommendations and if ercise
retaliatory measures in cases of non-implementation necessany mamay
For the purpose of investigation, the
(DSB) has four subsidiary
of
recommendation
groups; (i) Panels; (ii) Permanent Expert
Group; and (iv) Arbitration. bodies-() Workina
There are following main
stages in setting disputes under the WTO
(a) Consultation.-The first
among the members concerned. Thestage
in the settling of
disputes is consultation
mutually agreed and satisfactory solution. The of holding
purpose consultation is to arrive at
the rights of the members. holding of consultation does not
Any request for consultation ought to be notified prejudice
writing specifying the reason for the to the DSB in
consultations, it has to be replied promptlyrequest. When a member makes a
within ten request for
the request by the other days
30 days from the date of and to hold consultation within
settled at this initial member. Many a disputes are thus
stage.
However, if a dispute is not solved
date of through consultation within sixty days from the
request the party may request the DSB for the establishment
(b) Establishment of a Panel.-lf of a panel.
consultations, the member who sought the the dispute is not settled through
establish a panel. Such a
request ought to be
consultations may request the DSB to0
dispute, details of consultations and the reasonsaccompanied with full particulars of
for their failure. the
request, the DSB decides the establishment After considering the
five panelists. The of a panel. The
panel is panel is composed of three or
panel functions as an expertestablished in consultation
team to help the DSB
with the parties to the dispute.
between a developing and to arrive at a Ihe
developed country and finding. If the dispute is
ought to be from a developing if the
panelists serve in country. The panelists are country so desires, one panelist
their individual selected by the Secretariat. Ihe
position and not in their official
(c) Report of the Panel.-After position.
its report
containing the findings and examining the complaint, the Panel
within six months and in case of recommendations. The Panel has to submit prepares
is report
time which the panel can take urgency wlthln three months. In any case the
to circulate the
(d) Adoption of Panel report to the members ls nine maximun
months.
days but not earller than 20 Report.-The DSB then adopts the report within
days, The members having
in writing for circulatlon before
DSB meetlng at which obJections may state their reasoTS60
(e) report wll
be consldered.
Appellate Revlew before
WTO provides for a
Standing Appellate BodyStanding Appellate
can be challenged in the SAB (SAB) to hear appeals.Body (SAB).-The
The panel's decislon
proceedings must not generallyby exceedparty
either
to the dispute. lt is provided
Annellate Body (SAB) Comprises of seven personsandwnoin no case 90 days.that the Appeal
b0 days

the field of law and international trade. nave The Standing

distinguised themselves in
()
Implementation.-There Is provision
recommendatioDs of the Standing Appellate Bodytor(SAB).
prompt compliance
Thirt ance of
of the rulings or
the rulings or
the report by the panel or tne decision 0
party concerned to inform DSB its willingness ne Appee
or o ody, it is the obliaation of the
o
implement the rulings or
 wORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
643
recommendation If the member concerned fails
to implement within the
reasonable time
is obliged
to negotiations
he
start the with the complainant. If the negotiations fail or
iefactory compensation is not agreed, the complainant may approach the DSB to
suSDend concessions or obligations against the other party. This is the last remedy
available to an aggrieved member.
Acceptance, Entry into force etc.-The acceptance of the agreement could
be made by signature or otherwise by members of GATT, 1947 and the European
communities, which were eligible to become members of WTO as per Article XI of the
aareement. A member accepting this agreement after its entry into force would be required
toimplement those concessions and obligations in the Multilateral Trade Agreement which
would be required to be implemented over a period of time beginning with the entry into
force of this agreement as if it accepted this agreement on the date of entry into force. In
case of Plurilateral Trade Agreement shall be governed by the provisions of that
agreement.
WTO in Action.-Since Ministerial Conference is the highest body of WTO, it will
be worthwhile to discuss first the Ministerial Conferences held so far.
The First Ministerial Conterence, 1996 (Singapore).-As noted above
the Ministerial Conference, the highest body of the WTO meets atleast once in every twWo
the First Ministerial
years. After the WTO came into existence on January 1, 1995,
Conference was held at Sunetec city of Singapore from December 9th, to December, 13th,
1996. Trade Ministers of 128 Member countries and observer representativesfrom 28
countries who were seeking to become members participated the conference. At the end
of the conference declaration of 23 paragraph was made. This declaration was not a new
The statement
treaty, it was simply a political statement negotiated by Trade Ministers.
dealt with six problem areas-(i) labour standards; (ii) Investment; (ii) Competition
while the first four
policies; (iv) Government procurement; (v) textiles; (vi) agriculture, mentioned in the
were new issues, the last two were old issues. Yet another issue
was very much
declaration was relating to Information Technology in which the U.S.
could not be materialised.
interested. But a trade agreement on information technology
Second
The Second Ministerial Conference, 1998 (Geneva).-The
of the United Nations from May 18, to
Ministerial Conference was held at the headquarters
member nations. There were three
May 20, 1998. This conference was attended by 132 celebrations on 50th anniversary of
main features of this Ministerial Conference-(i) a new agreement on some
Multilateral Trading Year; (ii) a ministerial declaration; and (ii)
Ccmmercial transactions on the internet.
which came into existence in January
1998 being the 50th anniversary of the GATT
countries including India, a day long
1948 after a signing of an interim agreement by 23
second feature was the
on May 19, 1998. The
Commemoration of the event was made set of global talks in
foundation for next year for a
new
adoption of a declaration laying the the Technical Barriers
dispute settlement process,
certain areas such as TRIPs, TRIMs, of the least developed countries
the improvement of the trading powers
To Trade (TBT), located mainly in Africa and trade Issues.
including the poorest nations of the world ot an
conference was the conclusion
The third maln feature of the second ministerlal e-commerce being very
commerce. Though
agreement on duty free trade in electronlc US having the largest number of
In Intancy, it was lIkely to rapldly develop and the
much free.
internet users was to galn most from keeping this trade duty and
1999 (Seattle (US)]
The Third Minlsterlal Conference, held at SEATTLE
November, 2001.-The Third Ministerial Conference
of the WTO was

from November 30th, 1999 to December rd, 1999.his

in the State of Washington from about 30 nations.
135 Member nations and observers
conference was attended by LAUSANNE On October 25
at
Prior to the conterence consultations of Ministers were hgld
participating members but no
and 26, 1999 Tor evolving a consensus among the major to take any decision on a
consensus could be arrived at. The ministers were not expected
limited to evolve a consensus
further opening
of
national markets of trade, their task was
on an agenda for negotiations to start in the year 2000.
 to
wrong to
completed.
conclude
conclude that talks
WOuld remain
would
7th Ministerial suspended until
American elect
elections are
647
ference of WTO was Conference of WTO
Confer
2009. The general held in
for Geneva
theme
and the Current Global (Switzerland)
discussion was (Geneva).-The
from 30 7th
Economic "The WTO, November to Ministerial
On 30 November,
2009, Environment". the December 2,
Multilateral Trading
Aav December, 2009,Pascal
next year. On I
lay e., December 2,
Laung urged unity in
Ministers efforts to conclude
System
2009, Ministers called for
regards the scope of the showed politicalspeedy
As
energy
Doha Round Deal. DohaRound
On the next
L
Pascal. In his report to the conference it will
amy for
ending Doha Round.
that while the General be desirable
,

upcoming WTO Ministerial Council on 17 November, to refer to the report of

would be a platform for Ministers
Round" to send a number Conference would not be 2009 Pascal Lamy said
to review
the
waterfront of issues-from of strong signal to thefunctioning negotiating session, it
of the house
a

technical assistance and monetary and severally to with respect to "including

world Doha
the entire WTO
An international governance. disputes, accession, aid for
impasse remains
intense negotiations. as of June trade,
2012, agreement has not
8th Ministerial been reached
despite
at Geneva Conference.-8th Ministerial
agreements(Switzerland)
were made for
from 15 to 17
Russia, December, Conference of the WTO was
2011. In this held
9th Ministerial Sarroa and
Montenegro. conference, membership
December, 2013 in BaliConference.-Ninth Ministerial Conference was held
the Bali (Indonesia).
Package which eases
In this
Conference 159 members of from 3-6
barriers to international trade. WTO agreed to
10t gisterial Conference.-Tenth Ministerial
15 to 19 December, 2015. The Conference was held in Nairobi
he WTO was on the agenda. It completion of Afganistan and Liberia's
culminated in the adoption of the
series of six Ministerial Decisions on "Nairobi
1oped countries (LDCs). The Conference agriculture, cotton and illness related to
y for was Chaired
Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amina by Kenya's Cabinet
11th Ministerial Mohammed.
neld in Buenos Aires Conference.-The WTO's 11th Ministerial Conference
Susana Malcorra of (Argentina) from 11 to 13 December,
2017.
was
Argentina. The conference concluded withIt was chaired by Minister
including on fisheries, subsidies and e-commerce duties, and a a number of
decisions
negotiations in all areas. commitment to continue
12th Ministerial Conference.-The
Conference in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhistan was agreement to host the WTO Ministerial

Conference signed October 30, 2019. The

on
Ministerial
was held from June 8-11, 2020.
The WTO and India
Though the Government of India all along maintained that India would definitely
benefit by joining the WTO, critics have severely
opposed this view. The assertion of the
government that the new GATT agreement i.e. GATT 1994 Agreement is "the only hope for
an equitable and
just international order on trade" does not seem to be correct. As pointed
out by former Commerce Secretary Mr. S.P. Shukla, "Even a cursory acquaintance with
the origin and operation of GATT the history of pressure and arm twisting that surrounded
the beginning, the middle and the end of the Uuguay Round and the unashamed pursuit of
more extraneous issues such as environment, labour standards and human rights by the
United States and the European Union even before the new regime was adopted-should
be adequate for any being of ordinary intelligence to perceive the inequitous unjust,
intermidatory and G-7 biased character of new regime and its instruments. "Further to
pretend that the new regime is something benign and just is to live in a fool's paradise."

JAS(2002) a. 6(6); IAS (2008) a. 8(b ).

648
Some of the aspects of the new agreement, for example, TRIPs agreen
INTERNATIONAL LAW
gone to such extent
that they read more like a municipal law and not ent have
internatio nal law
which it was supposed to be or ought to have been. A pertinent question, therefore,
Constitution of India arises
as to what is the legal position of the Final Act vis-a-vis the C
view to ascertain this, an independent judicial commission consisting of three
Judges of the Supreme Court-Justice D.A. Desai, Justice O. Chinappa Reded
Justice V. R. Krishna lyer examined the question whether the GATT, 1994 FinalAc
breached the basic structure of the Constitution of India in any way and whether it
violative of Fundamental rights in any manner. Set up at the initiative of the National
Working Group of Patent Laws andthe independent initiative, the Commissionisknownas
the "People's Commission on Dunkel Text'. However, as made clear by Justice
lyer in a
Press statement, "we agree that we have no authority in any sense to make
pronouncement. Indeed, we do not want to claim the capacity and wish to emphasise that
the
we propose to do so in the way of a
report should be meant for people's better
understanding of the legal facets of the Final Act vis-a-vis India the Constitution and its
people. Among those who deposed to before the Commission were Mr. George Fernandes
of the Janata Dal, Mr. T. N. Chaturvedi of the Bhartiya Janata
Party and Mr. S. P. Shukla,
the former Commerce Secretary and Finance Secretary to the Government of India.
The
Commission gave its decision (rather opinion) in the last week of March, 1996.
According
to the Commission the new International Trade Treaty (i.e. GATT, 1994) would be violative
of the basic structure of the Constitution because this would violate the rights of people to
medicine, food articles and living standards. The Commission also pointed that before
signing the treaty States and the Parliament were not consulted. This would also lead to
unprecedented increase in the prices of medicines. Thus Dunkel Proposal and ultimately
GATT, 1994 were against the interests of India. It is also significant to remember that in
September, 1991 as many as 250 Members of Parliament of prominent political parties of
the country had requested the government to refuse to accept proposals relating to
patents and not to be pressurised by the western countries in this respect.

on 13thDecember, 1997, the developed and the developing countries entered into a
"historic accord to remove international barriers to the expansion of banking, insurance
and securities. Though termed 'historic', there was in fact no
cause for jubilation. It was
clearly an accord for the rich. So far as India was concerned it might be bonanza for sol
of the U.S. companies who were keen to enter
Indian markets in those fields. The acco0
was negotiated and concluded at
Geneva by 132 countries. Following the accord, inad
was required to allow
opening of 12 branches of foreign banks in a year as against
present in a "rationale and non-discriminatory" basis i.e. on most favoured nation Das
Though India did not make any commitment to open the insurance sector,
experts, it seemed certain that as in the case of banks, India would notaccoralng be aoi
withstand U.S. pressure for a long time in this sector also.
As regards intellectual
property rights and patents also India's stands are crumo
under the U.S. pressure and India finds herself in an
unenviable position. The U.S. Sa
was confirmed by the WTO which asked India to make the
desired in her la
respect of intellectual property rights and patents. India could havechangesbenefited by joir
the WTO if she was successful in increasing her share in world trade. But
that has not taken place due to inter alla, poltlcal instability and unfortunal
rampant corrup
especially at high levels. Since It ls now too late to retract her steps, the only option
to mend her domestic fences with all vigour and strength at her command and compe a
with other countrles to increase her share In the world trade.
On 18th May, 1998, Indla's Commerce Minister, Ram Krishna Hegde told the opening
session of WTO's Second Mihisterial Conference at Geneva that India remained deepy
committed to the success of the multilateral trading system but the imbalances in
in the
corrected keeping in perspective the inene imbalances t
existing system must be
nrivileded amongst us." India took at a proactive stand at the WTO meetina demanding
amendments to the trade relared inelectual properties agreement (TRIP improveo
nroved
and better deal in agriculture. As re0arde IRIPs),
arket access in services