1995 and ending on 1 January 2005.



ITCB - International Textiles and Clothing Bureau - Geneva-based group of some

20 developing country exporters of textiles and clothing.



MFA - Multifibre Arrangement (1974-94) under which countries whose markets are

disrupted by increased imports of textiles and clothing from another country

were able to negotiate quota restrictions.



swing - When an exporting country transfers part of a quota from one product to

another restrained product.



TMB - The Textiles Monitoring Body, consisting of a chairman plus ten members

acting in a personal capacity, oversees the implementation of ATC commitments.



transitional safeguardmechanism - Allows members to impose restrictions against

individual exporting countries if the importing country can show that both

overall imports of a product and imports from the individual countries are

entering the country in such increased quantities as to cause - or threaten -

serious damage to the relevant domestic industry.



Agriculture/SPS



Agenda 2000 - EC's financial reform plans for 2000?06 aimed at strengthening the

union with a view to receiving new members. Includes reform of the CAP (see

below).



border protection - Any measure which acts to restrain imports at point of

entry.



BSE - Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or "mad cow disease".



box - Category of domestic support. - Green box: supports considered not to

distort trade and therefore permitted with no limits. - Blue box: permitted

supports linked to production, but subject to production limits and therefore

minimally trade-distorting. - Amber box: supports considered to distort trade

and therefore subject to reduction commitments.



Cairns Group - Group of agricultural exporting nations lobbying for agricultural

trade liberalization. It was formed in 1986 in Cairns, Australia just before the

beginning of the Uruguay Round. Current membership: Argentina, Australia,

Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia,

Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and

Uruguay.



CAP - Common Agricultural Policy - The EU's comprehensive system of production

targets and marketing mechanisms designed to manage agricultural trade within

the EU and with the rest of the world.



Codex Alimentarius - FAO/WHO commission that deals with international standards

on food safety.



distortion - When prices and production are higher or lower than levels that

would usually exist in a competitive market.



deficiency payment - Paid by governments to producers of certain commodities and

based on the difference between a target price and the domestic market price or

loan rate, whichever is the less.



EEP - Export enhancement programme - programme of US export subsidies given

generally to compete with subsidized agricultural exports from the EU on certain

export markets.



food security - Concept which discourages opening the domestic market to foreign

agricultural products on the principle that a country must be as self-sufficient

as possible for its basic dietary needs.



internal support - Encompasses any measure which acts to maintain producer

prices at levels above those prevailing in international trade; direct payments

to producers, including deficiency payments, and input and marketing cost

reduction measures available only for agricultural production.



International Office of Epizootics - Deals with international standards

concerning animal health.



multifunctionality - Idea that agriculture has many functions in addition to

producing food and fibre, e.g. environmental protection, landscapepreservation,

rural employment, etc. See non-trade concerns.



non-trade concerns - Similar to multifunctionality. The preamble of the

Agriculture Agreement specifies food security and environmental protection as

examples. Also cited by members are rural development and employment, and

poverty alleviation.



peace clause - Provision in Article 13 of the Agriculture Agreement says

agricultural subsidies committed under the agreement cannot be challenged under

other WTO agreements, in particular the Subsidies Agreement and GATT. Expires at

the end of 2003.



reform process/program - The Uruguay Round Agriculture Agreement starts a reform

process. It sets out a first step, in the process, i.e. a program for reducing

subsidies and protection and other reforms. Current negotiations launched under

Article 20 are for continuing the reform process.



SPS regulations - Sanitary and Phytosanitaryregulations - government standards

to protect human, animal and plant life and health, to help ensure that food is

safe for consumption.



variable levy - Customs duty rate which varies in response to domestic price

criterion.







Intellectual property



Berne Convention - Treaty, administered by WIPO, for the protection of the

rights of authors in their literary and artistic works.



CBD - Convention on Biological Diversity.



compulsory licensing - For patents: when the authorities license companies or

individuals other than the patent owner to use the rights of the patent - to

make, use, sell or import a product under patent (i.e. a patented product or a

product made by a patented process) - without the permission of the patent

owner. Allowed under the TRIPS Agreement provided certain procedures and

conditions are fulfilled. See also government use.



counterfeit - Unauthorized representation of a registered trademark carried on

goods identical or similar to goods for which the trademark is registered, with

a view to deceiving the purchaser into believing that he/she is buying the

original goods.



exhaustion - The principle that once a product has been sold on a market, the

intellectual property owner no longer has any rights over it. (A debate among

WTO member governments is whether this applies to products put on the market

under compulsory licences.) Countries' laws vary as to whether the right

continues to be exhausted if the product is imported from one market into

another, which affects the owner's rights over trade in the protected product.

See also parallel imports.



geographical indications - Place names (or words associated with a place) used

to identify products (for example, "Champagne", "Tequila" or "Roquefort") which

have a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic because they come

from that place



government use - For patents: when the government itself uses or authorizes

other persons to use the rights over a patented product or process, for

government purposes, without the permission of the patent owner. See also

compulsory licensing.



intellectual property rights - Ownership of ideas, including literary and

artistic works (protected by copyright), inventions (protected by patents),

signs for distinguishing goods of an enterprise (protected by trademarks) and

other elements of industrial property.



IPRs - Intellectual property rights.



Lisbon Agreement - Treaty, administered by WIPO, for the protection of

geographical indications and their international registration.



Madrid Agreement - Treaty, administered by WIPO, for the repression of false or

deceptive indications of source on goods.



mailbox - Refers to the requirement of the TRIPS Agreement applying to WTO

members which do not yet provide product patent protection for pharmaceuticals

and for agricultural chemicals. Since 1 January 1995, when the WTO agreements

entered into force, these countries have to establish a means by which

applications of patents for these products can be filed. (An additional

requirement says they must also put in place a system for granting "exclusive

marketing rights" for the products whose patent applications have been filed.)



parallel imports - When a product made legally (i.e. not pirated) abroad is

imported without the permission of the intellectual property right-holder (e.g.

the trademark or patent owner). Some countries allow this, others do not.



Paris Convention - Treaty, administered by WIPO, for the protection of

industrial intellectual property, i.e. patents, utility models, industrial

designs, etc.



piracy - Unauthorized copying of materials protected by intellectual property

rights (such as copyright, trademarks, patents, geographical indications, etc)

for commercial purposes and unauthorized commercial dealing in copied materials.



Rome Convention - Treaty, administered by WIPO, UNESCO and ILO, for the

protection of the works of performers, broadcasting organizations and producers

of phonograms.



TRIPS - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.



UPOV - International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants



Washington Treaty - Treaty for the protection of intellectual property in

respect of lay-out designs of integrated circuits.



WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization.







Investment



export-performance measure - Requirement that a certain quantity of production

must be exported.



FDI - Foreign direct investment.



local-content measure - Requirement that the investor purchase a certain amount

of local materials for incorporation in the investor's product.



product-mandating - Requirement that the investor export to certain countries or

region.



trade-balancing measure - Requirement that the investor use earnings from

exports to pay for imports.



TRIMS - Trade-related investment measures.







Dispute settlement



Appellate Body - An independent seven-person body that, upon request by one or

more parties to the dispute, reviews findings in panel reports.



automaticity - The "automatic" chronological progression for settling trade

disputes in regard to panel establishment, terms of reference, composition and

adoption procedures.



DSB - Dispute Settlement Body - when the WTO General Council meets to settle

trade disputes.



DSU - The Uruguay Round Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the

Settlement of Disputes.



nullification and impairment - Damage to a country's benefits and expectations

from its WTO membership through another country's change in its trade regime or

failure to carry out its WTO



obligations.



panel - Consisting of three experts, this independent body is established by the

DSB to examine and issue recommendations on a particular dispute in the light of

WTO provisions.







Services



accounting rate - In telecoms, the charge made by one country's telephone

network operator for calls originating in another country.



commercial presence - Having an office, branch, or subsidiary in a foreign

country.



GATS - The WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services.



general obligations - Obligations which should be applied to all services sector

at the entry into force of the agreement.



Initial commitments - Trade liberalizing commitments in services which members

are prepared to make early on.



modes of delivery - How international trade in services is supplied and

consumed. Mode 1: cross border supply; mode 2: consumption abroad; mode 3:

foreign commercial presence; and mode 4: movement of natural persons.



multi-modal - Transportation using more than one mode. In the GATS negotiations,

essentially door-to-door services that include international shipping.



national schedules - The equivalent of tariff schedules in GATT, laying down the

commitments accepted - voluntarily or through negotiation - by WTO members.



natural persons - People, as distinct from juridical persons such as companies

and organizations.



offer - A country's proposal for further liberalization.



protocols - Additional agreements attached to the GATS. The Second Protocol

deals with the 1995 commitments on financial services. The Third Protocol deals

with movement of natural persons.



prudence, prudential - In financial services, terms used to describe an

objective of market regulation by authorities to protect investors and

depositors, to avoid instability or crises.



schedule - "Schedule of Specific Commitments" - A WTO member's list of

commitments regarding market access and bindings regarding national treatment.



specific commitments - See "schedule".







Regionalism/trade and development



ACP - African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. Group of 71 countries with

preferential trading relation with the EU under the former Lom? Treaty now

called the Cotonou Agreement.



Andean Community - Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.



APEC - Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.



ASEAN - Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The seven ASEAN members of the

WTO - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and

Thailand - often speak in the WTO as one group on general issues. The other

ASEAN members are Laos and Vietnam.



Caricom - The Caribbean Community and Common Market comprises 15 countries.



CTD - The WTO Committee on Trade and Development



Customs union - Members apply a common externaltariff (e.g. the EC).



EC - European Communities (official name of the European Union in the WTO).



EFTA - European Free Trade Association.



free trade area - Trade within the group is duty free but members set own

tariffs on imports from non-members (e.g. NAFTA).



G15 - Group of 15 developing countries acting as the main political organ for

the Non-Aligned Movement.



G77 - Group of developing countries set up in 1964 at the end of the first

UNCTAD (originally 77, but now more than 130 countries).



G7 - Group of seven leading industrial countries: Canada, France, Germany,

Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States.



GRULAC - Informal group of Latin-American members of the WTO.



GSP - Generalized System of Preferences - programmes by developed countries

granting preferential tariffs to imports from developing countries.



HLM - WTO High-Level Meeting for LDCs, held in October 1997 in Geneva.



ITC - The International Trade Centre, originally established by the old GATT and

is now operated jointly by the WTO and the UN, the latter acting through UNCTAD.

Focal point for technical cooperation on trade promotion of developing

countries.



LDCs - Least-developed countries.



MERCOSUR - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.



NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement of Canada, Mexico and the US.



Quad - Canada, EC, Japan and the United States.



SACU - Southern African Customs Union comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia,

South Africa and Swaziland.



S&D - "Special and differential treatment" provisions for developing countries.

Contained in several WTO agreements.



UNCITRAL - United Nations Centre for International Trade Law, drafts model laws

such as the one on government procurement.



UNCTAD - The UN Conference on Trade and Development.







Trade and environment



Agenda 21 - The Agenda for the 21st Century - a declaration from the 1992 Earth

Summit (UN Conference on the Environment and Development) held in Rio de

Janeiro.



Article XX - GATT Article listing allowed "exceptions" to the trade rules.



Basel Convention - An MEA dealing with hazardous waste.



BTA - Border tax adjustment



CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. An MEA.



CTE - The WTO Committee on Trade and Environment.



EST - Environmentally-sound technology.



EST&P - EST and products.



ex ante, ex post - Before and after a measure is applied.



LCA - Life cycle analysis - a method of assessing whether a good or service is

environmentally friendly.



MEA - Multilateral environmental agreement.



Montreal Protocol - An MEA dealing with the depletion of the earth's ozone

layer.



PPM - Process and production method.



TBT - The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.



waiver - Permission granted by WTO members allowing a WTO member not to comply

with normal commitments. Waivers have time limits and extensions have to be

justified.











　

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