1. Establishment of international trade rules  reasons: 1)elimination of trade-restrictive measures in national legal orders; 2) need for security and predictability of trade rules; 3) challenges presented by economic globalisation (environmental issues, consumer safety, labour standards, cultural identity); 4) achievement of a greater measure of equity in international economic relations.

2. ITO Charter Havana Conference 1948 Complementarity with IMF and WB No entry into force: USA didn’t support the project anymore  Congress controlled by Republicans).

3. GATT 1947 The GATT 1947 contains substantive trade rules (most-favoured nation clause, national treatment, barrier to market access, subsidies and countervailing duties, antidumping etc.). No entry into force  provisional application as from 1st January 1948  adoption of a specific Protocol.

4. Birth defects of GATT 1947 (Jackson) The lack of a charter: no legal personality, no procedural and institutional structure; Provisional character of its application; Grandfather rights; Ambiguity and confusion about GATT’s authority.

5. Birth defects of GATT 1947 (II) Very scant institutional structure (art. XXV GATT 1947): - meetings of Contracting Parties (one State, one vote; majority rule  actual use of consensus method); - decisions of GATT Contracting Parties and Panels reports.

6. The evolution from GATT to WTO Lengthy Negotiating Rounds: failure of Tokyo Round: adoption of Plurilateral agreements, binding only on States which accepted them. Uruguay Round (1989-1994): success in creating a new multilateral organization

7. Marrakesh Final Act (1994) -institution of the World Trade Organization and signature of the WTO Agreement -creation of a Multilateral Trade Organization and modification of FOGS (functioning of GATT system) -the single undertaking: Members of the Organization should be bound by all the agreements in the GATT system

8. Package of agreements annexed to the WTO Agreement Annex 1A: Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods  GATT 1994 (incorporating GATT 1947 and legal instruments adopted by GATT Contracting Parties with reference to it) + agreements on specific matters; Annex 1B: General Agreement on Trade in Services; Annex 1C: Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights; Annex 2: Disputes Settlement Understanding; Annex 3: Trade Policy Review Mechanism; Annex 4: Plurilateral Trade Agreements.