Fifty years of GATT

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), known as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since Jan 1995, celebrated its 50th anniversary in May 1998. GATT proved very successful, with average tariff levels being cut from 40% to 4% in the period 1950 to 1996, while the volume of world merchandise trade rose by 1,500%. WTO has differed from GATT in a number of ways. It has much more extensive powers than GATT to arbitrate trade conflicts, and is able to impose sanctions on member countries that do not comply with the rulings of its dispute panels.