First Effective Worldwide Tariff Agreement

On other issues, the Tokyo Round has had mixed results. It has failed to resolve the fundamental problems of agricultural trade, nor has it been able to provide an amended agreement on “safeguard measures” (emergency import measures). Nevertheless, the negotiations highlighted a number of agreements on non-tariff barriers which, in some cases, stretched existing GATT rules and took other completely new paths. In most cases, only a relatively small number of GATT members (mainly industrialized) have acceded to these agreements and understandings. Since they were not accepted by full GATT membership, they were often referred to as “codes” informally. The Tokyo Round lasted from 1973 to 1979 with 102 participating countries. It continued GATT efforts towards a gradual reduction of customs duties. Among the results was an average tariff reduction of one-third in the world`s nine major industrial markets, which reduced the average tariff on industrial products to 4.7%. The tariff reductions, phased in over an eight-year period, included an element of “harmonization” – the higher the tariff, the greater the reduction, proportionately. The six founding States of the EEC and the other two communities were known as the “inner six” (the “outer seven” were the countries forming the European Free Trade Association).

The six countries were France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The first enlargement took place in 1973 with the accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Greece, Spain and Portugal joined in the 1980s. .