A study of Article XXIV GATT: Reasons of Failure and Future Changes

GATT Article XXIV is considered a much debatable article in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Reason for this lies in its practical application and the existence of the contentious issues from the viewpoint of developing countries. Developing Countries form a large part of the WTO, are considered much affected by its application which remains unsuccessful for them. Another concern put forth by the developing countries is the existence of controversial issues in the article. Two controversial issues namely, 'free trade area' and 'customs union' can be identified after a careful examination of the article. The main objectives of this paper are to clarify reasons of failure in regional trade agreements for developing countries, future necessary changes, and offering several proposals for the developing countries and international community to solve the problem

Keywords:

Article XXIV GATT , Developing countries , PTAs , RTAs , WTO