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Structure of the WTO agreements

The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (Marrakesh Agreement) is the so-called umbrella World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement as it established the institutional and legal framework.

The next layer of agreements is contained in Annex 1 to the Marrakesh Agreement. These three agreements, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS Agreement) set out the basic principles related to liberalising trade in goods, services and intellectual property rights respectively as well as any exceptions. This Practice Note introduces these basis principles and exceptions.

It should be noted that for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) there are an additional two layers which need to be considered to have a comprehensive view of trade in either goods or services. Under the GATT 1994 there are additional agreements or annexes regulating certain sectors or certain aspects of trade