The specific commitments made by each of the WTO’s member states during the course of multilateral trade negotiations are memorialized as "schedules of concessions." These are referred to informally as schedules. Schedules constitute an integral part of both the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Note that schedules may be altered through subsequent formal negotiations or through technical modifications.
Goods schedules may include maximum tariffs on specific types of goods, as well as agreements on quotas, export subsidies, and domestic supports for particular industries. Services schedules usually take the form of commitments to open domestic markets to services provided by firms in other member states, as well as specific exemptions from these commitments.
Goods schedules for most of the original WTO members states are annexed to the GATT 1994 via the Marrakesh Protocol. Services schedules for most of the original WTO member states are annexed to the GATS. For member states that joined the WTO after 1995, goods and services schedules are annexed to their protocols of accession.
If you need to review a goods or services schedule and have not done so before, be sure to consult this essential resource:
The WTO website provides several options for accessing goods and services schedules online, which are described below. The main advantage of accessing the schedules online is that they are not static and include links to subsequent modifications.
Goods and services schedules for most of the WTO's founding members are included in the following print set:
Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations: Legal Instruments Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations Done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994. KZ5185 1987 .A4 G46 1994
This 34-volume set includes the Uruguay Round agreements and the related goods and services schedules for most of the founding members of the WTO. Bear in mind that this set is static and does not include any subsequent modifications to the goods and services schedules. Nor does it include the goods and services schedules for members that joined the WTO after its inception.
Goods and services schedules for members that joined the WTO after 1995 are annexed to each member's protocol of accession. Protocols of accession and their related goods and services schedules may be accessed online via the Protocols of Accession Table and the Member Pages on the WTO's website.
The Georgetown Law Library has print copies of the protocols of accession, and the accompanying goods and services schedules, for the following jurisdictions:
Bear in mind that goods and services schedules in print are static and do not reflect any subsequent modifications.
Tariffs are customs duties imposed on imported goods. Tariffs provide a competitive advantage for domestically produced goods as well as a source of revenue for national governments. Reducing tariff barriers to international trade has been, and continues to be, a key objective of the WTO and its predecessor, the GATT. Reliable sources of tariff-related information are listed below:
For further information about tariffs and customs law, consult the following Georgetown Law Library research guides: Customs Law Research and Customs Law (U.S.) Research.