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Background Papers

Background papers: selected WTO documents which provide a basic introduction to key topics monitored by the Secretariat

Click on (+) to drill down to a lower level. Clicking on a link will retrieve relevant documents.

Accession to the WTO
- All background papers
Agriculture
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS)
  - Agricultural product prices
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Cotton
  - Developing Countries
  - Domestic Support
  - Export Subsidies and Export Credits
  - Food aid, technical and financial assistance
  - Implementation
  - Non-Trade Concerns
  - Notifications
  - Safeguards
  - Statistics
  - Tariff and Other Quotas
  - Trade and Environment
  - Trade in Agricultural Products
  - Tropical products
Aid for Trade
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Gender dimension
  - Intellectual Property
  - Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
  - Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
  - Sustainable Development
  - Trade Financing
  - Trade in Services
  - Work Programme on Electronic Commerce
Anti-dumping
- All background papers
Balance-of-Payments Restrictions
- All background papers
Bibliographies & Glossaries
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Agriculture
  - Customs
  - Dispute Settlement
  - Electronic Commerce
  - Information Technology
  - Market Access
  - Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
  - Small Economies
  - Technical Barriers to Trade
  - Textiles and Clothing
  - Trade and Competition Policy
  - Trade and Environment
  - Trade, Debt and Finance
  - Transfer of Technology
Climate change
- All background papers
Competition policy
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Fundamental Principles
  - National Competition Legislation
  - Trade, Competition Policy and Development
Customs Valuation
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Customs Capacity Building
Dispute Settlement
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Dispute Settlement Understanding - Articles 21.5 and 22
  - GATT Article XX
Electronic Commerce
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Classification issues
  - Intellectual Property
  - Trade and Development
  - Trade in Services
Government procurement
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Economic Integration Agreements
  - Information Technology
  - Technical Cooperation Activities
  - Transparency
Import Licensing
- All background papers
Information Technology Products
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
Intellectual Property
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Biological Diversity
  - Electronic Commerce
  - Geographical Indications
  - Implementation
  - Non-Violation Complaints and the TRIPS Agreement
  - Notifications
  - Plant and Animal Inventions
  - Protection of Traditional Knowledge
  - Technical Cooperation Activities
  - Trade Facilitation
  - TRIPS Agreement and public health
Market Access
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Data Availability and Software Tools
  - Developing Countries
  - Eco-Labelling Requirements
  - Environmental Requirements
  - Goods
  - Non-agricultural Products
  - Non-Tariff Barriers
  - Standards
  - Tariff Negotiations
  - Trade in Services
Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Position Papers
Notifications
- All background papers
Preshipment Inspection
- All background papers
Regional integration
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Non-Tariff Provisions
  - Regional Trade Agreements
  - Rules of Origin Regimes
  - Systemic Issues
Rules of Origin
- All background papers
Safeguards
- All background papers
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Article 6 (Regionalization)
  - Capacity evaluation
  - Special and Differential Treatment
  - Standards
  - Technical Assistance
  - Transparency
State Trading
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Agriculture
Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
- All background papers
Technical Barriers to Trade
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Conformity assessment procedures (CAP)
  - Developing Countries
  - Good Regulatory Practice
  - Labelling
  - Special and Differential Treatment
  - Specific Trade Concerns
  - Standards and Technical Regulations
  - Transparency
Textiles and Clothing
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Quantitative Restrictions
  - Statistics
Trade and Development
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Aid for Trade
  - Application of Article XVIII, Section C, of GATT 1994
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Commodity Prices
  - Electronic Commerce
  - Global Value Chains
  - Integrated Framework
  - Market Access
  - Multilateral Trading System
  - Non-Tariff Measures
  - Participation of Developing Countries in the Global Trading System
  - Small Economies
  - Special and Differential Treatment
  - Sustainable Development
  - Technical Assistance
  - Textiles and Clothing
  - Trade and Industrial Development
  - Trade Facilitation
  - Trade in Services
  - Trade Negotiations
  - Trade Preferences
Trade and Environment
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Agriculture
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Developing Countries
  - Dispute Settlement
  - Domestically Prohibited Goods
  - Environment and TRIPS
  - Environmental Goods
  - Environmental Services
  - Hazardous Chemicals, Wastes and Pollutants
  - Labelling / Packaging
  - Market Access
  - Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)
  - Taxes and Charges for Environmental Purposes
  - Trade Negotiations
  - Transfer of Technology
  - WTO Rules
Trade and Finance
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Coherence in Global Economic Policymaking
  - Commodity Prices
  - Debt
  - Dispute Settlement
  - Exchange Rates
  - Foreign Direct Investment
  - Implications for Development and Economic Growth
  - International Investment Agreements
  - Investment
  - Non-discrimination and Most-favoured-nation Treatment
  - Safeguards
  - Scope and Definition
  - Trade Financing
  - Trade Liberalization
  - Trade-related Investment Measures
  - Transparency
  - Work Undertaken in Other Intergovernmental Organizations
Trade Facilitation
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Articles V, VIII and X of the GATT 1994
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Customs
  - Development Aspects
  - Fundamental Principles
  - Intellectual Property Rights
  - Intergovernmental Organizations
  - Technical Assistance and Capacity Building
Trade in Services
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Article II
    - Article II (MFN) Exemptions
    - Statistics
  - Audiovisual Services
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Business and Commercial Services
  - Classification of services
    - Issues
    - Services Sectoral Classification
    - WTO Jurisprudence
  - Communication, Postal and Telecommunication Services
  - Computer and Related Services
  - Construction and Related Engineering Services
  - Cross-border Supply of Services
  - Domestic Regulation
    - Necessity and Transparency
    - Regulatory Issues
    - Technical Standards
  - Economic Integration Agreements
  - Education Services
  - Energy Services
  - Environmental Services
  - Financial Services
  - GATS Rules
    - Public procurement
    - Safeguard Measures for Trade in Services
    - Schedules of Specific Commitments (Article XX)
    - Statistics of International Trade in Services
    - Subsidies for Services Sectors
  - Health and Social Services
  - Legal Services
  - Logistics Services
  - Market Access
  - Movements of Natural Persons
  - Mutual Recognition Agreements/Arrangements
  - Professional Services
  - Safeguards
  - Services and Import licensing
  - Services and Technical Barriers to Trade
  - Services Trade and Modes of Supply
  - Services Trade Liberalization
  - Specific Commitments
  - Statistics
  - Subsidies
  - Tourism and Travel-Related Services
  - Transport Services
Transfer of Technology
- All background papers
- Topics
  - Bibliographies & Glossaries
  - Foreign Direct Investment
  - Intellectual Property Rights
  - Trade and Environment
WTO Rules
- All background papers