Market access and multilateral trade agreements: the Uruguay round services negotiations
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Date
1992-01
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Institute of Public Policy studies , Michigan
Abstract
In contrast to earlier multilateral trade negotiations, the concept of market was frequently employed by participants during the Uruguay round. Not only were discussions on further liberalization of trade in merchandise (agricultural, tropical, natural resource based and manufactured products) formally referred to as market access negotiations, market access emerged as a specific obligation to which signatories of the general agreement on trade in services (GATS) are to commit themselves. This paper discusses what market access means in the GATS context, the role of interest groups in determing the structure of the agreement and the extend to which it is likely to effectively increase access to service markets. Although it is not possible to provide an unambiguous answer to this question because the GATS is incomplete, it certainly offers the potential for a significant increase in access to foreign markets. However, a great deal depends on the wording of incomplete provisions and on the evolution of the coverage of the agreement.
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Keywords
market access, Trade agreements