In other words, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal and therefore without trade agreements, it will not be able to apply Article 24. Instead, it will apply to the fundamental rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) – the building blocks of international trade. The Doha Development Round began in 2001. The Doha Round began in 2001 with a ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar. The aim was to focus on the needs of developing countries. The main factors examined are trade facilitation, services, rules of origin and dispute resolution. Special and differentiated treatment of developing countries was also discussed as a principal. The following ministerial meetings were held in Cancer, Mexico, in 2003 and Hong Kong (2005). These negotiations took place in Paris, France (2005), Potsdam, Germany (2007) and Geneva, Switzerland (2004, 2006, 2008). Progress in the negotiations stalled after negotiations broke down in July 2008. [17] [18] By default, this means the end of duty-free trade between the UK and the EU. However, some politicians have suggested that Article XXIV of the GATT should allow for an agreement (intermediate) that, although the UK and the EU have negotiated a free trade agreement, can maintain existing agreements with the EU for ten years.
This was also highlighted in the „Malthouse Compromise“, which proposes a „trade impasse without tariffs, without quantitative restrictions and without new barriers“ as part of a WTO-compliant „triple safety net“. 11. The unions and the constituent elements of free trade areas regularly report to the Goods Trade Council, as provided for by the Contracting PARTIES at the 1947 GATT in their instruction to the 1947 GATT Council on Regional Agreement Reports (BISD 18S/38) on the functioning of the agreement in question. Any substantial changes and/or developments in the agreements should be notified as soon as they occur. The WTO has 164 members and each has a list of tariffs and quotas (restrictions on the volume of goods traded) that they apply to other countries.