A

Accession - Becoming a member of the WTO, signing on to its agreements. New members have to negotiate terms:
— bilaterally with individual WTO members — multilaterally, (1) to convert the results of the bilateral negotiations so
that they apply to all WTO members, and (2) on required legislation and institutional reforms that are needed to meet
WTO obligations.

Accounting Rate - In telecoms, the charge made by one country’s telephone network operator for calls originating in
another country

ACP Group - African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. Composed of 79 countries with preferential trading relations
with the EU under the former Lomé Conventions now replaced by the Cotonou Agreement

Ad Valorem Equivalent (AVE) - A tariff (e.g., dollars per ton) that is not ad valorem can be estimated as a percentage
of the price of the imported item — the ad valorem equivalent

Ad Valorem Tariff - A tariff rate charged as percentage of the price. See “specific tariff”

African Group - African members of the WTO

Agenda 2000 - EC’s financial reform plans for 2000-06 aimed at strengthening the union with a view to receiving new
members. Includes reform of the CAP

Agenda 21 - The Agenda for the 21st Century — a declaration from the 1992 Earth Summit (UN Conference on the
Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro

Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) - Trade-distorting AMS has two components – non-product specific and
product-specific support: the product-specific AMS is calculated for each basic agricultural product and typically covers
support measures such as market price support and non-exempt direct payments. Non-product specific support is
support provided in favour of agricultural producers in general. Only members with an AMS commitment in their
schedules of commitments can provide AMS support beyond their de minimis level and up to this commitment.

Agricultural Product - Defined for the coverage of the WTO’s Agriculture Agreement, by the agreement’s Annex 1.
This excludes, for example, fish and forestry products. It also includes various degrees of processing for different
commodities

Amber Box - Domestic support for agriculture that is considered to distort trade and therefore subject to reduction
commitments. Technically calculated as “Aggregate Measurement of Support” (AMS)

Andean Community - Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela

Anti-dumping Duties - GATT’s Article 6 allows anti-dumping duties to be imposed on goods that are deemed to be
dumped and causing injury to producers of competing products in the importing country. These duties are equal to the
difference between the goods’ export price and their normal value, if dumping causes injury

APEC - Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum

Appellate Body - An independent seven-person body that considers appeals in WTO disputes. When one or more
parties to the dispute appeals, the Appellate Body reviews the findings in panel reports

Applied Rates - See Applied tariff

Applied Tariff / Applied Rates - Duties that are actually charged on imports. These can be below the bound rates

Article XII Members - The Group of Article XII Members (previously recently acceded members) is composed of
members that joined the WTO after 1995. The Group seeks to close the gap between the commitments of the original
WTO members and the greater level of commitments undertaken by their members during their accession to the WTO.
Excludes least-developed countries and EU members that joined post-1995.

Article XX - (i.e. 20) A GATT article listing allowed “exceptions” to the trade rules

ASEAN - Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Eight ASEAN members are members of the WTO — Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The other ASEAN members —
Laos and Vietnam — are negotiating WTO membership

ATC - The WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing which integrated trade in this sector back to GATT rules, expired
on 1 January 2005

Automatic Import Licensing - when applications for import licenses are approved in all cases

Automaticity - In disputes, the “automatic” chronological progression for settling trade disputes in regard to panel
establishment, terms of reference, composition and adoption procedures

Balance of Payments Basis - Trade data conforming with national income accounting methods (the value of trade in
goods and services changing hands between residents and non-residents sometimes without crossing borders); the
figures for goods trade are derived and adjusted from customs data (the value of goods trade crossing borders)

Basel Convention - A multilateral environmental agreement dealing with hazardous waste

Berne Convention - A treaty, administered by WIPO, for the protection of the rights of authors in their literary and
artistic works

Binding, Bound - Commitment not to increase a rate of duty beyond an agreed level. Once a rate of duty is bound, it
may not be raised without compensating the affected parties.

BIT - bilateral investment treaties

Blue Box - Amber Box type of support provided under government programmes that aim to limit production. and
reduce distortion. Currently, Blue Box support is not subject to any limitation other than adherence to the criteria set out
in Art. 6.5 of the Agreement on Agriculture

Border Protection - Encompasses any measure which acts to restrain imports at point of entry

Bottom Up - drawing on members’ positions

Boxes - Green box is a category of domestic support considered to have no, or at most minimal, trade and production
distorting effect. Blue box support is provided with the aim of limiting production. Amber box support is considered to
distort trade and is therefore subject to limits and reduction commitments.

Bracketed - In official drafts, square brackets indicate text that has not been agreed and is still under discussion

BSE - Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow disease”

BTA - Border tax adjustment

CIF - Cost, insurance, freight (included in the price)

Cabotage - In maritime transport, sea shipping between ports of the same country, usually along coasts
Cairns Group - Group of "free trading" agricultural exporting nations which met for the first time in 1986 in Cairns,
Australia, and agreed to form an alliance to promote agricultural trade liberalization in the multilateral trade negotiations

CAP - Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Union that includes direct payments
to producers, a common organization of the markets of agricultural products and various measures of support to rural
development.

Caricom - The Caribbean Community and Common Market, comprising 15 countries

Carry Forward - When an exporting country uses part of the following year’s quota during the current year

CBD - Convention on Biological Diversity

Circumvention - Getting around commitments in the WTO such as commitments to limit agricultural export subsidies.
Includes: avoiding quotas and other restrictions by altering the country of origin of a product; measures taken by
exporters to evade anti-dumping or countervailing duties

CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. A multilateral environmental agreement

Codex Alimentariusco - FAO/WHO commission that deals with international standards on food safety

Commercial Presence - Having an office, branch, or subsidiary in a foreign country. In services, “mode 3” (see
“modes of delivery”) Modes of delivery - How international trade in services is supplied and consumed. Mode 1: cross
border supply; mode 2: consumption abroad; mode 3: foreign commercial presence; and mode 4: movement of natural
persons.

Committee on Agriculture - WTO committee established in Article 17 of the Agreement on Agriculture and in charge
of the review of the implementation of the Agreement.

Committee on Agriculture in Special Session - WTO Committee on Agriculture in a session dedicated to the
agriculture negotiations. The Chair of the Committee in Special Session is different from the Chair of the regular
Committee on Agriculture.

Compulsory Licensing - For patents: when the authorities license companies or individuals other than the patent
owner to use the rights of the patent — to make, use, sell or import a product under patent (i.e. a patented product or a
product made by a patented process) — without the permission of the patent owner. Allowed under the WTO’s TRIPS
(intellectual property) Agreement provided certain procedures and conditions are fulfilled. See also government use

Concentric Circles - a system of small and large, informal and formal meetings handled by the chairperson, who is at
the center. The outer “circle” is the formal meeting of the full membership, where decisions are taken and statements
are recorded in official minutes or notes. Inside, the circles represent informal meetings of the full membership or
smaller groups of members, down to bilateral consultations with the chair. Members accept the process so long as they
all have input and information is shared. See also “inclusive” and “transparent”

Cotton -4 - Group of West and Central African countries that launched the 'cotton initiative' in 2003 pressing for the
elimination of cotton subsidies and seeking development assistance to strengthen their cotton sectors. This group is
composed of Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. Côte d'Ivoire was admitted as an observer in November 2018

Counterfeit - Unauthorized representation of a registered trademark carried on goods identical or similar to goods for
which the trademark is registered, with a view to deceiving the purchaser into believing that he/she is buying the
original goods

Countervailing Measures - Action taken by the importing country, usually in the form of increased duties to offset
subsidies given to producers or exporters in the exporting country

CRTA - Committee on Regional Trade Agreements

CTD - The WTO Committee on Trade and Development

CTDSS - “Special Sessions”, ie, negotiations meetings, of the WTO Committee on Trade and Development

CTE - The WTO Committee on Trade and Environment

CTESS - “Special Sessions”, ie, negotiations meetings, of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment

CTG - Council for Trade in Goods — overseas WTO agreements on goods, including the ATC

Cumulation - A provision allowing producers in one country to source parts and inputs from other countries without
losing the originating status of that input. Under cumulation, foreign parts and inputs are not considered as imported
(non-originating) for purposes of "substantial transformation" requirements

Customs Union - Members apply a common external tariff (e.g. the European Union)

DDA - Doha Development Agenda, sometimes Doha Round. Unofficial name of the Doha Work Programme on
negotiations and implementation

De Minimis - Minimum amounts of trade distorting domestic support that all WTO Members can use, calculated as a
percentage of the value of production (5% of the value of production for developed Members, and up to 10% for
developing Members). De minimis can be product-specific and non-product specific

Decoupled Income Support - Support for farmers that is not linked to (is decoupled from) prices or production

Deficiency Payment - A type of agricultural domestic support, paid by governments to producers of certain
commodities and based on the difference between a target price and the domestic market price or loan rate, whichever
is the less

Digits, Digit-level (tariffs) - A reference to the codes used to identify products. Categories of products are subdivided
by adding digits. See Harmonized System

Distortion - When prices and production are higher or lower than levels that would usually exist in a competitive
market

Doha Round - Or Doha Development Agenda. Unofficial name of the Doha Work Program on negotiations and
implementation-related issues launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.

Domestic Support - Sometimes “internal support”. In agriculture, any domestic subsidy or other measure designed to
support agricultural production and producers; it covers measures such as those aimed at maintaining producer prices
at levels above those prevailing in the international market, direct payments to producers, including deficiency
payments, and input and marketing cost reduction measures.

DSB - Dispute Settlement Body — when the WTO General Council meets to settle trade disputes

DSU - Dispute Settlement Understanding, the WTO agreement that covers dispute settlement — in full, the
Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes

Dumping - Occurs when goods are exported at a price less than their normal value, generally meaning they are
exported for less than they are sold in the domestic market or third-country markets, or at less than production cost
E

EC - European Communities (previously, official name of the European Union in the WTO)

EEP - Export Enhancement Program — program of US export subsidies given generally to compete with subsidized
agricultural exports from the EU on certain export markets

EFTA - European Free Trade Association

Electronic Commerce - The production, advertising, sale and distribution of products via telecommunications
networks

EMS - Equivalent measure of support used to evaluate trade-distorting support where market price support exists but
AMS methodology is not practicable for its calculation.

Enabling Clause - This refers to the 1979 Decision on Differential and More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and
Fuller Participation of Developing Countries. Paragraph 2c allows developing country members of the WTO exemption
from the MFN principle when entering regional or global arrangements to reduce or eliminate tariffs in trade in goods
among themselves

Enquiry Point - an official or office in a member government designated to deal with enquiries from other WTO
members and the public on a subject such as technical barriers to trade or sanitary/phytosanitary measures

Environmental Goods and Services - These do not have a precise definition and some WTO members have
attempted to resolve this by listing products of interest to them. These have generally fallen into six categories, namely
air pollution control, renewable energy, waste management and water treatment, environmental technologies (i.e.
emission reduction, heat and energy management, environmental monitoring equipment), carbon capture and storage,
and other areas that may deal with disposal, natural resource protection, etc

Equivalence - In sanitary-phytosanitary measures (SPS): governments recognizing other countries’ measures as

acceptable even if they are different from their own, so long as an equivalent level of protection is provided

EST - Environmentally-sound technology

EST&P - Environmentally-sound technology and products

EU - European Union, in the WTO previously officially called the European Communities

Ex ante, Ex post - Before and after a measure is applied

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) - The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines an
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as generally extending 200 nautical miles from shore, within which the coastal state
has the right to explore and exploit, and the responsibility to conserve and manage, both living and non-living
resources. Some proposals would calibrate certain disciplines depending on whether the subsidized fishing activity
takes place within or beyond a member's EEZ

Exhaustion - In intellectual property protection, the principle that once a product has been sold on a market, the
intellectual property owner no longer has any rights over it. (A debate among WTO member governments is whether
this applies to products put on the market under compulsory licenses.) Countries’ laws vary as to whether the right
continues to be exhausted if the product is imported from one market into another, which affects the owner’s rights over
trade in the protected product. See also parallel imports

Export Competition - One of the pillars of the Agreement on Agriculture covering export subsidies and other
programmes which could provide loopholes for governments to circumvent their commitments, export finance (credit,
guarantees and insurance) and international food aid. The agriculture negotiations also cover the activities of exporting
state trading enterprises. A Decision on Export Competition was adopted by ministers in December 2015 at the 10th
Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
Export Prohibitions and Restrictions - Export measures that have a limiting effect on the quantity or amount of a
product being exported. They can take the form of a tax or a quantitative restriction. The latter is generally prohibited
with some exceptions notably those applied to prevent or relieve critical shortage of foodstuffs.

Export Subsidies (agriculture) - Subsidies contingent on export performance covering agricultural products as
defined under the Agreement on Agriculture in terms of budgetary outlays and quantities listed in members' schedules
of commitments. Members agreed to eliminate all forms of agricultural export subsidies at the 10th Ministerial
Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

Export-Performance Measure - Requirement that a certain quantity of production must be exported

FOB - Free on board (price, excluding insurance and freight).

FDI - Foreign direct investment

Food Security - People are considered “food secure” when they have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to
maintain a healthy and active life. Food security-related discussions at the WTO take place regularly in the Agriculture
Committee. Since 2013, WTO members have agreed to negotiate and find a permanent solution to the issue of public
stockholding programmes for food security purposes (PSH) for developing members. Under these programmes,
countries can purchase and stockpile food, and distribute it to people in need. However, some of these programmes
can be used to provide support to farmers and are therefore considered to distort trade.

Formal/Informal - Formal meetings are recorded in minutes, decisions can be taken, and formal procedures apply.
Informal meetings are for exchanging views or information, with no official record

Free Trade Area - Trade within the group is duty free but members set their own tariffs on imports from non-members
(e.g. NAFTA)

Free-Rider - A casual term used to infer that a country which does not make any trade concessions, profits,
nonetheless, from tariff cuts and concessions made by other countries in negotiations under the most-favored-nation
principle

G-10 - Coalition of countries lobbying for agriculture to be treated as diverse and special because of non-trade
concerns (not to be confused with the Group of Ten Central Bankers).

G-20 - Coalition of developing countries pressing for ambitious reforms of agriculture in developed countries with some
flexibility for developing countries (not to be confused with the G-20 group of finance ministers and central bank
governors, and its recent summit meetings)

G-33 - Coalition of developing countries pressing for special and differential treatment through a Special Safeguard
Mechanism and "special products" to undertake limited market opening in agriculture as well as for a Permanent
Solution to the issue of Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes.

G15 - Group of 15 developing countries acting as the main political organ for the Non-Aligned Movement

G7 - Group of seven leading industrial countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United
States

G77 - Group of developing countries set up in 1964 at the end of the first UNCTAD (originally 77, but now more than
130 countries)

G8 - G7 plus Russia
GATS - The WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services

GATT - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which has been superseded as an international organization by the
WTO. An updated General Agreement is now the WTO agreement governing trade in goods. GATT 1947: The official
legal term for the old (pre-1994) version of the GATT. GATT 1994: The official legal term for new version of the
General Agreement, incorporated into the WTO, and including GATT 1947

General Obligations - Obligations which should be applied to all services sectors at the entry into force of the GATS
agreement

Generic - Copies of a patented drug, or of a drug whose patent has expired (sometimes also related to trademarks)

Geographical Indications - Place names (or words associated with a place) used to identify products (for example,
“Champagne”, “Tequila” or “Roquefort”) which have a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic because they
come from that place

Government Use - For patents: when the government itself uses or authorizes other persons to use the rights over a
patented product or process, for government purposes, without the permission of the patent owner. See also
compulsory licensing

GPA - Government Procurement Agreement: a “plurilateral” agreement (ie, signed by only some WTO members)
covering the procurement of goods, services and capital infrastructure by governments and other public authorities

Green Box - Domestic support for agriculture that is allowed without limits because it does not distort trade, or at most
causes minimal distortion

Green Room - The informal name of the director-general's conference room. It is used to refer to meetings of 20-40
delegations, usually at the level of heads of delegations. These meetings can take place elsewhere, such as at
Ministerial Conferences, and can be called by the minister chairing the conference as well as the director-general

GRULAC - Informal group of Latin-American members of the WTO

GSP - Generalized System of Preferences — programmes by developed countries granting preferential tariffs to
imports from developing countries

Harmonized System - An international nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization, which is
arranged in six-digit codes allowing all participating countries to classify traded goods on a common basis. Beyond the
six-digit level, countries are free to introduce national distinctions for tariffs and many other purposes

Harmonizing Formula - Used in tariff negotiations for much steeper reductions in higher tariffs than in lower tariffs, the
final rates being “harmonized” i.e. closer together

HLM - WTO High-Level Meeting for least-developed countries, held in October 1997 in Geneva

HoDs - Heads of delegations (usually ambassadors or ministers)

Horizontal - Cutting across or common to several issues

HS 6-Digit - The World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System (HS) uses code numbers to define products. A
code with a low number of digits defines broad categories of products; additional digits indicate sub-divisions into more
detailed definitions. Six-digit codes are the most detailed definitions that are used as standard. Countries can add more
digits for their own coding to subdivide the definitions further according to their own needs. Products defined at the
most detailed level are “tariff lines”
I

Import Licensing - the need to obtain a permit for importing a product; administrative procedures for obtaining an
import license

Inclusive - Ensuring all members have input into a process even when meetings involve only some of them. In WTO
negotiations and other decision-making, ideas are tested and issues are discussed in a variety of meetings, many of
them with only some members present. Members approve of this process so long as information is shared and they
have input into it either by being present or being represented by a group coordinator. The final decision can only be
taken by a formal meeting of the full membership. See also “concentric circles”, “transparent”

Independent Entity - Constituted jointly by the International Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA), representing pre
shipment inspection agencies, and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), representing exporters, this body
administers an independent review procedure under the Agreement on Preshipment Inspection to resolve disputes
between an exporter and a PSI agency

Initial Commitments - Trade liberalizing commitments in services which members are prepared to make early on

Integration Programme - In textiles and clothing, the phasing out of Multifibre Arrangement restrictions in four stages
starting on 1 January 1995 and ending on 1 January 2005

Intellectual Property Rights - Ownership of ideas, including literary and artistic works (protected by copyright),
inventions (protected by patents), signs for distinguishing goods of an enterprise (protected by trademarks) and other
elements of industrial property

Internal Support - domestic support (Sometimes “internal support”.) In agriculture, any domestic subsidy or other
measure which acts to maintain producer prices at levels above those prevailing in international trade; direct payments
to producers, including deficiency payments, and input and marketing cost reduction measures available only for
agricultural production.

International Office of Epizootics - Deals with international standards concerning animal health

IPRs - Intellectual property rights

ITA - Information Technology Agreement, or formally the Ministerial-Declaration on Trade in Information Technology
Products

ITA II - Negotiations aimed at expanding ITA’s product coverage

ITC - The International Trade Centre, originally established by the old GATT and is now operated jointly by the WTO
and the UN, the latter acting through the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Focal point for
technical cooperation on trade promotion of developing countries

ITCB - International Textiles and Clothing Bureau — Geneva-based group of some 20 developing country exporters of
textiles and clothing

IUU Fishing - Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing - which is the subject of the UN Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing - refers inter alia to fishing
and fishing-related activities conducted in contravention of national, regional and international laws; non-reporting,
misreporting or under-reporting of information on fishing operations and their catches; fishing by “stateless” vessels;
fishing in areas under the mandate of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) by non-party vessels;
and fishing activities which are not regulated by states and cannot be easily monitored and accounted for. In the WTO
negotiations, members are debating which IUU determinations, by which entities, and under which conditions could be
used as the basis for prohibiting subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing
J

Job Document - Unofficial document assigned a number preceded by the word “JOB”. Up until 2009, the number in
brackets identified the year, for example JOB(09)/99. However, from 2010 onwards, it identifies the subject, eg,
JOB/AG/1. Because “job” documents are unofficial, they are usually restricted.

LCA - Life cycle analysis — a method of assessing whether a good or service is environmentally friendly

LDCs - Least-developed countries. The WTO recognizes as least-developed countries (LDCs) those countries which
have been designated as such by the United Nations. There are currently 46 least-developed countries on the UN list,
35 of which to date have become WTO members.

Lisbon Agreement - Treaty, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), for the protection of
geographical indications and their international registration

Local-Content Measure - Requirement that the investor purchase a certain amount of local materials for incorporation
in the investor’s product

Madrid Agreement - Treaty, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), for the repression
of false or deceptive indications of source on goods

Mailbox - In intellectual property, refers to the requirement of the TRIPS Agreement applying to WTO members which
do not yet provide product patent protection for pharmaceuticals and for agricultural chemicals. Since 1 January 1995,
when the WTO agreements entered into force, these countries have to establish a means by which applications of
patents for these products can be filed. (An additional requirement says they must also put in place a system for
granting “exclusive marketing rights” for the products whose patent applications have been filed)

Market Access -Market access for goods in the WTO means the conditions, tariff and non-tariff measures, agreed by
members for the entry of specific goods into their markets

Market Distortion - Any departure from perfect competition due to governmental intervention, taxes, market power,
etc.

Market Price Support (MPS) - Market price support is a policy measure that aims to keep the price of a specific
agricultural product on the domestic market at a certain minimum (government set) level. Under the Agreement on
Agriculture, the MPS is measured according to the methodology set out in Annex 3 or 4 (when methodology of Annex 3
is not practicable).

MEA - Multilateral environmental agreement

MEAs - Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) between three or more states relating to the environment, such
as the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change

Members - WTO governments (first letter capitalized, in official WTO style)

MERCOSUR - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay

Metadata - Explanatory notes and other technical details for statistical tables (literally, a set of data that describes and
gives information about other data)

MFA - Multi Fibre Arrangement (1974-94) under which countries whose markets are disrupted by increased imports of
textiles and clothing from another country were able to negotiate quota restrictions

MFN - Most-favoured-nation treatment (GATT Article I, GATS Article II and TRIPS Article 4), the principle of not
discriminating between one’s trading partners

MFN (most-favoured-nation) Tariff - Normal non-discriminatory tariff charged on imports (excludes preferential tariffs
under free trade agreements and other schemes or tariffs charged inside quotas)

Minimum Import Price - A tariff regime seeking to ensure that imports may not enter a member's domestic market
below a certain minimum price. Should the price of an individual consignment be below the specified minimum import
price, an additional charge is imposed corresponding to the difference between the two prices.

Ministerial Conference - the top decision-making WTO body

Modality - A way to proceed. In WTO negotiations, modalities set broad outlines — such as formulas or approaches
for tariff reductions — for final commitments

Modes of Delivery - Examples of the four Modes of Supply (from the perspective of an “importing” country A)

Mode 1: Cross-border

A user in country A receives services from abroad through its telecommunications or postal infrastructure. Such
supplies may include consultancy or market research reports, tele-medical advice, distance training, or architectural
drawings.

Mode 2: Consumption abroad

Nationals of A have traveled abroad as tourists, students, or patients to consume the respective services.

Mode 3: Commercial presence

The service is provided within A by a locally-established affiliate, subsidiary, or representative office of a foreign-owned
and controlled company (bank, hotel group, construction company, etc.).

Mode 4: Movement of natural persons

A foreign national provides a service within A as an independent supplier (e.g., consultant, health worker) or employee
of a service supplier (e.g. consultancy firm, hospital, construction company).

Montreal Protocol - A multilateral environmental agreement dealing with the depletion of the earth’s ozone layer

Multi-modal - Transportation using more than one mode. In the GATS negotiations, essentially door-to-door services
that include international shipping

Multifunctionality - Idea that agriculture has many functions in addition to producing food and fiber, e.g. environmental
protection, landscape preservation, rural employment, food security, etc. See non-trade concerns

Multilateral - In the WTO, involving all members. See “plurilateral”

N

NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement, comprising Canada, Mexico and the US

NAMA - Non-agricultural market access: broadly covers industrial, fisheries and forestry products

National Schedules - In services, the equivalent of tariff schedules in GATT, laying down the commitments accepted
— voluntarily or through negotiation — by WTO members

National Treatment - The principle of giving others the same treatment as one’s own nationals. GATT Article 3
requires that imports be treated no less favorably than the same or similar domestically-produced goods once they
have passed customs. GATS Article 17 and TRIPS Article 3 also deal with national treatment for services and
intellectual property protection

Natural Persons - People, as distinct from juridical persons such as companies and organizations

Net Food Importing Developing Countries - WTO developing countries eligible as beneficiaries within the framework
of the Marrakech Decision on the Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on
Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries. The list is established by the Committee on
Agriculture and is regularly reviewed and updated.

Non-agricultural Products - In the non-agricultural market access negotiations, products not covered by Annex 1 of
the Agriculture Agreement. Fish and forestry products are therefore non-agricultural, along with industrial products in
general.

Non-trade Concerns - Similar to multifunctionality. The preamble of the Agriculture Agreement specifies food security
and environmental protection as examples. Also cited by members are rural development and employment, and
poverty alleviation

Notification - A transparency obligation requiring member governments to report trade measures to the relevant WTO
body if the measures might have an effect on other members

NTBs - Non-tariff barriers, such as quotas, import licensing systems, sanitary regulations, prohibitions, etc. Same as
“non-tariff measures”

NTMs - Non-tariff measures, such as quotas, import licensing systems, sanitary regulations, prohibitions, etc. Same as
“non-tariff barriers”

Nuisance Tariff - Tariff so low that it costs the government more to collect it than the revenue it generates.
Sometimes, a tariff that does not have any protective effect — some countries defend this as necessary in order to
raise revenues

Nullification and Impairment - Damage to a country’s benefits and expectations from its WTO membership through
another country’s change in its trade regime or failure to carry out its WTO obligations