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WTO/GATT Research: Citing the WTO agreements

This guide presents the essential sources for researching the former GATT and the current system under the Uruguay Round agreements and the World Trade Organization. NOTE: Main tabs list general sources that might not be repeated in the dropdown tabs.

Bluebook citation of the WTO Agreements

To cite a multilateral convention, Rule 21.4.5(a)(ii) of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 20th ed., requires a U.S. source, if therein, with an optional parallel citation to a multilateral source. If neither of those can be obtained, Rule 21.4.5(c) requires a cite to I.L.M. or another unofficial source. Rule 21.11(d) has examples for some WTO and former GATT-era agreements.

NOTE: Bluebook rules can change, so please check the latest edition at the time of your writing. 

The suggested citations below do not contain any U.S. treaty sources because the U.S. did not ratify the Uruguay Round agreements as treaties, but instead implemented them through legislation and administrative action. See Citing official U.S. sources

Instead, the citations below use U.N.T.S. and I.L.M. To locate U.N.T.S. see here and I.L.M. here. Unlike the United Nations, there is no separate GATT or WTO treaty series.

In less recent publications, you may also see a citation to a WTO publication called The Legal Texts: The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (Cambridge, U.K.; New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, [2010] 1999)  Reserve K4600.A35 R473 2010.
 

SUGGESTED CITATIONS:

Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, Apr. 15, 1994, 1867 U.N.T.S. 14, 33 I.L.M. 1143 (1994) [hereinafter Final Act].

WTO Agreement: Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Apr. 15, 1994, 1867 U.N.T.S. 154, 33 I.L.M. 1144 (1994) [hereinafter Marrakesh Agreement or WTO Agreement].

GATT 1994:General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1A, 1867 U.N.T.S. 187, 33 I.L.M. 1153 (1994) [hereinafter GATT 1994].

Agreement on Agriculture, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1A, 1867 U.N.T.S. 410. [Not reproduced in I.L.M.]

TRIMS Agreement: Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1A, 1868 U.N.T.S. 186 [hereinafter TRIMS Agreement]. [Not reproduced in I.L.M.]

Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1A, 1869 U.N.T.S. 14. [Not reproduced in I.L.M.]

GATS: General Agreement on Trade in Services, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1B, 1869 U.N.T.S. 183, 33 I.L.M. 1167 (1994) [hereinafter GATS].

TRIPS: Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1C, 1869 U.N.T.S. 299, 33 I.L.M. 1197 (1994) [hereinafter TRIPS Agreement].

DSU, Dispute Settlement Rules: Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 2, 1869 U.N.T.S. 401, 33 I.L.M. 1226 (1994) [hereinafter DSU]

U.S. sources for the WTO Agreements & the GATT 1947

See Citing official U.S. sources in this guide.