national treatment
Meaning. A trade rule that imported goods must be treated no less favourably than like domestic goods once inside the market.
National treatment requires a state to give imported products, after they have entered its market and paid customs duties, treatment no less favourable than that given to like domestic products in internal taxes and regulations. It prevents disguised protection through internal measures, such as higher sales tax on imported cars.
It appears in Article III of GATT 1994 and, for services and intellectual property, in GATS (for scheduled sectors) and the TRIPS Agreement. It is distinct from most-favoured-nation treatment, which prevents discrimination among foreign countries.
Example
A higher excise duty on imported whisky than on local spirits violates national treatment under GATT Art. III.
In Indian law
- Article III, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994
- Article 3, TRIPS Agreement
See also
Read more in the study notes
- India and the WTO: objectives, functions, agreements and impact (Economic Development in India)
- The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, 1883 (Intellectual Property Rights I)
- The TRIPS Agreement: background, salient features, WTO dispute settlement and Indian IP law (Intellectual Property Rights II)
- The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886 (Intellectual Property Rights II)
- GATT, the Uruguay Round, the WTO and trade liberalisation, and UNCTAD: the business view (International Business)
- GATT 1947 to 1994 and the WTO: objectives, structure and powers (International Trade Economics)