General Agreement on Trade in Services

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement. The accord, which came into force in January 1995, is the first and only set of multilateral rules covering international trade in services. It has been negotiated by the governments themselves, and it sets the framework within which firms and individuals can operate.

The GATS has two parts: the framework agreement containing the general rules and disciplines; and the national “schedules” which list individual countries’ specific commitments on access to their domestic markets by foreign suppliers.