A Handbook on Reading WTO Goods and Services Schedules

This is a detailed guide on how to read WTO Schedules of Commitments for Goods and Services. The Schedules are part of the Legal Texts of the WTO Uruguay Round Agreements. They comprise about 27,000 pages of specific commitments by 153 members of the WTO on market access conditions for their markets. Understanding how to interpret the Schedules is essential for anyone wishing to glean information for academic, official, or business purposes. Commissioned and reviewed by the WTO Secretariat, this is a unique guide to understanding the Schedules.

1. The WTO schedules; 2. The goods schedules; 3. The services schedules: specific commitments under the GATS; 4. A practical guide; Appendix 1. A closer reading of Article II of the GATT 78; Appendix 2. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 97; Appendix 3. General Agreement on Trade in Services.