Article III (National Treatment on Internal Taxation and Regulation)

E12883

Article III (National Treatment on Internal Taxation and Regulation) is a core provision of the GATT that requires WTO members to treat imported products no less favorably than like domestic products in respect of internal taxes and regulations, thereby preventing protectionist use of domestic measures.


Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf GATT provision
WTO law concept
adoptedIn 1947
appliesTo World Trade Organization
surface form: World Trade Organization members

internal regulations affecting imported and domestic products
internal taxes on imported and domestic products
authenticLanguage English
French
Spanish
bindingOn all WTO members through GATT 1994
contains Article III:1
Article III:2
Article III:4
Article III:5
Article III:8
covers internal charges
internal distribution measures
internal taxes
internal transportation measures
laws affecting the internal sale of products
regulations affecting the internal sale of products
requirements affecting the internal sale of products
field multilateral trading system
incorporatedInto Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization
surface form: Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization via GATT 1994
interpretedBy WTO Appellate Body
WTO panels
keyConcept directly competitive or substitutable products
less favorable treatment
like products
national treatment
protection of domestic production
language English
legalArea international trade law
legalStatus multilateral treaty obligation
notAppliesTo border tariffs
customs duties
objective to secure equality of competitive opportunities between imported and domestic products
partOf General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
surface form: GATT 1947

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
surface form: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994
prohibits internal measures applied so as to afford protection to domestic production
purpose to ensure national treatment for imported products in respect of internal taxation and regulation
to prevent protectionist use of internal taxes and regulations
to protect expectations of competitive conditions for imported products
relatedTo General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
surface form: Article I (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment)

Article XX (General Exceptions)
requires treatment of imported products no less favorable than like domestic products
setsOut general principle that internal measures should not afford protection to domestic production

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade hasPart Article III (National Treatment on Internal Taxation and Regulation)