Gatt: Welcome to Australia's Trade through Time -

Welcome to Australia's Trade through Time - a comprehensive snapshot of Australia's trading history from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. FTAs as drivers for liberalisation While multilateral agreements under the GATT and WTO have been the leading arrangements bringing greater trade liberalisation in the world economy, narrower agreements like the European Union and the Canada-US bilateral FTA have also been significant. For Australia, the Closer Economic Relations agreements with New Zealand have made important contributions in allowing Australia and New Zealand to become, in substance, a single economy. Article 2.8: Administrative Fees and Formalities Article VIII of the GATT 1994 is incorporated into and made part of this agreement, mutatis mutandis. Neither Party shall require consular transactions, including related fees and charges, in connection with the importation of any good of the other Party. 60th anniversary of GATT 1 January 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the multilateral trading system. On 1 January 1948 the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the GATT ) entered into force – an agreement that led ultimately to the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1995.