ABSTRACT
One consequence of the growing globalization of production and markets is the fact that services develop rapidly and manifold. The pattern of trade has changed in many ways, influenced by technological developments, mass production, and subsequent overcapacities of many products and, most importantly, the appearance of new producing countries on the world market. Under a clear US leadership, world trade and finance, both having been subjected to heavy turbulences between the first and the second world wars, were tied into a multilateral system. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade’s (GATT) aim was to replace as many bilateral trade agreements as possible, and to provide its Contracting Parties with the legal security and protection they needed. Smaller countries especially profited because it would have been difficult for them to achieve such security and protection bilaterally. The GATT Secretariat and the Negotiation Committees are confronted with a three digit figure of national position papers.
