ABSTRACT
The practice of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Secretariat has always assumed that occupied territories could fall within the scope of the treaty. Territories included in the GATT included many whose sovereignty was disputed, and where the de facto power’s control was quite likely rooted in recent illegality. The practice of the GATT Secretariat has always assumed that occupied territories could fall within the scope of the treaty. Large-scale business activity by third-country firms in occupied territories is widespread, and involves some of Europe’s largest industrial, financial, and telecommunications companies. A significant and unexplored issue is business activity in economic territories by state companies. A far from exhaustive survey of business activity in occupied territories reveals significant involvement by European state companies, that is, private corporations in which a sovereign state has whole or controlling ownership.
