ABSTRACT
In December 1993, after more than seven years of negotiation, the Uruguay Round was completed and in April 1994 the new agreement on international trade was signed by around 122 countries. If successful, the process of ratification should make the agreement come into force from 1995. The completion of the Uruguay Round means that a new era begins in the field of international trade and trade-related policies. The new agreement includes areas that previously have not been covered by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Furthermore, and in the long run this may be of even greater importance, it has been decided that the existing GATT secretariat shall be replaced with a new multilateral trade organization, the World Trade Organization (WTO).
