Nature and Scope of the National Treatment obligation under the GATS

One of the significant achievements of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was the conclusion of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). With the introduction of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which entered into force on 1 January 1995, trade in services was added to the world trade order, which had previously been applicable only to goods. This first multilateral agreement in this field sets up several general obligations and a system of so-called specific commitments. One of the specific commitments is National Treatment obligation. The National Treatment obligation which is found in Article XVII of the GATS, provides that imported services or service suppliers are to be treated no less favorably than domestically like services or service suppliers. The national treatment obligation and market access are the specific commitments and scheduled according to the bound sector and modes of supply of services. Specific commitments are recorded in the schedule of specific commitments and constitute an integral part of the GATS. The National Treatment obligation which is found in Article XVII of the GATS, provides that imported services or service suppliers are to be treated no less favorably than domestically like services or service suppliers. Apart from the general exceptions to the obligations under the GATS contained in Articles XIV and XIV bis, the national treatment obligation is subject to a number of other exceptions are scattered across the GATS and will be discussed separately in this study.