General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), a treaty of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) resulted from negotiations conducted during the Uruguay Round. The agreement establishes multilateral framework or principles and rules for trade in services. Its objective is therefore to address the obstacles/restrictions to entry of foreign services enterprises in areas like finance, media, communications, and transport. All member states of the WTO are parties to the GATS.