IPRs — Intellectual property rights.

Lisbon Agreement — Treaty, administered by WIPO, for the protection of geographical indications and their international registration.

Madrid Agreement — Treaty, administered by WIPO, for the repression of false or deceptive indications of source on goods.

mailbox — Refers to the requirement of the TRIPS Agreement applying to WTO members which do not yet provide product patent protection for pharmaceuticals and for agricultural chemicals. Since 1 January 1995, when the WTO agreements entered into force, these countries have to establish a means by which applications of patents for these products can be filed. (An additional requirement says they must also put in place a system for granting “exclusive marketing rights” for the products whose patent applications have been filed.)

parallel imports — When a product made legally (i.e. not pirated) abroad is imported without the permission of the intellectual property right-holder (e.g. the trademark or patent owner). Some countries allow this, others do not.

Paris Convention — Treaty, administered by WIPO, for the protection of industrial intellectual property, i.e. patents, utility models, industrial designs, etc.

piracy — Unauthorized copying of materials protected by intellectual property rights (such as copyright, trademarks, patents, geographical indications, etc) for commercial purposes and unauthorized commercial dealing in copied materials.

Rome Convention — Treaty, administered by WIPO, UNESCO and ILO, for the protection of the works of performers, broadcasting organizations and producers of phonograms.

TRIPS — Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

UPOV — International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants 

Washington Treaty — Treaty for the protection of intellectual property in respect of lay-out designs of integrated circuits.

WIPO — World Intellectual Property Organization.

 

Investment 

export-performance measure — Requirement that a certain quantity of production must be exported.

FDI — Foreign direct investment.

local-content measure — Requirement that the investor purchase a certain amount of local materials for incorporation in the investor’s product.

product-mandating — Requirement that the investor export to certain countries or region.

trade-balancing measure — Requirement that the investor use earnings from exports to pay for imports.

TRIMS — Trade-related investment measures.

 

Dispute settlement

Appellate Body — An independent seven-person body that, upon request by one or more parties to the dispute, reviews findings in panel reports.

automaticity — The “automatic” chronological progression for settling trade disputes in regard to panel establishment, terms of reference, composition and adoption procedures.

DSB — Dispute Settlement Body — when the WTO General Council meets to settle trade disputes.

DSU — The Uruguay Round Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.

nullification and impairment — Damage to a country’s benefits and expectations from its WTO membership through another country’s change in its trade regime or failure to carry out its WTO  

obligations.

panel — Consisting of three experts, this independent body is established by the DSB to examine and issue recommendations on a particular dispute in the light of WTO provisions.

 

Services 

accounting rate — In telecoms, the charge made by one country’s telephone network operator for calls originating in another country.

commercial presence — Having an office, branch, or subsidiary in a foreign country.

GATS — The WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services.

general obligations — Obligations which should be applied to all services sector at the entry into force of the agreement.

Initial commitments — Trade liberalizing commitments in services which members are prepared to make early on.

modes of delivery — How international trade in services is supplied and consumed. Mode 1: cross border supply; mode 2: consumption abroad; mode 3: foreign commercial presence; and mode 4: movement of natural persons.

multi-modal — Transportation using more than one mode. In the GATS negotiations, essentially door-to-door services that include international shipping.

national schedules — The equivalent of tariff schedules in GATT, laying down the commitments  accepted — voluntarily or through negotiation — by WTO members.

natural persons — People, as distinct from juridical persons such as companies and organizations.

offer — A country’s proposal for further liberalization.

protocols — Additional agreements attached to the GATS. The Second Protocol deals with the 1995 commitments on financial services. The Third Protocol deals with movement of natural persons.

prudence, prudential — In financial services, terms used to describe an objective of market regulation by authorities to protect investors and depositors, to avoid instability or crises.

schedule — “Schedule of Specific Commitments” — A WTO member’s list of commitments regarding market access and bindings regarding national treatment.

specific commitments — See “schedule”.

Regionalism/trade and development 

ACP — African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. Group of 71 countries with preferential trading relation with the EU under the former Lom? Treaty now called the Cotonou Agreement.

Andean Community — Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

APEC — Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

ASEAN — Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The seven ASEAN members of the WTO — Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — often speak in the WTO as one group on general issues. The other ASEAN members are Laos and Vietnam.

Caricom — The Caribbean Community and Common Market comprises 15 countries.

CTD — The WTO Committee on Trade and Development

Customs union — Members apply a common external tariff (e.g. the EC).

EC — European Communities (official name of the European Union in the WTO).