Multilateral trade agreement

An intergovernmental agreement aimed at expanding and liberalising international trade under non-discriminatory, predictable and transparent conditions set out in an array of rights and obligations.

Before the GATT entered into force in 1948, trade agreements were mostly bilateral or preferential.

At the World Trade Organization (WTO), multilateral trade agreement refers to the arrangements and legal instruments contained in the first three annexes of the Marrakech Agreement.