GATT Article XXIV
The WTO Basis for Free Trade Agreements
Free trade agreements such as the India-New Zealand FTA operate as a recognised exception to the WTO's Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle, under which a member cannot normally extend a trade concession to one partner without extending it to all WTO members.
- GATT Article XXIV (paragraphs 4-10) permits WTO members to form free trade areas or customs unions that grant each other preferential treatment not extended to other members, provided duties applied to non-members are not raised above pre-FTA levels.
- This is the legal basis on which every bilateral FTA India has signed (UAE, Australia, EFTA, New Zealand, and the ASEAN FTA) departs from MFN treatment.
- Services-sector equivalents operate under GATS Article V.
● Tracked since April 15, 2026 · last seen September 22, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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