General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Type Multilateral Treaty Signed 30 October 1947 ( 1947-10-30 ) Location Geneva, Geneva Canton, Switzerland "GATT" redirects here. For other uses, see GATT (disambiguation). General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ( GATT ) was a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its preamble, its purpose was the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous basis." It was first discussed during the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization (ITO). GATT was signed by 23 nations in Geneva on October 30, 1947, and took effect on January 1, 1948. It remained in effect until the signature by 123 nations