National Treatment

History of Commercial Treaties National Treatment

The attainment of national treatment through treaty was strengthened in the 13th century. Venice, an Italian city-state that traded chiefly with Central and East Asia, exacted by treaty from the sultan of _alab (Aleppo) the right to have its merchants equip their own quarter in his city and to have their own jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. By the mid-19th century national treatment was so completely achieved that full protection of the rights and property of alien traders was the norm. Merchants traveled freely without passport or visa, and removing obstructions to trade became the main objective. (1)

In this Section: Commercial Treaties, Commercial Treaties Conditions, Trade Agreements, Commercial Treaties History (including National Treatment, Protectionism and Freer Trade) and Most-Favored-Nation Clause.

National Treatment in International Economic Law

In international economic law, national treatment includes the following legal areas, with coverage in this world legal encyclopedia:

li> Different Functions in Goods and Services
• Comparability in International Economic Law
• Comparability in IEL: Goods
• Comparability in IEL: Services
• Process and Production Methods (PPMs)
• Less Favourable Treatment
• Standard of Review

Resources

Notes and References

1. Encarta Online Encyclopedia

See Also

National Treatment and the GATT Policy Negotiations

In relation to the GATT Policy Negotiations, Christopher Mark (1993) provided the following explanation and/or definition of National Treatment: The principle that foreign goods, services, or investment are to be treated “no less favorably” within a nation’s domestic markets than competing products or services produced locally, once import duties have been paid and applicable customs regulations are satisfied. National treatment is one of the fundamental principles of the GATT.