A comparison of dispute resolution systems in the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade, the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, and the North American Free Trade Agreement

This thesis examines the dispute resolution systems of three international trade agreements to which Canada is a party: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT"), the Canada United-States Free Trade Agreement ("FTA"), and the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA").;The examination of each of the agreements takes the form of a brief introduction of its history to establish the context in which the agreement was negotiated, followed by an explanation of the mechanics of its dispute resolution system. From that point, the examination branches into different directions for each of the agreements.;In the case of the GATT, criticisms of the operation of the dispute settlement system are analyzed to establish the background against which the Uruguay Round changes to the system evolved. GATT panel cases involving Canada and the United States are then reviewed in order to better understand the history of trade disputes between the two countries which helped to shape the development of the dispute settlement regime in the FTA.;In the case of the FTA, again the cases decided under the general dispute resolution provisions are reviewed to demonstrate the operation of the system and to establish the background against which the NAFTA dispute settlement system was negotiated.;The NAFTA of course, has not yet offered up cases for review to see how its mechanism works in practice, but this section of the thesis compares features of the NAFTA mechanism to those of the GATT and FTA in an attempt to show how it builds on the earlier agreements and to predict how successful it might be.