Manufacturing Clause

Manufacturing Clause in Global Commerce Policy

In this regard, manufacturing clause is: a dispute brought before the GATT Council in 1983 by the European Communities. The facts were that Section 601 (the Manufacturing Clause) of United States Public Law 97-215 of 1982 prohibited, with certain exceptions, the import into the United States or public distribution there of a work under copyright consisting mainly of non-dramatic material unless the material had been manufactured in the United States or Canada. The definition of “manufacture” included typesetting, printing and binding. The Manufacturing Clause had originally been enacted in 1891 and amended several times. The 1976 amendment included a sunset clause applicable before 1 July 1982. The Act expired and was re-enacted on 13 July 1982 with 1986 as the new expiry date. The main interest in this case was in whether the amended Act was covered by the Protocol of Provisional Accession. This protocol allowed GATT members to retain legislation not fully consistent with GATT rules if it was in force on 30 October 1947. The panel held that legislative changes to the Manufacturing Clause did not necessarily disqualify it as “existing legislation”. The entries on trade policy are here. It considered, however, that the insertion of the sunset clause in the 1976 Act constituted a policy change representing a move towards greater GATT conformity. The re-enactment in 1982 postponing the expiry date was a reversal of the move towards greater conformity and therefore an increase in the degree of inconsistency with the GATT. The panel accordingly found in favour of the European Communities on this point.[1]

Manufacturing Clausein the wold Encyclopedia

For an introductory overview on international trade policy, see this entry.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Dictionary of Trade Policy, “Manufacturing Clause” entry (OAS)

See Also