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ARTICLE · 25 JULY 2019

GATT Article XXIV (Article 24) Under The Spotlight

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Article XXIV of the GATT recently came into focus when Conservative Party leadership candidate and potential future UK Prime Minister candidate, Boris Johnson, claimed it could be a potential option for the UK...

European UnionInternational Law
Bernardine Adkins
Bernardine Adkins
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Article XXIV (also referred to as Article 24) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) recently came into focus when Conservative Party leadership candidate and potential future UK Prime Minister candidate, Boris Johnson, claimed it could be a potential option for the UK in the event of a 'no deal' exit.

During the hustings for leadership of the Conservative Party, he appeared to be of the view that the UK can unilaterally invoke Article XXIV, whereby a 'standstill' provision would apply while the UK and EU negotiated a free trade agreement. He was also of the view that this standstill provision could apply for some 10 years.

This standstill provision is found in paragraph 5 Article XXIV GATT.

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