Abstract
The principle of non discrimination in the frame of the WTO is one of the core principles at its base. Indeed, two ideas are at the heart of the WTO: liberalization of the market, and no discrimination of the trade partners herein. However, the notion of discrimination should first be defined, so as to guide us to its concretization in the frame of the WTO. In general, discrimination can be defined as the differential treatment of persons, actions or goods that are in analogue conditions. Often, the action of discrimination is based on prejudice. In the frame of the WTO, however, this very large notion becomes very specific. Indeed, the principle of non-discrimination holds two aspects: - Most Favored Nation Treatment (MFN): Each member must grant to every other member the most favorable treatment that it grants to any country with respect to imports and exports of products. It comes down to the principle of equal treatment of all WTO members. Specifically, there must be no discrimination in the fixation of import taxes (Art. (I GATT)) And no quota on the number of imports (XI GATT). - National Treatment (NT): Each member must treat foreign goods equal to domestic goods, once foreign goods have cleared customs and become part of the home market (Art. III GATT). This basically means that no differentiation must be done between the imported and the domestic product once they both are on the domestic market.
