Editing National treatment

{{Short description|Principle in international law}}
'''National treatment''' is a principle in [[international law]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/international-law/the-national-treatment-standard.php|title=The national treatment standard|date=2013-11-01|website=LawTeacher.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511200437/https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/international-law/the-national-treatment-standard.php|archive-date=2015-05-11|url-status=live|access-date=2018-07-25}}</ref> Utilized in many [[treaty]] regimes involving trade and intellectual property,<ref name="wtofact">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wto.org/english/theWTO_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact2_e.htm|title=Principles of the trading system|website=World Trade Organization|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817082622/https://www.wto.org/english/theWTO_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact2_e.htm|archive-date=2000-08-17|url-status=live|access-date=2018-07-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Loewenheim|first=Ulrich|date=2009-01-01|doi=10.1007/978-3-540-88743-0_41|title = Patents and Technological Progress in a Globalized World|volume = 6|pages=593–599|isbn = 978-3-540-88742-3|chapter=The Principle of National Treatment in the International Conventions Protecting Intellectual Property}}</ref> it requires equal treatment of [[alien (law)|foreigners]] and locals.  Under national treatment, a [[Sovereign state|state]] that grants particular rights, benefits or privileges to its own [[citizen]]s must also grant those advantages to the citizens of other states while they are in that country.  In the context of [[international agreements]], a state must provide equal treatment to citizens of the other states participating in the agreement. Imported and locally produced goods should be treated equally — at least after the foreign goods have entered the market.<ref name="wtofact"/>

While this is generally viewed as a desirable principle, in custom it conversely means that a state can deprive foreigners of anything of which it deprives its own citizens.  An opposing principle calls for an international minimum standard of justice (a sort of basic [[due process]]) that would provide a base floor for the protection of rights and of access to judicial process.  The conflict between national treatment and minimum standards has mainly played out between [[industrialization|industrialized]] and [[developing nation]]s, in the context of [[expropriation]]s.  Many developing nations, having the power to take control over the property of their own citizens, wished to exercise it over the property of aliens as well.{{cn|date=September 2019}}

Though support for national treatment was expressed in several controversial (and legally non-binding) [[United Nations General Assembly]] resolutions, the issue of expropriations is almost universally handled through treaties with other states and contracts with private entities, rather than through reliance upon international custom.

National treatment only applies once a product, service or item of intellectual property has entered the market. Therefore, charging customs duty on an import is not a violation of national treatment even if locally-produced products are not charged an equivalent tax.<ref name="wtofact"/>

==GATT/WTO==

National treatment is an integral part of many [[World Trade Organization]] agreements. Together with the [[most favoured nation]] principle, national treatment is one of the cornerstones of WTO trade law.  It is found in all 3 of the main WTO agreements (GATT, GATS and TRIPS).<ref name="wtofact"/>

National treatment is a basic principle of GATT/WTO that prohibits discrimination between imported and domestically produced goods with respect to internal taxation or other government regulation. The principle of national treatment is formulated in Article 3 of the GATT 1947<ref>The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/gatt47_01_e.htm</ref> (and incorporated by reference in GATT 1994); Article 17 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); and in Article 3 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The aim of this trade rule is to prevent internal taxes or other regulations from being used as a substitute for tariff protection.<ref>[http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf CRS Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition - Order Code 97-905] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810044532/http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf |date=2011-08-10 }}</ref>

From the outset, [[government procurement]] was excluded from the national treatment obligation.<ref>World Trade Organization, [https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/gpa_overview_e.htm Overview of the Agreement on Government Procurement], accessed on 21 March 2025</ref>

A good summary is found in Japan-Alcohol<ref>Report of the WTO Appellate Body 1994 http://www.worldtradelaw.net/reports/wtoab/japan-alcohol(ab).pdf</ref> which states that "[a] national treatment obligation is a general prohibition on the use of internal taxes and other internal regulatory measures so as to afford protection to domestic production".

== See also ==
* [[Like product]]
* [[Most favoured nation]]
* [[Special and differential treatment]]
* [[Privileges and Immunities Clause|Privileges and Immunities Clause (United States Constitution, Article IV)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:International law]]
[[Category:World Trade Organization]]
[[Category:Foreign direct investment]]