§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made as to the effect on sovereignty of article 16, paragraph 4, of the agreement establishing the multilateral trade organisation.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggArticle XVI, paragraph 4 of the agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation, as it is now to be known, has no effect on national sovereignty. Under this paragraph, the parties to the agreement undertake to ensure the conformity of their laws and regulations with the obligations under the WTO agreement and its annexed agreements. The purpose of this is to ensure full implementation of the GATT agreement by the 881W parties to it. Parties to a treaty always need to ensure the conformity of their domestic legislation with their obligations under the treaty in order to avoid any breach of those obligations.