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WTO Launch Date Set

GENEVA () -- Senior trade officials of major trading nations Thursday formally approved the launch the new World Trade Organization on New Year's Day.


"It will be a smooth operation on Jan. 1,'' said Peter Sutherland, director general of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, who announced the informal agreement Wednesday evening. GATT will be phased out as the WTO is started up, and the two organizations will coexist for at least a year.

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