A package of agreements negotiated during the Tokyo Round, dealing with (a) differential and more favorable treatment for LDCs; (b) trade restrictions applied for balance-of-payments purposes; (c) safeguard actions for "infant industry" development purposes; and (d) the process of dispute settlement in GAIT. The agreement took its name from the paragraph in the Tokyo Declaration calling for "improvements in the international framework for the conduct of world trade." The GATT Contracting Parties adopted the four texts making up the Framework Agreement in November 1979. See also enabling clause and graduation.
Also known as a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, or TIF A. A bilateral agreement establishing a mechanism for consultations on trade and investment policy in conjunction with the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (EA/). The EAI framework agreements set up intergovernmental councils to discuss and negotiate the removal of trade and investment barriers; the councils also serve as fora to prepare for subsequent stages of trade liberalization, including the possible negotiation of free trade agreements (FTAs). Since the EAI was launched, the United States has concluded framework agreements with Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela, as well as with MERCOSUR and CARICOM (Sec. III). The United States has signed similar framework agreements with Australia and New Zealand.