Though highlighting the legal and generally formal aspects of its subject-matter, this is basically a book for practitioners engaged in worldwide international trade. The procedural, rather than the substantive element, is the dominant one, though the latter is not exactly neglected. The second edition is as astonishingly thorough in detail as the previous one, reflecting the perfectionist ambition of its author.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is currently being attacked as well as being praised, and one would think, therefore, that its future will be perennially uncertain. However, this impression is deceptive, as all historical indicators would suggest that GATT is going to stay—all the more reason for both academic and practising lawyers, businessmen and executives engaged in world trade in all its aspects (and not only the narrow commercial ones) to take note of this book.

The overall objective of this work is to provide accurate and up-to-date information on the rules governing international trade as far as adumbrated by GATT, in the context not only of general public international law but also of the municipal legislation of the United States and the European Community. This is as it should be, considering that those two trading blocs are responsible for handling the bulk of world trade covered by GATT, the rules of which themselves apply to 80% of all international trade. Like all international economic institutions, GATT is a living organism subject to alteration and innovation not only by force of day-to-day practice but also by force of the bargaining and negotiations going on in its mammoth multi-year sessions, known as Rounds. The Dillon, Kennedy and Tokyo Rounds of the past, and the current Punta del Este (Uruguay) Round have all affected the substance and shape of GATT considerably. Thousands of officials and delegates are involved in those multi-year sessions, and all of them have to be perfectly au fait with their material. One would imagine, therefore, that the present work must be an indispensable tool to them.

The first part of this work deals with the foundations of GATT, and the second with Customs procedures, and the intricate but essential matter of nomenclatures, before going on to