The most important tariff concessions were granted by the European Community/Union in the context of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In the course of several international negotiations, namely: the "Dillon Round" (1960-62), the "Kennedy Round" (1964-67) and the "Tokyo Round" (1973-79), substantial reductions of customs duties were made on most industrial products. The "Uruguay Round", which was launched on 20 September 1986 and was concluded on 15 December 1993, has achieved major tariff reductions on the part of the 117 participating countries in the sectors of industry, agriculture and services. It has also imposed new rules and disciplines to international trade, rules that the EU has incorporated into European law [see section 23.4].
Since 1995, the customs tariff of the European Union takes account of the outcome of the GATT Uruguay Round of negotiations [see section 23.2]. In principle, for each item and sub-item of the tariff nomenclature, both the autonomous rates and the conventional rates resulting from the GATT negotiations are indicated. Several technical annexes to the CCT set out the specific import regimes, such as the import regime for certain agricultural products or the regime for pharmaceutical substances which may benefit from exoneration on duties.