The 8th round of multilateral trade negotiations (MTN) conducted within the framework of the GATT. Launched in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 1986 and concluded in December 1993, the final Uruguay Round agreement signed in Marrakech in April 1994, embraces 110 participating countries ("contracting parties") and came into effect in 1995. It is being implemented over the period to 2000 (2004 in the case of developing country contracting parties) under the administrative direction of the newly created World Trade Organization (WTO). The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, administered by the World Trade Organization, brings agricultural trade more fully under the GATT. It provides for converting quantitative restrictions to tariffs and for a phased reduction of tariffs. The agreement also imposes rules and disciplines on agricultural export subsidies, domestic subsidies, and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures.