WTO

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (typically abbreviated GATT) was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization (ITO). The Bretton Woods Conference had introduced the idea for an organization to regulate trade as part of a larger plan for economic recovery after World War II.

Once the ITO failed in 1950, only the GATT agreement was left. The GATT's main objective was the reduction of barriers to international trade. This was achieved through the reduction of tariff barriers, quantitative restrictions and subsidies on trade through a series of agreements. The GATT was a treaty, not an organization. The functions of the GATT were taken over by the World Trade Organization which was established during the final round of negotiations in the early 1990s.

GATT and the World Trade OrganizationIn 1993 the GATT was updated (GATT 1994) to include new obligations upon its signatories. One of the most significant changes was the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The 75 existing GATT members and the European Communities became the founding members of the WTO on January 1, 1995. The other 52 GATT members rejoined the WTO in the following two years (the last being Congo in 1997). Since the founding of the WTO, 21 new non-GATT members have joined and 29 are currently negotiating membership. As of October 2007, there were a total of 151 member countries in the WTO.

Whereas GATT was a set of rules agreed upon by nations, the WTO is an institutional body. The WTO expanded its scope from traded goods to trade within the service sector and intellectual property rights.

WTO arrangements are generally a multilateral agreement settlement mechanism of GATT

Meaning

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the rules of trade between nations at a global or near-global level. But there is more to it than that.

FACT FILE Location- Geneva (Switzerland) Established- 1 January 1995 Created By- Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-94) Membership- 159 countries Budget- 197,203,900Swiss Francs for

2013 Secretariat Staff- 625 Head- Roberto Azevêdo (Director-

General)

OBJECTIVE

To promote and ensure the international trade in members countries with the mantra of LPG.

Trade without discrimination. To set and enforce rules for international

trade. To provide forum for negotiating and

monitoring the international trade. To resolve trade disputes.

Contd….

To increase the transparency of decision making processes.

To cooperate with other major international economic institution involved in global economic management.

To help developing countries benefit fully from the global trading system.

OVERVIEW The WTO agreements cover goods, services and

intellectual property.

They spell out the principles of liberalization, and the permitted exceptions.

They include individual countries’ commitments to lower

customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open services markets.

They set procedures for settling disputes.

They prescribe special treatment for developing countries.

COND….. They require governments to make their trade

policies transparent by notifying the WTO about laws in force and measures adopted, and through regular reports by the secretariat on countries’ trade policies

These agreements are often called the WTO’s trade rules, and the WTO is often described as “rules-based”, a system based on rules. But it’s important to remember that the rules are actually agreements that governments negotiated.

Key

    Reporting to General

Council (or a subsidiary)

     Reporting to Dispute Settlement Body

      

Plurilateral committees inform the General Council or Goods Council of their activities, although these agreements are not signed by all WTO members

    Trade Negotiations

Committee reports to General Council

The General Council also meets as the Trade Policy Review Body and Dispute Settlement Body.

The WTO establishes a framework for trade policies; it does not define or specify outcomes. That is, it is concerned with setting the rules of the trade policy games.

Specifically, TRIPS contains requirements that nations' laws must meet for: copyright rights, including the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations; geographical indications, including appellations of origin; industrial designs; integrated circuit layout-designs; patents; monopolies for the developers of new plant varieties; trademarks; trade dress; and undisclosed or confidential information. TRIPS also specifies enforcement procedures, remedies, and dispute resolution procedures.

MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE  First Ministerial Conference- in Singapore in 1996 Second Ministerial Conference- in Geneva in 1998 Third Ministerial Conference- in Seattle in 1999 Fourth Ministerial Conference- in Doha in 2001 Fifth Ministerial Conference- in Cancun in 2003 Sixth Ministerial Conference- in Hong-Cong in 2005 Seventh Ministerial Conference- in Geneva in 2009 Ministerial Conferences  > Bali, 3-6 December 2013

> Geneva, 15-17 December 2011> Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 > Hong Kong, 13-18 December 2005 > Cancún, 10-14 September 2003> Doha, 9-13 November 2001> Seattle, November 30 – December 3, 1999> Geneva, 18-20 May 1998> Singapore, 9-13 December 1996