The World Trade organisaiton
INTERNATIONAL LAW
INTRODUCTION
The World Trade Organization is an International Trading Organization (WTO) which deals with the rules of trade between nations. The main function of the WTO is to ensure that the International trade arrangements partaken by different nations runs as smoothly and predictably as possible.
It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.1
They try to alleviate these problems through a number of different methods which include :
Administering international trade agreements
Acting as a forum for trade negotiations
Settling trade disputes
Reviewing national trade policies
Assisting developing countries in trade policy issues through training programmes and technical assistance
One aspect which holds significant importance in relation to achieving the goals set out by the WTO are the WTO agreements. These agreements are negotiated and signed by the majority of the world’s nations. As of the 24th of August, 2012, there are 157 members of the WTO2, which accounts for over 95% of world trade. Around 30 other members are currently in the process of negotiating membership. The two most recent countries to join the WTO were Russia, who became the WTO’s 156th member on the 22nd of August 2012, the Republic of Vanuatu is the WTO’s newest member, joining on the 24th of August this year. 3
The current set of rules came about as a result of the 1986-1984 ‘Uruguay Round’ of negotiations. These negotiations also included a major revision of the original General Agreement on Tariffs on Trade (GATT), dating from 1947. The biggest impact of these particular negotiations was the decision of the WTO to expand the multilateral trading system to include trade in services (General Agreement on Trade in Services - GATS), agriculture (The
INTRODUCTION
The World Trade Organization is an International Trading Organization (WTO) which deals with the rules of trade between nations. The main function of the WTO is to ensure that the International trade arrangements partaken by different nations runs as smoothly and predictably as possible.
It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.1
They try to alleviate these problems through a number of different methods which include :
Administering international trade agreements
Acting as a forum for trade negotiations
Settling trade disputes
Reviewing national trade policies
Assisting developing countries in trade policy issues through training programmes and technical assistance
One aspect which holds significant importance in relation to achieving the goals set out by the WTO are the WTO agreements. These agreements are negotiated and signed by the majority of the world’s nations. As of the 24th of August, 2012, there are 157 members of the WTO2, which accounts for over 95% of world trade. Around 30 other members are currently in the process of negotiating membership. The two most recent countries to join the WTO were Russia, who became the WTO’s 156th member on the 22nd of August 2012, the Republic of Vanuatu is the WTO’s newest member, joining on the 24th of August this year. 3
The current set of rules came about as a result of the 1986-1984 ‘Uruguay Round’ of negotiations. These negotiations also included a major revision of the original General Agreement on Tariffs on Trade (GATT), dating from 1947. The biggest impact of these particular negotiations was the decision of the WTO to expand the multilateral trading system to include trade in services (General Agreement on Trade in Services - GATS), agriculture (The
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