The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the major multilateral forum through which governments can come to agreements and can settle disputes regarding trade. It is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. It establishes rules for international trade through consensus among its member states. It also resolves disputes between the members, which are all signatories to its set of trade agreements. The goal of this organization is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers to conduct their business.
Origin of World Trade Organization (WTO)
The World Trade Organization (WTO) came into existence on January 1, 1995. It’s headquarter is in Geneva, Switzerland. During the time of establishment there were 125 member nations in of this organization. But at present its member nations are 160 with 30 observer countries on 26 June 2014 (with dates of membership). (source : www.wto.org)
Before the establishment of World Trade Organization (WTO), 23 countries formed General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 under the auspices of the united nation to abolish quotas and reduce tariffs. And by the passage of time World Trade Organization (WTO) replaced General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1995.
Organizational view (Past, Present and Future)
There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization. It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.
The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The bulk of the WTO’s current work comes from the 1986–94 negotiations