WTO Advantages
What is WTO?
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
The organization deals with regulation of trade between participating countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participant's adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (1986–1994). Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Established: 1 January 1995
Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations (1986–94)
Membership: 153 countries (on 23 July 2008)
Budget: 185 million Swiss francs for 2008
Secretariat staff: 625
Head: Director-General, Pascal Lamy
Functions:
? Administering WTO trade agreements
? Forum for trade negotiations
? Handling trade disputes
? Monitoring national trade policies
? Technical assistance and training for developing countries
? Cooperation with other international organizations
Brief History about WTO & GATT:
The WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established after World War II in the wake of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation , the Bretton Woods institutions known as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
A comparable international institution for trade, named the International Trade Organization was successfully negotiated. The ITO was to be a United Nations specialized agency and would address not only trade barriers but other issues indirectly related to trade, including employment, investment, restrictive business practices, and commodity
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
The organization deals with regulation of trade between participating countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participant's adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (1986–1994). Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Established: 1 January 1995
Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations (1986–94)
Membership: 153 countries (on 23 July 2008)
Budget: 185 million Swiss francs for 2008
Secretariat staff: 625
Head: Director-General, Pascal Lamy
Functions:
? Administering WTO trade agreements
? Forum for trade negotiations
? Handling trade disputes
? Monitoring national trade policies
? Technical assistance and training for developing countries
? Cooperation with other international organizations
Brief History about WTO & GATT:
The WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established after World War II in the wake of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation , the Bretton Woods institutions known as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
A comparable international institution for trade, named the International Trade Organization was successfully negotiated. The ITO was to be a United Nations specialized agency and would address not only trade barriers but other issues indirectly related to trade, including employment, investment, restrictive business practices, and commodity