WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

Jamaludheen A.(PGS14AGR6575)Dept. of Agricultural EconomicsCollege of Agriculture, VijayapurUAS, Dharwad

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The international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations

WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other

Main Function – to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably & freely as possible

World Trade Organization

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Location – Geneva, Switzerland

Established – 1st January 1995

Created By – Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-1994)

Head – Director General , Roberto Azevedo (Brazil)

Membership –160 countries (as on June 2014)

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Increased international trade led to restrictions to protect domestic interests

International trade affected1944-The representatives of 44 allied countries met at

Brettonwoods, USA to give a concrete shape to their ideas.1945- set up of IMF and IBRD (brettonwood twins)30th Oct.,1947 - GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS &

TRADE (GATT) Eighth round of negotiations- Uruguguay,1986Arthur Dunkel- Dunkel Draft GATT - replaced by WTO in 1995 January 1

History..

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To strengthen the relationships between the member countries in the field of trade.

To promote development for raising the living- standards of people.

To ensure full use of resources of the world reciprocally and mutually advantageous to all.

To ensure the reduction in tariffs and other barriers to trade. To develop a more viable and durable integrated trading

system. To establish linkages between trade policies, environmental

policies and sustainable development. To eliminate discriminatory treatment in international trade

relations.

Objectives

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Administering the trade agreements

Handling trade disputes

Monitoring national trade policies

Serving as a forum for trade negotiations

Cooperating with other international

organizations

Functions

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Sl. No Year Rounds1 30th October, 1947 Geneva (Signing of GATT –

23 nations)

2 Feb-March, 1948 First Round, Havana, Cuba

3 April-August, 1949 Second Round, Annecy, France

4 Sept-April, 1950-51 Third Round, Torquay, England

5 May, 1956 Fourth Round, Geneva

6 September, 1960 Fifth (Dillion) Round, Geneva

7 May, 1964 Sixth Round, Kennedy

Important rounds of trade negotiations

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Sl. No Year WTO Ministerials Major outcome

8 Sept. , 1973 Seventh Round, Tokyo

9 1986-1994 Eighth Round, Puntadel Este, Uruguay

Dunkel Draft, Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) was negotiated for the first time

10 1st January, 1995 Ninth Round, Marrakesh, Morocco

Formation of WTO. Reduction in export subsidies, removal of import barriers, TRIPS etc., were discussed.

11 9-13, December 1996

Singapore (First WTO Ministerial Conference)

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12 18-20 May,1998 Geneva --

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Sl.No Year WTO Ministerials Major outcome

13 30 Nov – 3 Dec, 1999 Seattle (Third WTO Ministerial Conference)

protest on issues of labour and environment, the negotiation collapsed

14 9-14 Nov. 2001 Doha, Qatar (Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference)

Review on ‘AoA’. TRIPS & public health.

15 10-14, September, 2003 Cancun, Mexico (Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference)

major cut in farm subsidies and reduce import duties by the developed countries (EU and USA).

16 13-18th December, 2005 Hong Kong, China(Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference)

Flexibilities in market access, eliminating export subsidies and disciplining other export measures, issues pertaining to S&D treatment.

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Sl.No Year WTO Ministerials Major outcome

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30 November – 2 December 2009 Geneva, Switzerland

The general theme for discussion was “The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic Environment"

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15–17 December 2011 Geneva, SwitzerlandMembership agreement where made for Russia, Samoa, and Montenegro

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3–6 December 2013 Bali, Indonesia

The Bali Package- aimed at lowering global trade barriers and is the first agreement reached through the WTO that is approved by all its members

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Trade Policy Review BodyDispute Settlement Body

-Trade & Environment-Trade & development-Regional trade agreements

Structure

Ministerial Conference

General council

Committees on

Council for trade in goods

Council for trade related aspects of

IPR

Council for trade in services

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• Supreme authority• Meets once in two years

Ministerial Conference

• Overseas the operations • Meets once in a month

General Council

• Appointed by general council• Term – 4 years

Director General

Organizational Set-up

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Director General(s) of GATT/WTOGATT

Eric Wyndham White (1948–1968) GATTArthur Dunkel (1980–1993)

WTO - PASCAL LAMY (6th DG of WTO)

Roberto Azevedo (present DG of WTO)

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General agreement on trade and services (GATS)

Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMS)

Agreement on agriculture (AoA), 1995

Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures

Agreements of WTO

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Protection for Inventions & Innovations

Economic benefits must go to creator only

Economic benefits not for the material used but for the intelligence

Limited period of time only (20 years)

Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

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Areas covered

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Industrial Design

Geographical Indication

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Multilateral Trade Agreement

Member countries were given equal weightage

WTO is more transparent unlike World Bank/IMF

Promotes employment opportunities in the country

Improves quality consciousness among the stakeholders

More accessible to modern technologies

More market orientation – foreign exchange

Advantages in joining WTO

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THANK YOU ……..18