WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION HISTORY & AGREEMENTS

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Comoros and Timor Leste join WTO

STRUCTURE

166  Members (Comoros and Timor Leste joined recently in 2024)

HQ: Geneva

Ministerial conference held every 2 years, where decisions are reached through consensus.

HISTORY

GENERRAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE AND TARIFFS (GATT) established by a multilateral treaty of 23 countries in 1947

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8 Round of negotiations

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URUGUAY ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS (1986-1994)

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Signing of Marrakesh Agreement by 123 countries in 1994 : WTO Established replacing GATT.

Doha round began in 2001, stalled since 2008. Bali Package was signed under this round.

PRINCIPLES

• Non discrimination

Most Favoured Nation Treatment: A WTO member must treat all other WTO members equally

National Treatment: Imported goods must be treated equally as domestic goods once it reaches the market (i.e. same sanitary and technical requirements, etc.)

Reciprocity: Mutual lowering of trade barriers.

Free Trade: Bringing down barriers

WTO AGREEMENTS

The WTO is a system based on rules. Rules are actually agreements which members of the WTO have arrived after detailed negotiations.

These agreements cover in the main three broad areas, namely, goods; services and intellectual property. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) pertains to goods;

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) pertains to services,

The Agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) deals with intellectual property issues in world trade.

All members of the WTO have to abide by these agreements.

In addition to the umbrella agreement establishing the WTO and the basic principles underlying the three main Agreements – the GATT, the GATS, the TRIPS – there are other agreements and annexes

• Under GATT, the additional agreements and annexes deal with the following specific sectors or issues: Agriculture  

Textiles and clothing

Health regulations for farm products (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement – SPS) 

Product standards (Technical Barriers to Trade Agreements – TBT)

Investment measures

Anti-dumping measures 

Customs valuation methods 

Pre-shipment inspection

Rules of origin

Import licensing

Subsidies and counter-measures ETC.

• Under GATS, there are annexes dealing with the following services:

Movement of natural persons 

Air transport 

Financial services 

Shipping

Telecommunications

• The TRIPS has no additional agreements or annexes.