The World Trade Organization (WTO) commenced on 1st January, 1995under the Marrakesh Agreement and is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.
The goal of the WTO is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
The WTO has 164 members since 29th July, 2016 and 23 observer governments, with Afghanistan the latest to join on 29th July, 2016.
The WTO members do not have to be fully independent states; they need only be a customs territory with full autonomy in the conduct of their external commercial relations. e.g.: Hong Kong.
The WTO is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha Development Round, which was launched in 2001 with an explicit focus on developing countries.
Due to various obstacles no new WTO negotiations beyond the Doha Development Round has been possible.
The highest decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years.
Five principles which WTO follows are non-discrimination, reciprocity, binding and enforceable commitments, transparency, safety values.
The operation of the WTO dispute settlement process involves case-specific panels appointed by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), the Appellate Body, The Director-General and the WTO Secretariat, arbitrators, and advisory experts.
Recent Developments
The 11th biennial ministerial conference (MC11) was held from 11th to 14th December, 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The 12th biennial ministerial conference (MC12) is set to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, in 2020. The decision was taken by consensus at the General Council meeting on 26 July 2018 and marks the first time a Ministerial Conference is to be organized in Central Asia.
