Benefits of WTO

World Trade Organization helps member states in various ways and this enables them to reap benefits such as:

1. Helps promote peace within nations:

Peace is partly an outcome of two of the most fundamental principle of the trading system; Peace creates international confidence and cooperation that the WTO creates and reinforces.

2. Governments are shielded from lobbying:

Government is better placed to defend themselves against lobbying from narrow interest groups by focusing on trade-offs that are made in the interests of everyone in the economy.

3. Disputes are handled constructively:

As trade expands in volume, in the numbers of products traded and in the number of countries and company trading, there is a greater chance that disputes will arise. WTO helps resolve these disputes peacefully and constructively.

4. Rules make life easier for all:

WTO system is based on rules rather than power and this makes life easier for all trading nations.

5. It provides more choice of products and qualities:

It gives consumer more choice and a broader range of qualities to choose from.

6. Basic principles make life more efficient:

Such principles include; non-discrimination, transparency, increased certainty about trading conditions etc. together they make trading simpler, cutting company costs and increasing confidence in the future and this in turn means more job opportunities and better goods and services for consumers.

7. Free trade cuts the cost of living:

WTO lowers trade barriers through negotiation and applies the principle of non-discrimination. The result is reduced costs of production (because imports used in production are cheaper) and reduced prices of finished goods and services, and ultimately a lower cost of living.

8. Trade raises income:

Through WTO trade barriers are lowered and this increases imports and exports thus earning the country foreign exchange thus raising the country's income.

9. Trade stimulates economic growth:

With upward trend economic growth, jobs can be created and this can be enhanced by WTO through careful policy making and powers of freer trade.

10. The system encourages good governance:

The WTO rules discourage a range of unwise policies and the commitment made to liberalize a sector of trade becomes difficult to reverse. These rules reduce opportunities for corruption.

Criticisms of WTO
1. WTO has increasing inequality: 2. WTO has liberal the policy related to health:
For the past nine years, the European Union has banned beef raised with artificial growth hormones. The WTO recently ruled that this public health law is a barrier to trade and should be abolished. The EU has to rollback its ban or pay stiff penalties.

3. Negotiation and decision making in the WTO are dominated by the developed countries. 4. Because of the dependence of developing country on the developed ones, the developed countries are able to resort to arm-twisting tactics. 5. The WTO has not been successful in imposing the organizations disciplines on the developed countries.

6. Many of the policy liberalizations are done without considering the vulnerability of the developing countries and the possible adverse effect on them.