World Trade Organization

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"WTO" redirects here. For other uses, see WTO (disambiguation).
World Trade Organization (English)
Organisation mondiale du commerce (French)
Organización Mundial del Comercio (Spanish)

Current members of the WTO (in green)

Formation 1 January 1995
Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland
Membership 153 member states
Official languages English, French, Spanish [1]
Director-General Pascal Lamy
180 million Swiss francs (approx. 163
Budget
million USD) in 2008.[2]
Staff 625[3]
Website www.wto.int

Location of the WTO headquarters in Geneva

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization designed to
supervise and liberalize international trade. The WTO came into being on 1 January
1995, and is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which
was created in 1947, and continued to operate for almost five decades as a de facto
international organization.

The World Trade Organization deals with the rules of trade between nations at a near-
global level; it is responsible for negotiating and implementing new trade agreements,
and is in charge of policing member countries' adherence to all the WTO agreements,
signed by the majority of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.[4][5]
Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations,
especially from the Uruguay Round. The organization is currently working with its
members on a new trade negotiation called the Doha Development Agenda (Doha round),
launched in 2001.[4][3]

The WTO has 153 members, which represents more than 95% of total world trade.[6] The
WTO is governed by a Ministerial Conference, which meets every two years; a General
Council, which implements the conference's policy decisions and is responsible for day-
to-day administration; and a director-general, who is appointed by the Ministerial
Conference. The WTO's headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 History
o 1.1 ITO and GATT 1947
o 1.2 GATT rounds of negotiations
 1.2.1 From Geneva to Tokyo
 1.2.2 Uruguay Round
o 1.3 Ministerial conferences
 1.3.1 First ministerial conference
 1.3.2 Second ministerial conference
 1.3.3 Third ministerial conference
 1.3.4 Fourth ministerial conference
 1.3.5 Fifth ministerial conference
 1.3.6 Sixth ministerial conference
o 1.4 Doha Round
• 2 Mission, functions and principles
o 2.1 Functions
o 2.2 Principles of the trading system
• 3 Formal structure
o 3.1 Ministerial Conference
o 3.2 General Council
 3.2.1 Councils for Trade
  3.2.1.1 Council for Trade in Goods
 3.2.1.2 Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights
 3.2.1.3 Council for Trade in Services
 3.2.2 Other committees
o 3.3 Trade Negotiations Committee
o 3.4 Voting system
• 4 Dispute settlement
• 5 Accession and membership
o 5.1 Accession process
o 5.2 Members and observers
• 6 Agreements
o 6.1 Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)
o 6.2 General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
o 6.3 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
Agreement(TRIPs)
o 6.4 Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) Agreement
o 6.5 Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
• 7 Criticism
• 8 See also
• 9 References and notes
• 10 Further reading
o 10.1 Printed sources
o 10.2 Online sources
o 10.3 Books and reports on the WTO
o 10.4 Articles on the WTO
• 11 External links
o 11.1 Official WTO Pages
o 11.2 Government Pages on the WTO
o 11.3 Media Pages on the WTO

o 11.4 Non-Governmental Organization Pages on the WTO (Alphabetical

List)

[edit] History
See also: Chronology of WTO's key events

[edit] ITO and GATT 1947

For more details on this topic, see International Trade Organization.

Harry Dexter White (l) and John Maynard Keynes at the Bretton Woods Conference –
Both economists had been strong advocates of a liberal international trade environment,
and recommended the establishment of three institutions: the IMF (fiscal and monetary
issues), the World Bank (financial and structural issues), and the ITO (international
economic cooperation).[7]

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 - notably 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 agreements. But the ITO treaty
was not approved by the United States and a few other signatories and never went into
effect. [8][9] [10]

In the absence of an international organization for trade, the GATT would over the years
"transform itself" into a de facto international organization.[11]

[edit] GATT rounds of negotiations

See also: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

The GATT was the only multilateral instrument governing international trade from 1948
until the WTO was established in 1995.[12] Despite attempts in the mid 1950s and 1960s
to create some form of institutional mechanism for international trade, the GATT
continued to operate for almost half a century as a semi-institutionalized multilateral
treaty regime on a provisional basis.[13]

[edit] From Geneva to Tokyo

Seven rounds of negotiations occurred under the GATT. The first GATT trade rounds
concentrated on further reducing tariffs. Then, the Kennedy Round in the mid-sixties
brought about a GATT anti-dumping Agreement and a section on development. The
Tokyo Round during the seventies was the first major attempt to tackle trade barriers that
do not take the form of tariffs, and to improve the system, adopting a series of agreements
on non-tariff barriers, which in some cases interpreted existing GATT rules, and in others
broke entirely new ground. Because these plurilateral agreements were not accepted by
the full GATT membership, they were often informally called "codes". Several of these
codes were amended in the Uruguay Round, and turned into multilateral commitments
accepted by all WTO members. Only four remained plurilateral (those on government
procurement, bovine meat, civil aircraft and dairy products), but in 1997 WTO members
agreed to terminate the bovine meat and dairy agreements, leaving only two.[12]

[edit] Uruguay Round

During the Doha Round, the US government blamed Brazil and India for being
inflexible, and the EU for impeding agricultural imports.[14] The President of Brazil, Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva, responded to the criticisms by arguing that progress would only be
achieved if the richest countries (especially the US and countries in the EU) make deeper
cuts in their agricultural subsidies, and further open their markets for agricultural
goods.[15]
For more details on this topic, see Uruguay Round.

Well before GATT's 40th anniversary, its members concluded that the GATT system was
straining to adapt to a new globalizing world economy.[16][17] In response to the problems
identified in the 1982 Ministerial Declaration (structural deficiencies, spill-over impacts
of certain countries' policies on world trade GATT could not manage etc.), the eighth
GATT round — known as the Uruguay Round — was launched in September 1986, in
Punta del Este, Uruguay.[16] It was the biggest negotiating mandate on trade ever agreed:
the talks were going to extend the trading system into several new areas, notably trade in
services and intellectual property, and to reform trade in the sensitive sectors of
agriculture and textiles; all the original GATT articles were up for review.[17] The Final
Act concluding the Uruguay Round and officially establishing the WTO regime was
signed during the April 1994 ministerial meeting at Marrakesh, Morroco, and hence is
known as the Marrakesh Agreement.[18]

The GATT still exists as the WTO's umbrella treaty for trade in goods, updated as a result
of the Uruguay Round negotiations (a distinction is made between GATT 1994, the
updated parts of GATT, and GATT 1947, the original agreement which is still the heart of
GATT 1994).[16] GATT 1994 is not however the only legally binding agreement included
via the Final Act at Marrakesh; a long list of about 60 agreements, annexes, decisions and
understandings was adopted. The agreements fall into a structure with six main parts:

• The Agreement Establishing the WTO

• Goods and investment — the Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods
including the GATT 1994 and the Trade Related Investment Measures
• Services — the General Agreement on Trade in Services
• Intellectual property — the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS)
• Dispute settlement (DSU)
• Reviews of governments' trade policies (TPRM)[19]

[edit] Ministerial conferences

[edit] First ministerial conference

Image:WTO First Ministerial Conference.jpg

Director-General Renato Ruggiero addressing the First Ministerial Conference in
Singapore in December 1996. This was the first meeting of the main WTO body.
Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 1996

The inaugural ministerial conference was held in Singapore in 1996. Disagreements

between largely developed and developing economies emerged during this conference
over four issues initiated by this conference, which led to them being collectively referred
to as the "Singapore issues".

[edit] Second ministerial conference

Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 1998

Was held in Geneva in Switzerland.

[edit] Third ministerial conference

Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999

The third conference in Seattle, Washington ended in failure, with massive

demonstrations and police and National Guard crowd control efforts drawing worldwide
attention.

[edit] Fourth ministerial conference

China became the 143rd member to join the WTO. It took 15 years and 5 months of
negotiations before China was approved to join.
Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 2001

Was held in Doha In Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. The Doha Development Round was
launched at the conference. The conference also approved the joining of China, which
became the 143rd member to join.

[edit] Fifth ministerial conference

Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 2003

The ministerial conference was held in Cancún, Mexico, aiming at forging agreement on
the Doha round. An alliance of 22 southern states, the G20 (led by India, China[20] and
Brazil), resisted demands from the North for agreements on the so-called "Singapore
issues" and called for an end to agricultural subsidies within the EU and the US. The talks
broke down without progress.

[edit] Sixth ministerial conference

For more details on this topic, see WTO Ministerial Conference of 2005.

The sixth WTO Conference Ministerial was held in Hong Kong from 13 December – 18
December 2005. It was considered vital if the four-year-old Doha Development Agenda
negotiations were to move forward sufficiently to conclude the round in 2006. In this
meeting, countries agreed to phase out all their agricultural export subsidies by the end of
2013, and terminate any cotton export subsidies by the end of 2006. Further concessions
to developing countries included an agreement to introduce duty free, tariff free access
for goods from the Least Developed Countries, following the Everything But Arms
initiative of the European Union — but with up to 3% of tariff lines exempted. Other
major issues were left for further negotiation to be completed by the end of 2006.

[edit] Doha Round

For more details on this topic, see Doha Round.

The Doha Development Round started in 2001 and continues today.

The WTO launched the current round of negotiations, the Doha Development Agenda
(DDA) or Doha Round, at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in
November 2001. The Doha round was to be an ambitious effort to make globalisation
more inclusive and help the world's poor, particularly by slashing barriers and subsidies
in farming.[21] The initial agenda comprised both further trade liberalization and new rule-
making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to developing
countries.[22]

The negotiations have been highly contentious and agreement has not been reached,
despite the intense negotiations at several Ministerial Conferences and at other sessions.
Disagreements still continue over several key areas including agriculture subsidies.[23]

[hide]GATT and WTO trade rounds[24]

Subjects
Name Start Duration Countries Achievements
covered
Signing of
GATT, 45,000
tariff
Geneva April 1947 7 months 23 Tariffs
concessions
affecting $10
billion of trade
Countries
exchanged
Annecy April 1949 5 months 13 Tariffs some 5,000
tariff
concessions
Countries
exchanged
some 8,700
September tariff
Torquay 8 months 38 Tariffs
1950 concessions,
cutting the
1948 tariff
levels by 25%
Tariffs, $2.5 billion in
Geneva II January 1956 5 months 26 admission of tariff
Japan reductions
 Tariff
concessions
September
Dillon 11 months 26 Tariffs worth $4.9
1960
billion of
world trade
Tariff
concessions
Tariffs, Anti-
Kennedy May 1964 37 months 62 worth $40
dumping
billion of
world trade
Tariff
Tariffs, non-
reductions
tariff
September worth more
Tokyo 74 months 102 measures,
1973 than $300
"framework"
billion dollars
agreements
achieved
The round led
to the creation
of WTO, and
extended the
range of trade
negotiations,
Tariffs, non-
leading to
tariff
major
measures,
reductions in
rules,
tariffs (about
services,
40%) and
intellectual
September agricultural
Uruguay 87 months 123 property,
1986 subsidies, an
dispute
agreement to
settlement,
allow full
textiles,
access for
agriculture,
textiles and
creation of
clothing from
WTO, etc
developing
countries, and
an extension of
intellectual
property
rights.
Doha November ? 141 Tariffs, non- The round is
2001 tariff not yet
measures, concluded.
agriculture,
labor
standards,
environment,
competition,
investment,
transparency,
 patents etc

[edit] Mission, functions and principles

The WTO's stated goal is to improve the welfare of the people of its member countries,
specifically by lowering trade barriers and providing a platform for negotiation of
trade.[25] Its main mission is "to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and
freely as possible". This main mission is further specified in certain core functions
serving and safeguarding five fundamental principles, which are the foundation of the
multilateral trading system.[26] The WTO/GATT system is founded on non-discrimination,
with its twin faces of Most-Favoured-Nation and National Treatment principles.

[edit] Functions

Among the various functions of the WTO, these are regarded by analysts as the most
important:

• It oversees the implementation, administration and operation of the covered

agreements.[27][28]
• It provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes.[29][30]

Additionally, it is the WTO's duty to review the national trade policies, and to ensure the
coherence and transparency of trade policies through surveillance in global economic
policy-making.[30][28] Another priority of the WTO is the assistance of developing, least-
developed and low-income countries in transition to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines
through technical cooperation and training.[31] The WTO is also a center of economic
research and analysis: regular assessments of the global trade picture in its annual
publications and research reports on specific topics are produced by the organization.[32]
Finally, the WTO cooperates closely with the two other components of the Bretton
Woods system, the IMF and the World Bank.[29]

[edit] Principles of the trading system

The WTO establishes a framework for trade policies; it does not define or specify
outcomes. That is, it is concerned with setting the rules of the trade policy games.[33] Five
principles are of particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the
WTO:

1. Non-Discrimination. It has two major components: the most favoured nation

(MFN) rule, and the national treatment policy. Both are embedded in the main
WTO rules on goods, services, and intellectual property, but their precise scope
and nature differ across these areas. The MFN rule requires that a WTO member
must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members, i.e. a WTO
 member has to grant the most favorable conditions under which it allows trade in
a certain product type to all other WTO members.[33] "Grant someone a special
favour and you have to do the same for all other WTO members."[26] National
treatment means that imported and locally-produced goods should be treated
equally (at least after the foreign goods have entered the market) and was
introduced to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade (e.g. technical standards, security
standards et al. discriminating against imported goods).[33]
2. Reciprocity. It reflects both a desire to limit the scope of free-riding that may
arise because of the MFN rule, and a desire to obtain better access to foreign
markets. A related point is that for a nation to negotiate, it is necessary that the
gain from doing so be greater than the gain available from unilateral
liberalization; reciprocal concessions intend to ensure that such gains will
materialize.[34]
3. Binding and enforceable commitments. The tariff commitments made by WTO
members in a multilateral trade negotiation and on accession are enumerated in a
schedule (list) of concessions. These schedules establish "ceiling bindings": a
country can change its bindings, but only after negotiating with its trading
partners, which could mean compensating them for loss of trade. If satisfaction is
not obtained, the complaining country may invoke the WTO dispute settlement
procedures.[34][26]
4. Transparency. The WTO members are required to publish their trade regulations,
to maintain institutions allowing for the review of administrative decisions
affecting trade, to respond to requests for information by other members, and to
notify changes in trade policies to the WTO. These internal transparency
requirements are supplemented and facilitated by periodic country-specific reports
(trade policy reviews) through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM).[35]
The WTO system tries also to improve predictability and stability, discouraging
the use of quotas and other measures used to set limits on quantities of imports.[26]
5. Safety valves. In specific circumstances, governments are able to restrict trade.
There are three types of provisions in this direction: articles allowing for the use
of trade measures to attain noneconomic objectives; articles aimed at ensuring
"fair competition"; and provisions permitting intervention in trade for economic
reasons….[35]

[edit] Formal structure

According to WTO rules, all WTO members may participate in all councils, committees,
etc., except the Appellate Body, Dispute Settlement panels, and plurilateral committees.
Decisions within the WTO are made by members, not staff, and they are made by
consensus, not by formal vote.[36]

[edit] Ministerial Conference

The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which
tends to meet every two years. There have been six conferences, with the last one being
in December 2005. The conferences are attended by all members of the WTO. The
Ministerial Conference can make decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral
trade agreements [37]. The first meeting of the Ministerial Conference was held in
Singapore on 9 December-13, 1996.

[edit] General Council

The daily work of the ministerial conference is handled by three groups: the General
Council, the Dispute Settlement Body, and the Trade Policy Review Body. All three
consist of the same membership — representatives of all WTO members — but each
meets under different rules and chairpersons. [38] The General Council has several other
councils and committees that work underneath the Council. [39]

The General Council, the WTO’s highest-level decision-making body in Geneva, meets
regularly to run the WTO. The council has authority to act on behalf of the ministerial
conference. The current chairman is Bruce Gosper of Australia.[40]

The Dispute Settlement Body is charged with setting trade disputes between members.
The current chairperson is Mario Matus of Chile.[40]

The Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) is tasked with trade policy reviews of Members
under the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). All members are reviewed
periodically. The time in between reviews are subject to the member's total shares of
world trade. The largest four, currently the European Communities, the United States,
Japan and China, are reviewed every two years. The next 16 are reviewed every four
years. All other members are reviewed every six years. In some cases, the least-developed
nations are allowed longer periods between reviews.[41] The current chairperson is Yonov
Frederick Agah of Nigeria.[40]

[edit] Councils for Trade

The Councils for Trade work under the General Council. ; Council for Trade in Goods,
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, and Council for Trade
in Services — each council works in different fields. Apart from these three councils, six
other bodies report to the General Council reporting on issues such as trade and
development, environmentalism, regional trading arrangements and administrative
issues.[42]

[edit] Council for Trade in Goods

The workings of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which covers
international trade in goods, are the responsibility of the Council for Trade in Goods.It is
made up of representatives from all WTO member countries. The current chairperson, as
of 2007-02-13, is Yonov Frederick Agah (Nigeria).[43]

There are 11 committees under the jurisdiction of the Goods Council each with a specific
task. All members of the WTO participate in the committees. The Textiles Monitoring
Body is separate from the other committees but still under the jurisdiction of Goods
Council. The body has its own chairman and only ten members. The body also has
several groups relating to textiles. [44]

[edit] Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Information on intellectual property in the WTO, news and official records of the
activities of the TRIPS Council, and details of the WTO’s work with other international
organizations in the field.[45]

[edit] Council for Trade in Services

The Council for Trade in Services operates under the guidance of the General Council
and is responsible for overseeing the functioning of the General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS). It is open to all WTO members, and can create subsidiary bodies as
required.[46]

The Service Council has three subsidiary bodies: financial services, domestic regulations,
GATS rules and specific commitments. [44]

[edit] Other committees

The General council has several different committees, working groups, and working
parties. [39]

Committees on

• Trade and Environment

• Trade and Development (Subcommittee on Least-Developed Countries)
• Regional Trade Agreements
• Balance of Payments Restrictions
• Budget, Finance and Administration

Working parties on

• Accession

Working groups on

• Trade, debt and finance

• Trade and technology transfer

[edit] Trade Negotiations Committee

The Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) is the committee that deals with the current
trade talks round. The chair is WTO’s director-general. The committee is currently tasked
with the Doha Development Round.[47]

[edit] Voting system

The WTO operates on a one country, one vote system, but actual votes have never been
taken. Decisionmaking is generally by consensus, and relative market size is the primary
source of bargaining power. The advantage of consensus decision-making is that it
encourages efforts to find the most widely acceptable decision. Main disadvantages
include large time requirements and many rounds of negotiation to develop a consensus
decision, and the tendency for final agreements to use ambiguous language on
contentious points that makes future interpretation of treaties difficult.[citation needed]

In reality, WTO negotiations proceed not by consensus of all members, but by a process
of informal negotiations between small groups of countries. Such negotiations are often
called "Green Room" negotiations (after the colour of the WTO Director-General's Office
in Geneva), or "Mini-Ministerials", when they occur in other countries. These processes
have been regularly criticized by many of the WTO's developing country members which
are often totally excluded from the negotiations.[citation needed]

Richard Steinberg (2002) argues that although the WTO's consensus governance model
provides law-based initial bargaining, trading rounds close through power-based
bargaining favouring Europe and the United States, and may not lead to Pareto
improvement.[48]

[edit] Dispute settlement

Main article: Dispute settlement in the WTO

In 1994, the WTO members agreed on the Understanding on Rules and Procedures
Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) annexed to the "Final Act" signed in
Marrakesh in 1994.[49] Dispute settlement is regarded by the WTO as the central pillar of
the multilateral trading system, and as a "unique contribution to the stability of the global
economy".[50] WTO members have agreed that, if they believe fellow-members are
violating trade rules, they will use the multilateral system of settling disputes instead of
taking action unilaterally.[51]

The operation of the WTO dispute settlement process involves the DSB panels, the
Appellate Body, the WTO Secretariat, arbitrators, independent experts and several
specialized institutions.[52]

[edit] Accession and membership

For more details on this topic, see WTO accession and membership.
The process of becoming a WTO member is unique to each applicant country, and the
terms of accession are dependent upon the country's stage of economic development and
current trade regime.[53] The process takes about five years, on average, but it can last
more if the country is less than fully committed to the process or if political issues
interfere.[54] As is typical of WTO procedures, an offer of accession is only given once
consensus is reached among interested parties.[55]

[edit] Accession process

Status of WTO negotiations: members (including dual-representation with the European

Union) Draft Working Party Report or Factual Summary adopted Goods and/or Services
offers submitted Memorandum on Foreign Trade Regime submitted observer, negotiations
to start later or no Memorandum on FTR submitted frozen procedures or no negotiations in the
last 3 years no official interaction with the WTO

A country wishing to accede to the WTO submits an application to the General Council,
and has to describe all aspects of its trade and economic policies that have a bearing on
WTO agreements.[56] The application is submitted to the WTO in a memorandum which is
examined by a working party open to all interested WTO Members.[57] After all necessary
background information has been acquired, the working party focuses on issues of
discrepancy between the WTO rules and the applicant's international and domestic trade
policies and laws. The working party determines the terms and conditions of entry into
the WTO for the applicant nation, and may consider transitional periods to allow
countries some leeway in complying with the WTO rules.[53] The final phase of accession
involves bilateral negotiations between the applicant nation and other working party
members regarding the concessions and commitments on tariff levels and market access
for goods and services. The new member's commitments are to apply equally to all WTO
members under normal non-discrimination rules, even though they are negotiated
bilaterally.[56]

When the bilateral talks conclude, the working party sends to the General Council or
Ministerial Conference an accession package, which includes a summary of all the
working party meetings, the Protocol of Accession (a draft membership treaty), and lists
("schedules") of the member-to-be's commitments. Once the General Council or
Ministerial Conference approves of the terms of accession, the applicant's parliament
must ratify the Protocol of Accession before it can become a member.[58]
[edit] Members and observers

The WTO has 153 members (almost all of the 123 nations participating in the Uruguay
Round signed on at its foundation, and the rest had to get membership).[59] The 27 states
of the European Union are represented also as the European Communities. WTO
members do not have to be full sovereign nation-members. Instead, they must be a
customs territory with full autonomy in the conduct of their external commercial
relations. Thus Hong Kong (as "Hong Kong, China" since 1997) became a GATT
contracting party, and the Republic of China (commonly known as 'Taiwan', whose
sovereignty has been disputed by the People's Republic of China) acceded to the WTO in
2002 under the name of "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and
Matsu" (Chinese Taipei).[60] A number of non-members have been observers (28) at the
WTO and are currently negotiating their membership. While an observer, Russia is not a
member. With the exception of the Holy See, observers must start accession negotiations
within five years of becoming observers. Some international intergovernmental
organizations are also granted observer status to WTO bodies.[61] 14 states and 2
territories so far have no official interaction with the WTO.

[edit] Agreements
The WTO oversees about 60 different agreements which have the status of international
legal texts. Member countries must sign and ratify all WTO agreements on accession. A
list of WTO agreements can be found here A discussion of some of the most important
agreements follows.

[edit] Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)

The Agreement on Agriculture came into effect with the establishment of the WTO at the
beginning of 1995. The AoA has three central concepts, or "pillars": domestic support,
market access and export subsidies.

[edit] General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)

The General Agreement on Trade in Services was created to extend the multilateral
trading system to service sector, in the same way the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT) provides such a system for merchandise trade. The Agreement entered into
force in January 1995

[edit] Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Agreement(TRIPs)

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights sets down

minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation. It was
negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT) in 1994.
[edit] Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) Agreement

The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures - also known
as the SPS Agreement was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and entered into force with the establishment of the
WTO at the beginning of 1995.

Under the SPS agreement, the WTO sets constraints on members' policies relating to food
safety (bacterial contaminants, pesticides, inspection and labelling) as well as animal and
plant health (imported pests and diseases).

[edit] Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade is an international treaty of the World

Trade Organization. It was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and entered into force with the establishment of the
WTO at the end of 1994.

The object of the TBT Agreement is to "to ensure that technical negotiations and
standards, as well as testing and certification procedures, do not create unnecessary
obstacles to trade".[62]

[edit] Criticism
Main article: Criticism of the World Trade Organization

Protestors clashing with Hong Kong police in Wan Chai (area of Waterfront) during the
WTO Ministerial Conference of 2005.

The stated aim of the WTO is to promote free trade and stimulate economic growth.
Some people argue that free trade leads to a divergence instead of convergence of income
levels within rich and poor countries (the rich get richer and the poor get poorer).[63]
Martin Khor, Director of the Third World Network, argues that the WTO does not
manage the global economy impartially, but in its operation has a systematic bias toward
rich countries and multinational corporations, harming smaller countries which have less
negotiation power. He argues that developing countries have not benefited from the WTO
Agreements of the Uruguay Round, because (among other reasons): market access in
industry has not improved; these countries have had no gains yet from the phasing out of
textiles quotas; non-tariff barriers such as anti-dumping measures have increased; and
domestic support and export subsidies for agricultural products in the rich countries
remain high.[64] Jagdish Bhagwati asserts however that there is greater tariff protection on
manufacturers in the poor countries, which are also overtaking the rich nations in the
number of anti-dumping filings.[65]

Other critics claim that the issues of labor relations and environment are steadfastly
ignored. Steve Charnovitz, former Director of the Global Environment and Trade Study
(GETS), believes that the WTO "should begin to address the link between trade and labor
and environmental concerns."[66] Further, labor unions condemn the labor rights record of
developing countries, arguing that to the extent the WTO succeeds at promoting
globalization, then in equal measure do the environment and labor rights suffer.[67] On the
other side, Khor responds that "if environment and labor were to enter the WTO system
[...] it would be conceptually difficult to argue why other social and cultural issues should
also not enter."[68] Bhagwati is also critical towards "rich-country lobbies seeking on
imposing their unrelated agendas on trade agreements."[69] Therefore, both Bhagwati and
Arvind Panagariya. Professor at Columbia University, have criticized the introduction of
TRIPs into the WTO framework, fearing that such non-trade agendas might overwhelm
the organization's function.[70]

Other critics have characterized the decision making in the WTO as complicated,
ineffective, unrepresentative and non-inclusive, and they have proposed the establishment
of a small, informal steering committee (a "consultative board") that can be delegated
responsibility for developing consensus on trade issues among the member countries.[71]
The Third World Network has called the WTO "the most non-transparent of international
organisations", because "the vast majority of developing countries have very little real
say in the WTO system"; the Network stresses that "civil society groups and institutions
must be given genuine opportunities to express their views and to influence the outcome
of policies and decisions."[72] Certain non-governmental organizations, such as the World
Federalist Movement, argue that democratic participation in the WTO could be enhanced
through the creation of a parliamentary assembly, although other analysts have
characterized this proposal as ineffective.[73]

[edit] See also

• Anti-Globalization • Swiss Formula
• International Trade Centre • Trade bloc
• North American Free Trade • Washington Consensus
Agreement (NAFTA) • WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999
• non-paper protest activity
• Safeguard • Globalization and Health
• Globality
• Subsidy
• The Yes Men

[edit] References and notes

1. ^ General Information on Recruitment in the World Trade Organization, World
Trade Organization
2. ^ "WTO Secretariat budget for 2008", World Trade Organization. Retrieved on 25
August 2008.
3. ^ a b What is the WTO?, World Trade Organization
4. ^ a b Understanding the WTO - what is the World Trade Organization?, World
Trade Organization
5. ^ "World Trade Organization". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
6. ^ Fergusson, Ian F. (9 May 2007). "The World Trade Organization: Background
and Issues" (PDF) 2. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved on 2008-08-15.
7. ^ A.E. Eckes Jr., US Trade History, 73
* A. Smithies, Reflections on the Work of Keynes, 578-601
* N. Warren, Internet and Globalization, 193
8. ^ P. van den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization, 80
9. ^ Palmeter-Mavroidis, Dispute Settlement, 2
10. ^ Fergusson, Ian F. (9 May 2007). "The World Trade Organization: Background
and Issues" (PDF) 4. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved on 2008-08-15.
11. ^ It was contemplated that the GATT would be applied for several years until the
ITO came into force. However, since the ITO was never brought into being, the
GATT gradually became the focus for international governmental cooperation on
trade matters (P. van den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the World Trade
Organization, 81; J.H. Jackson, Managing the Trading System, 134).
12. ^ a b The GATT Years: from Havana to Marrakesh, World Trade Organization
13. ^ M.E. Footer, Analysis of the World Trade Organization, 17
14. ^ B.S. Klapper, With a "Short Window"
15. ^ Lula, Time to Get Serious about Agricultural Subsidies
16. ^ a b c P. Gallagher, The First Ten Years of the WTO, 4
17. ^ a b The Uruguay Round, World Trade Organization
18. ^ http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/04-wto_e.htm
19. ^ Overview: a Navigational Guide, World Trade Organization. For the complete
list of "The Uruguay Round Agreements", see WTO legal texts, World Trade
Organization, and Uruguay Round Agreements, Understandings, Decisions and
Declarations, WorldTradeLaw.net
20. ^ Five Years of China WTO Membership. EU and US Perspectives about China's
Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review
Mechanism
21. ^ The Economist, In the twilight of Doha, 65
22. ^ The Doha Development Agenda, European Commission
23. ^ Fergusson, Ian F. (2008-01-18). "World Trade Organization Negotiations: The
Doha Development Agenda". Congressional Research Service. Retrieved on
2008-07-26.
24. ^ a)The GATT years: from Havana to Marrakesh, World Trade Organization
b)Timeline: World Trade Organization – A chronology of key events, BBC News
c)Brakman-Garretsen-Marrewijk-Witteloostuijn, Nations and Firms in the Global
Economy, Chapter 10: Trade and Capital Restriction
25. ^ The WTO In Brief, The World Trade Organization
26. ^ a b c d Principles of the Trading System, World Trade Organization
27. ^ Functions of the WTO, IISD
28. ^ a b Main Fuctions, World Trade Organization
29. ^ a b A Bredimas, International Economic Law, II, 17
30. ^ a b C. Deere, Decision-making in the WTO: Medieval or Up-to-Date?
31. ^ WTO Assistance for Developing Countries, World Trade Organization
32. ^ Economic research and analysis, World Trade Organization
33. ^ a b c B. Hoekman, The WTO: Functions and Basic Principles, 42
34. ^ a b B. Hoekman, The WTO: Functions and Basic Principles, 43
35. ^ a b B. Hoekman, The WTO: Functions and Basic Principles, 44
36. ^ Sek, Lenore (2003-03-05). "The World Trade Organization: Background and
Issues" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
37. ^ WTO | Ministerial conferences
38. ^ General Council
39. ^ a b "WTO organization chart". World Trade Organization. Retrieved on 2008-
08-14.
40. ^ a b c "Current WTO chairpersons". World Trade Organization. Retrieved on
2008-08-14.
41. ^ "Overseeing national trade policies: the TPRM". World Trade Organization.
Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
42. ^ "Understanding the WTO; Whose WTO is it anyway?". World Trade
Organization. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
43. ^ "TRIPS/CBD, Enforcement & GIs discussed at TRIPS Council". TWN Info
Service on Intellectual Property Issues (Feb07/09). Third World Network (15
February 2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
44. ^ a b "Fourth level: down to the nitty-gritty". World Trade Organization. Retrieved
on 2008-08-18.
45. ^ Intellectual property - overview of TRIPS Agreement
46. ^ "The Services Council, its Committees and other subsidiary bodies". World
Trade Organization. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
47. ^ "The Trade Negotiations Committee". World Trade Organization. Retrieved
on 2008-08-14.
48. ^ Steinberg, Richard H. "In the Shadow of Law or Power? Consensus-based
Bargaining and Outcomes in the GATT/WTO." International Organization.
Spring 2002. pp. 339-374.
49. ^ Stewart-Dawyer, The WTO Dispute Settlement System, 7
50. ^ S. Panitchpakdi, The WTO at ten, 8.
51. ^ Settling Disputes:a Unique Contribution, World Trade Organization
52. ^ WTO Bodies involved in the dispute settlement process, World Trade
Organization
53. ^ a b Accessions Summary, Center for International Development
54. ^ The shortest accession negotiation was that of the Kyrgyz Republic, while the
longest was that of the People's Republic of China (P. Farah, Five Years of
China's WTO Membership, 263-304). Russia, having first applied to join GATT in
1993, is still in negotiations for membership. Recently, it secured a bilateral trade
agreement with the EU and US (Accessions: Russian Federation, World Trade
 Organization; Factsheet on U.S. – Russia WTO Bilateral Market Access
Agreement, Office of the United Stated Trade Representative; Russia - WTO: EU-
Russia Deal Brings Russia a Step Closer to WTO Membership, European
Commission). Moldova and Georgia are the remaining two nations that Russia
must make agreements with to enter the WTO (A. Aslund, Russia's WTO
Accession; V. Novostei, USA OKs Russia’s Entry into WTO, Pravda. Ru).
55. ^ C. Michalopoulos, WTO Accession, 64
56. ^ a b Membership, Alliances and Bureaucracy, World Trade Organization
57. ^ C. Michalopoulos, WTO Accession, 62-63
58. ^ How to Become a Member of the WTO, World Trade Organization
59. ^ For an updated list of WTO members, see here Members and Observers, World
Trade Organization
60. ^ J.H. Jackson, Sovereignty, 109
61. ^ International Intergovernmental Organizations Granted Observer Status to WTO
Bodies, World Trade Organization
62. ^ A Summary of the Final Act of the Uruguay Round
63. ^ Cline, William R. (2004). "Conclusion", Trade Policy and Global Poverty.
Peterson Institute, 264. ISBN 0-881-32365-9.
64. ^ M. Khor, Rethinking Liberalization and Reforming the WTO
65. ^ J. Bhagwati, Reshaping the WTO, 26
66. ^ S. Charnovitz, Addressing Environmental and Labor Issues in the WTO
67. ^ K.C. Kennedy, The World Trade Organization, 46
68. ^ M. Khor, How the WTO is getting a Raw Deal at the WTO, 154
69. ^ J. Bhagwati, Reshaping the WTO, 28
70. ^ J. Bhagwati, From Seattle to Hong Kong
* A. Panagariya, TRIPs and the WTO
71. ^ R. Blackhurst, Reforming WTO Decision Making, 12
* Schott-Watal, Decision-Making in the WTO
72. ^ Transparency, Participation and Legitimacy of the WTO, Third World Network
73. ^ R.M Jennar, A "Consultative Parliamentary Assembly" to the WTO
* Reform of the World Trade Organization and International Financial
Organizations, World Federalist Movement

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Printed sources

• Bhagwati, Jagdish (December 2005). "From Seattle to Hong Kong". Foreign Affairs 84
(7): Article 15, http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20051201faessay84701/jagdish-
bhagwati/from-seattle-to-hong-kong.html. Retrieved on 22 March 2007.
• Bhagwati, Jagdish (January/February 2005). "Reshaping the WTO" (PDF). Far Eastern
Economic Review 162 (22): 25–30,
http://www.columbia.edu/~jb38/FEER%20Final%20Edited%20by%20Restall%20and%2
0Bhagwati.pdf. Retrieved on 22 March 2007.
• Blackhurst, Richard (August 2000). "Reforming WTO Decision Making: Lessons from
Singapore and Seattle" (PDF). Center for Research on Economic Development and
 Policy Reform (Working Paper No 63): 1–20, http://scid.stanford.edu/pdf/credpr63.pdf.
Retrieved on 23 March 2007.
• Bossche, Peter van den (2005). "The Origins of the WTO", The Law and Policy of the
World Trade Organization: Text, Cases and Materials. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0-521-82290-4.
• Bredimas, Antonis (1996). "Introduction", International Economic Law (in Greek).
Athens: Ant. N.Sakkoulas Publishers. ISBN 9-602-32392-2.
• Cline, William R. (2004). "Conclusion", Trade Policy and Global Poverty. Peterson
Institute. ISBN 0-881-32365-9.
• Eckes, Jr., Alfred E. (1999). "US Trade History", in William Anthony Lovett, Richard L.
Brinkman, Alfred E. Eckes, Alfred E. Eckes, Jr.: U.S. Trade Policy: History, Theory and
the WTO. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0-765-60323-3.
• Farah, Paolo (August 2006). "Five Years of China WTO Membership. EU and US
Perspectives about China's Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the
Transitional Review Mechanism". Legal Issues of Economic Integration 33 (3),
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916768. Retrieved on 16 March
2007.
• Footer, Mary E. (2006). "Organization and Institutional Aspects", An Institutional and
Normative Analysis of the World Trade Organization. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN
9-004-14308-4.
• Gallagher, Peter (2005). "The GATT Becomes the WTO, 1995", The First Ten Years of
the WTO: 1995-2005. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-86215-9.
• Hoekman, Bernard (2002). "The WTO: Functions and Basic Principles", in Bernard M.
Hoekman, Aaditya Mattoo, Philip English: Development, Trade, and the WTO: A
Handbook. World Bank Publications. ISBN 0-821-34997-X.
• "In the Twilight of Doha". The Economist (29 July - 4 August 2006) 380 (8488): 65–66,
http://www.economist.com/printedition/index.cfm?d=20060729. Retrieved on 12 April
2007.
• Jackson, John H. (1994). "Managing the Trading System: The World Trade Organization
and the Post-Uruguay Round GATT Agenda", in Peter B. Kenen: Managing the World
Economy: Fifty Years after Bretton Woods. Institute for International Economics. ISBN 0-
88132-212-1.
• Jackson, John H. (2006). "The World Trade Organization: Structure of the Treaty and the
Institution", Sovereignty, the WTO and Changing Fundamentals of International Law.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-86007-5.
• Kenen, Peter B. (1999 – first published 1994). "The Evolution of Trade Policy", The
International Economy (Volume I), Third (in Greek – translated from English by Andreas
Sokodimos), Athens: Papazisis (in English: Cambridge University Press). ISBN 9-60021-
365-8.
• Kennedy, Kevin C. (2006). "The World Trade Organization: Ultimate Arbiter of
International Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards?", in Lawrence (Busch, Jim Bingen:
Agricultural Standards: The Shape of the Global Food And Fiber System. Springer. ISBN
1-402-03983-2.
• Khor, Martin (2002). "How the South is Getting a Raw Deal at the WTO", in Robin
Broad: Global Backlash: Citizen Initiatives for a Just World Economy. Rowman &
Littlefield. ISBN 0-742-51034-4.
• Klapper, Bradley S. (14 November 2006). "With a 'Short Window,' one more Try for Deal
on World Trade Talks". The International Herald Tribune,
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/14/business/wto.php. Retrieved on 16 March 2007.
 • Lowenfeld, Andreas F. (1991 – 2007). "Preface - First Thoughts on Dispute Settlement in
the World Trade Organization", in Pierre Pescatore, William J. Davey, Andreas F.
Lowenfeld: Handbook of WTO/GATT Dispute Settlement. Translations Publishers, Inc.
ISBN 0-929179-48-X.
• Lowenfeld, Andreas F. (2002). "Dispute Settlement in the WTO", International
Economic Law. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-825667-1.
• Lula da Silva, Luiz Inácio (1 June 2006). "Time to Get Serious about Agricultural
Subsidies". The International Herald Tribune,
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/01/opinion/edlula.php. Retrieved on 16 March 2007.
• Martin, Will; Dwyer, Amy S. (1995). The Uruguay Round: Widening and Deepening the
World Trading System. World Bank Publications. ISBN 0-821-33488-3.
• Michalopoulos, Constantine (2002). "WTO Accession", in Bernard M. Hoekman, Aaditya
Mattoo, Philip English: Development, Trade, and the WTO: A Handbook. World Bank
Publications. ISBN 0-821-34997-X.
• Palmeter, N. David; Winters, Allan L. (2004). "Overview", Dispute Settlement in the
World Trade Organization: Practice and Procedure. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
0-521-53003-2.
• Panitchpakdi, Supachai (2006). "The WTO at ten: Building on ten Years of
Achievements", in Giorgio Sacerdoti, Alan Yanovich, Jan Bohanes: The WTO at Ten: The
Contribution of the Dispute Settlement System. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-
86314-7.
• Panizzon, Marion (2006). "Good Faith Non-interpretation by the WTO Apellate Body",
Good Faith in the Jurisprudence of the WTO. Hart Publishing. ISBN 1-841-13620-4.
• Smithies, Arthur (November 1954). "Reflections on the Work and Influence of John
Maynard Keynes". The Quarterly Journal of Economics 65 (4): 578–601.
doi:10.2307/1882580, http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-
5533(195111)65%3A4%3C578%3AROTWAI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3. Retrieved on 14
March 2007.
• Stewart, Terence P.; Dwyer, Amy S. (1991 – 2007). "The WTO Dispute Settlement
System: an Overview", in Pierre Pescatore, William J. Davey, Andreas F. Lowenfeld:
Handbook of WTO/GATT Dispute Settlement. Translations Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-
929179-48-X.
• Van der Borght, Kim (December 1999). "The Advisory Center on the WTO Law:
Advancing Fairness and Equality". Journal of International Economic Law 2 (4): 723–
728. doi:10.1093/jiel/2.4.723, http://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jieclw/v2y1999i4p723-
28.html. Retrieved on 21 March 2007.
• Warren, Neil (2005). "Internet and Globalization", in Partha Gangopadhyay, Manas
Chatterji: Economics of Globalisation. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. ISBN 0-754-64137-6.
• "World Trade Organization". Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2002).

[edit] Online sources

• "Accessions Summary". Global trade Negotiations. Center for International

Development at Harvard University. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• Aslund, Anders (2007-12-21). "Russia's WTO Accession". Speeches, Testimony, Papers.
Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Politics. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• Charnovitz, Steve (1999-11-01). "Addressing Environmental and Labor Issues in the
World Trade Organization". Trade and Global Markets: World Trade Organization.
Progressive Policy Institute. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
• Deere, Carolyn. "Decision-making in the WTO: Medieval or Up-to-Date?". WTO Public
Forum: what for the XXIst Century?. World Trade Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-
17.
• "Economic Research and Analysis". World Trade Organization.
• "Factsheet on U.S. – Russia WTO Bilateral Market Access Agreement", Office of the
United States Trade Representative (2007-11-10). Retrieved on 16 March 2007.
• "Functions of the WTO". The Basics of the WTO. International Institute for Sustainable
Development. Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
• "How to Become a Member of the WTO". Accession: Explanation. World Trade
Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• Jennar, Raoul Marc. "A "Consultative Parliamentary Assembly" to the WTO: a Reform
that Changes Nothing". Unité de Recherche, de Formation et d'Information sur la
Globalisation. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
• "International Intergovernmental Organizations Granted Observer Status to WTO
bodies". World Trade Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• Khor, Martin (2000-01-28). "Rethinking Liberalization And Reforming The WTO". Third
World Network. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
• "Lamy: "We have resumed negotiations fully across the board"". WTO: 2007 News Items.
World Trade Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-12.
• "Members and Observers". Understanding the WTO. World Trade Organization.
Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• "Membership, Alliances and Bureaucracy". Understanding the WTO. World Trade
Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• Novostei, Vremya (2007-11-15). "USA OKs Russia's Entry into WTO", Pravda.Ru.
Retrieved on 16 March 2007.
• "Overview: a Navigational Guide". Understanding the WTO. World Trade Organization.
Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• Panagariya, Arvind (1999-07-20). "TRIPS and the WTO: an Uneasy Message". Retrieved
on 2007-03-22.
• "Principles of the Trading System". Understanding the WTO. World Trade Organization.
Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
• "Reform of the World Trade Organization and International Financial Organizations".
Global Economic Governance. World Federalist Movement. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
• "Russia - WTO: EU-Russia Deal Brings Russia a Step Closer to WTO Membership".
External Relations – The EU's Relations with Russia. European Commission (2007-05-
21). Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• "Russian Federation". Accessions. World Trade Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
• Schott, Jeffrey J.; Watal, Jayashree (March 2000). "Decision-Making in the WTO". Peter
G. Peterson Institute for International Economics. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
• "Settling Disputes:A Unique Contribution". Understanding the WTO. World Trade
Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
• "The Doha Development Agenda". EU & WTO. European Commission. Retrieved on
2007-03-12.
• "The GATT years: from Havana to Marrakesh". Understanding the WTO. World Trade
Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
• "The Uruguay Round". Understanding the WTO. World Trade Organization. Retrieved on
2007-03-16.
• "The WTO In Brief". World Trade Organization. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
• "Transparency, Participation and Legitimacy Of the WTO". Third World Network (March
1999). Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
 • "Uruguay Round Agreements, Understandings, Decisions and Declarations".
WorldTradeLaw.net. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.

[edit] Books and reports on the WTO

• What happened in Hong Kong? Initial analysis of the WTO Ministerial, Oxfam
International, December 2005.
• Sailing Close to the Wind: Navigating the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Institute for
Agriculture and Trade Policy, Dec 2005.
• The World Trade Organisation: An Australian GuidePDF (582 KB), Global Trade Watch, Dec
2005.
• What You Need to Know About the WTO Before the Hong Kong MinisterialPDF (111 KB)
Public Citizen, 7 December 2005.
• Derailer’s Guide to the WTOPDF (361 KB), Focus on the Global South, Dec 2005.
• Martin Khor et al (2005), WTO and the Global Trading System: Development Impacts
and Reform Proposals, Zed Books
• Fatoumata Jawara and Aileen Kwa (2004), Behind the Scenes at the WTO: The Real
World of International Trade Negotiations/Lessons of Cancun, Zed Books
• Jargon Explained: Glossary of Terms Commonly Used in the WTOPDF (492 KB), Compiled
by 3D (Trade, Human Rights, Equitable Economy)], July 2004.
• Steinberg, Richard H. (2002). In the shadow of law or power? Consensus-based
bargaining and outcomes in the GATT/WTO. International Organization 56 (2), 339–
374.
• Wagner, Johann (2006). Direkte Steuern und Welthandelsrecht - Das Verbot
ertragsteuerlicher Exportsubventionen im Recht der WTO. Nomos, Baden-Baden 2006.
• European Trade Union Institute - Series of reports on WTO and Asbestos
• More references at the WorldTradeLawnet Bibliography.
• The World Trade Organization (WTO): Selective Bibliography, prepared by Hugo H.R.
van Hamel, Peace Palace Library
• Jones, Kent (2004). Who's Afraid of the WTO?

[edit] Articles on the WTO

• Is Trade Liberalization a Product of Domestic or International Processes? Lessons from

Doha
• Leading the Way: How U.S.Trade Policy Can Overcome Doha's Failings
• Five Years of China’s WTO Membership. EU and US Perspectives about China’s
Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism,
Legal Issues of Economic Integration, Kluwer Law International, Volume 33, Number 3,
pp. 263-304, August 2006. by Paolo Farah
• www.globalexchange.org — Top Reasons to Oppose the WTO, Sept 2005.
• Whither the WTO? A Progress Report on the Doha Round
• The WTO Conference in Seattle — “failed”: The Nations’ Struggle for the Wealth of the
World and its Latest Battlefields, 2004.
• Guardian Unlimited - Time for Tranformation — by George Monbiot, 8 September 2003.
• Why the WTO Is Going Nowhere, By William Greider, The Nation, 4 September 2003.
• Monthly Review - WTO stops world taking over?!, January 2000.
• www.sfgate.com — Is the World Trade Organization a blessing or a curse? by Kevin
Phillips, 29 November 1999.
 • Slate — Enemies of the WTO: Bogus Arguments against the World Trade Organization
by Paul Krugman, 24 November 1999
• World Trade Organisation (WTO): An illegal organisation that violates the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, By Michel Chossudovsky, Nov 1999.
• Mapping the Law of WTO Accession(2006) By Steve Charnovitz
• Seattle and Beyond: A WTO Agenda for the New Millennium

Trade Sembe

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

World Trade Organization

[edit] Official WTO Pages

• Official WTO homepage

o Agreements administered by the WTO
o WTO 10th AnniversaryPDF (1.40 MB) — Highlights of the first decade,
Annual Report 2005 pages 116-166
o International Trade Centre - joint UN/WTO agency
• (WTO-Arab) Official WTO website in Arabic

[edit] Government Pages on the WTO

• European Union position on the WTO

[edit] Media Pages on the WTO

• World Trade Organization

• BBC News — Profile: WTO
• CNN - Special: WTO Hong Kong ongoing coverage
• Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: The World Trade Organisation ongoing
coverage
• Panos London - Trading Places: African and Asian journalists report from the
WTO Hong Kong
• "The Trade Wars" News and analysis about the WTO and international trade by
Inter Press Service
• WTODOC.ORG Behind the scenes public television documentary covering the
Doha Round

[edit] Non-Governmental Organization Pages on the WTO (Alphabetical

List)
 • ActionAid - WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Page
• Australian Fair Trade & Investment Network
• Bite Back! WTO: Hands off our Food
• Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies
• Center for Economic and Policy Research - WTO Talks Collapse Amidst
Developing Countries' Reluctance to Sacrifice Food Security (29 July 2008)
• Focus on the Global South - Trade Campaign
• Friends of the Earth International - Trade Campaign
• Gatt.org - Parody of official WTO page by The Yes Men
• Global Exchange
• Report on the future of the WTO - Globalisation Institute
• Globalization Monitor
• Global Trade Watch (Australia)
• IATP Trade Observatory
• http://www.iqsensato.org/?p=25, IQsensato.org, International Trade Policy and
Regulation
• International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
• NAMA-Watch - Clearinghouse for information on Non-Agricultural Market
Access
• Our World is Not for Sale Network
• Make Trade Fair - Oxfam International
• Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
• Target:WTO
• Third World Network
• Transnational Institute: Beyond the WTO
• World Development Movement - Trade Campaign
• WTOaction.org

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