Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PRESENTED BY Ketan Parmar Rudrik Achrya Pratik Bhatt Dabhi Yogesh Devang Patel
INTRODUCTION
The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the rules of trade between nations at a global or near-global level. Its an organization for liberalizing trade. Above all, its a negotiating forum:-WTO is a place where member governments go, to try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other. Its a set of rules:- These documents provide the legal ground-rules for international commerce. They are essentially contracts, binding governments to keep their trade policies within agreed limits. And it helps to settle disputes :- Settle the differences is through some neutral procedure based on an agreed legal foundation.
HISTORY
organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948 The organization is currently endeavoring to persist with a trade negotiation called the Doha Development Agenda (or Doha Round), which was launched in 2001 to enhance equitable participation of poorer countries which represent a majority of the world's population
OBJECTIVES
Raising standards of living Ensuring full employment Realizing these aims consistently with sustainable development and environmental protection Ensuring that developing countries, especially the least developed countries (LDCs), secure a proper share in the growth of international trade.
FUNCTIONS
It oversees the implementation, administration and operation of the covered agreements. It provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes. 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 WTO is the assistance of developing, leastdeveloped and low-income countries in transition to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines through technical cooperation and training.
WTO
Location: Geneva, Switzerland Established: 1 January 1995 Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations (198694) Membership: 150 countries (since 11 January 2007) Budget: 175 million Swiss francs for 2006 Secretariat staff: 635 Head: Pascal Lamy (director-general) Functions: Administering WTO trade agreements Forum for trade negotiations Handling trade disputes Monitoring national trade policies Technical assistance and training for developing country
Transparency. The WTO members are required to publish their trade regulations, to maintain institutions allowing for the review of administrative decisions affecting trade Safety valves "fair competition"; and provisions permitting intervention in trade for economic reasons 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.]
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Council for Trade in Goods Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Council for Trade in Services Trade Negotiations Committee Decision-making
Other critics claim that the issues of labor 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." He also argues that "in the absence of proper environmental regulation and resource management, increased trade might cause so much adverse damage that the gains from trade would be less than the environmental costs."
DECISION MAKING
Other critics have characterized the decision making in the WTO as over-simplified, ineffective, unrepresentative and non-inclusive; more active participants, representing more diverse interests and objectives, have complicated WTO decision-making, and the process of "consensus-building" has broken down. However, Dr Raoul Marc Jennar argues that a consultative parliamentary assembly would be ineffective for the following reasons: It does not resolve the problem of "informal meetings" whereby industrialized countries negotiate the most important decisions; It does not reduce the de facto inequality which exists between countries with regards to an effective and efficient participation to all activities within all WTO bodies;
GATT
The General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) came into existence in 1947 .It sought substantial reduction in tariff and other barriers to trade and to eliminate discriminatory treatment in international commerce. Original intention behind the GATT was to create a third institution to supervise international trade, other two being the World Bank and IMF. India signatory to GATT 1947 along with twenty two other countries Eight rounds of negotiations had taken place during five decades of its existence
URUGUAY ROUND
Held in September 1986 in Pantadel Este in Uruguay. The major highlights were:
Expansion in the sphere of activities from international trade to services, investment and information. Liberalization of trade in Agriculture and Textile goods. Patents & Subsidies Tariff cut- Developing countries have to cut tariffs by 24% over next 10 years while developed countries by 36% for 6 years. Establishment of WTO
1986 AGENDA
The 15 original Uruguay Round subjects: Tariffs Non-tariff barriers Natural resource products Textiles and clothing Agriculture Tropical products GATT articles Tokyo Round codes Anti-dumping Subsidies Intellectual property Investment measure
Sep 86 Punta del Este: launch Dec 88 Montreal: ministerial mid-term review Apr 89 Geneva: mid-term review completed Dec 90 Brussels: closing ministerial meeting ends in deadlock Dec 91 Geneva: first draft of Final Act completed Nov 92 Washington: US and EC achieve Blair House breakthrough on agriculture Jul 93 Tokyo: Quad achieve market access breakthrough at G7 summit Dec 93 Geneva: most negotiations end (some market access talks remain) Apr 94 Marrakesh: agreements signed Jan 95 Geneva: WTO created, agreements take effect
TIME LINE
Year
1947 1949 1951 1956 1960-1961 1964-1967 1973-1979
Place/Name
Geneva Annecy Torquay Geneva Dillon Round Kennedy Round Tokyo Round
Subject Covered
Tariffs Tariffs Tariffs Tariffs Tariffs Tariffs & Anti-dumping measures Tariffs, non-Tariffs measures, Framework measures Tariffs, non-tariffs measures, rules, services, intellectual property, dispute settlement, textiles, agriculture, creation of WTO. Agricultural Products & subsidy issue
Countries
23 13 38
17
26 26 62 102
1986-1994
Uruguay Round
123
1994 Onwards
Doha Round
151
Although it was in place for over forty years, the GATT was a provisional agreement from a legal point of view. The WTO and its agreements are mandatory and permanent. The GATT was a set of rules for conducting international trade with no solid institutional basis (only an ad-hoc provisional secretariat). The WTO is an intergovernmental organization, and has its own secretariat. The GATT deals only with trade in goods. The WTO covers trade in services (under the General Agreement on Trade of Services, GATS), trade related aspects of intellectual property (under the TRIPS) and continues dealing with trade in goods through the so called "GATT 1994" which is an updated version of the old text "GATT 1947". A large number of agreements adopted under the GATT were "plurilateral", and therefore selective agreements. But WTO agreements are multilateral and all member states are concerned.
DOHA ROUND
The work programme lists 21 subjects. The original deadline of 1 January 2005 was missed. So was the next unofficial target of the end of 2006.
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Agriculture Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures Textiles and clothing Technical barriers to trade Trade-related investment measures (TRIMs) Anti-dumping Customs valuation Rules of origin Subsidies and countervailing measures Trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights
INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS
DISTRIBUTION DECISION
PRICING DECISION
COMMUNICATION DECISION
PRODUCT DECISION
CONCLUSION
WTOs work can help countries achieve the Millennium Development This Report has Provide a better Understanding of why Courtiers Have Chosen to Co operate with a One another in Trade matters down the years A Report has a reviewed Has a Rich history of a change & Institutional Adaption in a Multilateral Trading System
THANK YOU