WTO (World Trade Organization)
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is
an inter governmental organization which
regulates international trade. The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under
the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which
commenced in 1948. GATT
was founded in 1948 with 23 nations as the global (international) trade
organisation to serve all multilateral trade agreements by giving fair chances
to all nations in the international exchange for trading prospects.
The WTO deals with
regulation of trade between participating countries by providing a framework
for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at
enforcing participants' adherence to WTO agreements, which is signed by
representatives of member governments and ratified by their
parliaments. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from
previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (1986–1994).
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 is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct
their business.
In
brief, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the
only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade. Its main function is to ensure that trade
flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.
WTO is required to build a rule-based trading government
in which countries cannot place unreasonable constraints on trade.
In addition, its mission is to increase stock and trade
of services, to assure maximum utilisation of world resources and to preserve
the environment.
The WTO deals include trade in commodities as well as
services to promote international trade (bilateral and multilateral) through
the elimination of the tax as well as non-tariff obstacles and implementing
greater marketplace access to all member nations.
As an influential member of WTO, India is at the lead of building fair global laws, statutes and
shields and supporting the concerns of the developing system. India has fulfilled its promises
towards the liberalization of trade, made in the WTO, by eliminating
quantitative limitations on imports and decreasing tariff charges.
Objectives of WTO
1. To
set and execute rules for international trade
2. To
present a panel for negotiating and controlling additional trade liberalization
3. To
solve trade conflicts
4. To
improve the clarity of decision-making methods
The WTO has many roles:
1. It
operates a global system of trade rules,
2. It
acts as a forum for negotiating trade agreements,
3. It
settles trade disputes between its members,
4. It
supports the needs of developing countries.
There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade
Organization.
1. It
is an organization for trade opening.
2. It
is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements.
3. It
is a place for them to settle trade disputes.
4. It
operates a system of trade rules.
5. Essentially,
the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems
they face with each other.
All
major decisions are made by the WTO's member governments either by ministers
(who usually meet at least once every two years) or by their ambassadors or
delegates (who meet regularly in Geneva).
A
number of simple, fundamental principles form the foundation of the
multilateral trading system.
The WTO agreements
are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide range of
activities. But a number of simple, fundamental principles run throughout all
of these documents. These principles are the foundation of the multilateral
trading system.
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