The WTO &
Doha Round
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization dealing
with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade
flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.
The
result is assurance. Consumers and producers know that they can enjoy secure supplies
and greater choice of the finished products, components, raw materials and services that
they use. Producers and exporters know that foreign markets will remain open to them.
Virtually all decisions in the WTO are
taken by consensus among all member countries and they are ratified by members'
parliaments. Trade friction is channelled into the WTO's dispute settlement process where
the focus is on interpreting agreements and commitments, and how to ensure that countries'
trade policies conform with them.
Factfile
Location: Geneva,
Switzerland
Established: 1 January 1995
Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations
(1986-94)
Membership: 146 countries (as of
4 April 2003)
Budget: 154 million Swiss francs for 2003
Secretariat staff: 550
Head: Supachai Panitchpakdi (director-general)
Functions:
• Administering WTO trade agreements
• Forum for trade negotiations
• Handling trade disputes
• Monitoring national trade policies
• Technical assistance and training for developing countries
• Cooperation with other international organizations |
At the heart of the system — known as the
multilateral trading system — are the WTO’s agreements, negotiated and signed by
a large majority of the world’s trading nations, and ratified in their parliaments.
These agreements are the legal ground-rules for international commerce. Essentially, they
are contracts, guaranteeing member countries trade rights. They also bind governments to
keep their trade policies within agreed limits to everybody’s benefit.
The WTO’s top level decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference
which meets at least once every two years. Below this is the General Council
(normally ambassadors and heads of delegation in Geneva, but sometimes officials sent from
members’ capitals) which meets several times a year in the Geneva headquarters. At
the next level, the Goods Council, Services Council and Intellectual Property (TRIPS)
Council report to the General Council.Numerous specialized committees, working
groups and working parties deal with the individual agreements and other areas such as
the environment, development, membership applications and regional trade agreements.
Click
here to view the Organisation Chart of the WTO.
The WTO has nearly 150 members, accounting for over 97% of world trade. Around 30
others are negotiating membership.
Click here to view the list of
WTO Members.
The following WTO annual publications are available for download (pdf format)
For more information on the WTO, please
visit the site here. |
Doha Development Agenda
The
November 2001 declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar,
provides the mandate for negotiations on a range of subjects and other work, including
issues concerning the implementation of the present agreements.
The negotiations include those on agriculture and services, which began in
early 2000. A number of other issues were added later. The declaration sets
1 January 2005 as the date for completing all but two of the negotiations.
Negotiations on the Dispute Settlement Understanding are to end in May 2003; those on a
multilateral register of geographical indications for wines and spirits, by the next
Ministerial Conference in 2003. Progress will be reviewed at the Fifth Ministerial
Conference in Cancun, Mexico, 10-14 September 2003.
Doha
Ministerial Conference Documents
Doha
Ministerial Declaration 2001 Text
The
Doha Work Programme (Ministerial Text Explained)
Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health
Implementation Related Issues & Concerns
Subsidies
– procedures for extensions under Article 27.4
Down to Earth Cover story on the Doha Ministerial Conference
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