WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

by Farah, Puteri and Amira

The WTO was officially created in January of 1995 and essentially replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which had been in force since 1948, a few years after the Second World War. The WTO exists to facilitate the implementation, administration, and operation as well as to further the objectives of the WTO agreements. The WTO main purpose is to help trade flow smoothly for all member nations so that they may increase the well-being of their countries and standards of living for their citizens. It works to educate and inform companies and governments on the acceptable rules that govern trade (i.e., imports and exports). The WTO is formally endowed with existence, legal personality, and legal capacity as an international organization. A country has to go through a six-step process before becoming a WTO member. The country seeking membership is called an Observer. Firstly, the country submits an application. Secondly, the Observer then submits forms that describe its current trade policies in details. Third, Working Party then outlines all the terms and conditions that the Observer must meet before becoming a member. Fourth, the Observer then negotiates bilateral trade agreements with any country it wishes. Fifth, the Working Party drafts the terms of membership. Sixth, the Protocol of Accession must be approved by the General Council. The WTO has 164 members. There are 22 observer countries that are currently in this application process. The benefit, WTO members must treat each other the same. Second, WTO members have lower trade barriers with each other. Third, around two-thirds of WTO members are developing countries. The future plans for the WTO are to increase economic growth and to build upon their base principles that they were also built upon their primary purpose which is to open trade for the benefit for all. We feel that the WTO is fair to both smaller developing countries and the larger countries. The WTO provides a forum for negotiating agreements aimed at reducing obstacles to international trade and ensuring a level playing field for all thus contributing to economic growth and development.  The WTO also promotes better market access for exports originating from least developed and developing countries dealing duty-free and preferential tariffs.