WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

AN
ASSIGNMENT
ON
“world trade
organization”
SUBMITTED BY
NAME- ziaul haq
Subject- international trade and
finance
BALLB (Hons.) Vth semester

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have taken efforts in this project but it wouldn't have been possible without the

support of many individuals. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of

them. I am highly indebted to Miss Pronami Dutta for her guidance and constant

supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project

and also for his support in completing the project. My thanks and appreciations

also go to my friends in developing the project and people who have willingly

helped me out with their abilities.

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World Trade Organisation

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization designed to supervise

and liberalize international trade. The WTO came into being on January 1, 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
bulk of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. Most of the WTO's
current work comes from the 1986-94 negotiations called the Uruguay Round, and earlier
negotiations under the GATT. The organization is currently the host to new negotiations,
under the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) launched in 2001.

The WTO is governed by a Ministerial Conference, which meets in 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 are in Geneva, Switzerland.

ADVANTAGES OF WTO

World Trade Organization helps member states in various ways and this enables them to reap
benefits such as:

Helps promote peace within nations:

Peace is partly an outcome of two of the most fundamental principle of the trading system;
helping trade flow smoothly and providing countries with a constructive and fair outlet for
dealing with disputes over trade issues. Peace creates international confidence and
cooperation that the WTO creates and reinforces.

Disputes are handled constructively:

As trade expands in volume, in the numbers of products traded and in the number of
countries and company trading, there is a greater chance that disputes will arise. WTO helps

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resolve these disputes peacefully and constructively. If this could be left to the member states,
the dispute may lead to serious conflict, but lot of trade tension is reduced by organizations
such as WTO.

Rules make life easier for all:

WTO system is based on rules rather than power and this makes life easier for all trading
nations. WTO reduces some inequalities giving smaller countries more voice, and at the same
time freeing the major powers from the complexity of having to negotiate trade agreements
with each of the member states.

Free trade cuts the cost of living:

Protectionism is expensive, it raises prices, WTO lowers trade barriers through negotiation
and applies the principle of non-discrimination. The result is reduced costs of production
(because imports used in production are cheaper) and reduced prices of finished goods and
services, and ultimately a lower cost of living.

It provides more choice of products and qualities:

It gives consumer more choice and a broader range of qualities to choose from.

Trade raises income:

Through WTO trade barriers are lowered and this increases imports and exports thus earning
the country foreign exchange thus raising the country's income.

Trade stimulates economic growth:

With upward trend economic growth, jobs can be created and this can be enhanced by WTO
through careful policy making and powers of freer trade.

Basic principles make life more efficient:

The basic principles make the system economically more efficient and they cut costs. Many
benefits of the trading system are as a result of essential principle at the heart of the WTO
system and they make life simpler for the enterprises directly involved in international trade
and for the producers of goods/services. Such principles include; non-discrimination,
transparency, increased certainty about trading conditions etc. together they make trading
simpler, cutting company costs and increasing confidence in the future and this in turn means
more job opportunities and better goods and services for consumers.

Governments are shielded from lobbying:

WTO system shields the government from narrow interest. Government is better placed to
defend themselves against lobbying from narrow interest groups by focusing on trade-offs
that are made in the interests of everyone in the economy.

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The system encourages good governance:

The WTO system encourages good government. The WTO rules discourage a range of
unwise policies and the commitment made to liberalize a sector of trade becomes difficult to
reverse. These rules reduce opportunities for corruption.

History

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 U.S. and a
few other signatories and never went into effect.

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

MISSION, FUNCTIONS AND PRINCIPLES

The WTO's stated goal is to improve the welfare of the peoples of its member countries,
specifically by lowering trade barriers and providing a platform for negotiation of trade. 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.

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.
• It provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes.

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• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Finally, the WTO cooperates closely with the two other components of the Bretton Woods
system, the IMF and the World Bank.

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. Five principles are of
particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO:
• Nondiscrimination. 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. "Grant someone a
special favour and you have to do the same for all other WTO members." 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).
• 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.

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• 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.
• 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). 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.
• 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 non economical objectives; articles aimed at ensuring "fair competition"; and
provisions permitting intervention in trade for economic reasons.

Ministerial conferences

The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually
meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries
or customs unions. The Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of
the multilateral trade agreements. 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". The second ministerial conference was held
in Geneva in Switzerland. The third conference in Seattle, Washington ended in failure, with
massive demonstrations and police and National Guard crowd control efforts drawing
worldwide attention. The fourth ministerial conference was held in Doha in the 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. The
fifth ministerial conference was held in Cancún, Mexico, aiming at forging agreement on the
Doha round. An alliance of 22 southern states, the G20 developing nations (led by India,

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China,[22] Brazil, ASEAN led by the Philippines), 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.

The sixth WTO ministerial conference was held in Hong Kong from 13–18 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 2010. The WTO General Council, on 26 May 2009, agreed to hold a
seventh WTO ministerial conference session in Geneva from 30 November-3 December
2009. A statement by chairman Amb. Mario Matus acknowledged that the prime purpose was
to remedy a breach of protocol requiring two-yearly "regular" meetings, which had lapsed
with the Doha Round failure in 2005, and that the "scaled-down" meeting would not be a
negotiating session, but "emphasis will be on transparency and open discussion rather than on
small group processes and informal negotiating structures". The general theme for discussion
was "The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic
Environment.

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FORMAL STRUCTURE

According to WTO rules, all WTO members may participate in all councils, committees, etc.,
except Appellate Body, Dispute Settlement panels, and plurilateral committees.

Highest level: Ministerial Conference

The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which has to
meet at least every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are
countries or separate customs territories. The Ministerial Conference can make decisions on
all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements.

Second level: 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.

1. The General Council, the WTO’s highest-level decision-making body in Geneva, meets
regularly to carry out the functions of the WTO. It has representatives (usually ambassadors
or equivalent) from all member governments and has the authority to act on behalf of the
ministerial conference which only meets about every two years. The council acts on behalf on
the Ministerial Council on the entire WTO affairs. The current chairman is Amb. Muhamad
Noor Yacob (Malaysia).

2. The Dispute Settlement Body is made up of all member governments, usually represented
by ambassadors or equivalent. The current chairperson is H.E. Mr. Mr. Bruce Gosper
(Australia).

3. The WTO General Council meets as the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) to undertake
trade policy reviews of Members under the TRPM. The TPRB is thus open to all WTO
Members. The current chairperson is H.E. Ms. Claudia Uribe (Colombia).

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Third level: Councils for Trade

The Councils for Trade work under the General Council. There are three councils - 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, the environment, regional trading arrangements and administrative issues.

1. 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 is Amb. Yonov Frederick Agah (Nigeria).

2. 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.

3. 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’s open to all WTO members, and can
create subsidiary bodies as required.

Fourth level: Subsidiary Bodies

There are subsidiary bodies under each of the three councils.

1. The Goods Council- subsidiary under the Council for Trade in Goods. It has 11
committees consisting of all member countries, dealing with specific subjects such as
agriculture, market access, subsidies, anti-dumping measures and so on. Committees include
the following:

• Information Technology Agreement (ITA) Committee

• State Trading Enterprises

• Textiles Monitoring Body - Consists of a chairman and 10 members acting under it.

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• Groups dealing with notifications - process by which governments inform the WTO
about new policies and measures in their countries.

2. The Services Council- subsidiary under the Council for Trade in Services which deals
with financial services, domestic regulations and other specific commitments.

3. Dispute Settlement panels and Appellate Body- subsidiary under the Dispute Settlement
Body to resolve disputes and the Appellate Body to deal with appeals.

The WTO operates on a one country, one vote system, but actual votes have never been
taken. Decision making 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.

DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY

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". 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.

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.

The General Council discharges its responsibilities under the DSU through the Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB). Like the General Council, the DSB is composed of representatives
of all WTO Members. The DSB is responsible for administering the DSU, i.e. for overseeing
the entire dispute settlement process. If a member state considers that a measure adopted by
another member state has deprived it of a benefit accruing to it under one of the covered
agreements, it may call for consultations with the other member state. If consultations fail to
resolve the dispute within 60 days after receipt of the request for consultations, the
complainant state may request the establishment of a panel. It is not possible for the

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respondent state to prevent or delay the establishment of a panel, unless the DSB by
consensus decides otherwise. The panel, normally consisting of three members appointedad
hoc by the Secretariat, sits to receive written and oral submissions of the parties, on the basis
of which it is expected to make findings and conclusions for presentation to the DSB. The
proceedings are confidential, and even when private parties are directly concerned, they are
not permitted to attend or make submissions separate from those of the state in question.

The final version of the panel's report is distributed first to the parties, and two weeks later it
is circulated to all the members of the WTO. The report must be adopted at a meeting of the
DSB within 60 days of its circulation, unless the DSB by consensus decides not to adopt the
report or a party to the dispute gives notice of its intention to appeal. A party may appeal a
panel report to a standing Apellate Body, but only on issues of law, and legal interpretations
developed by the panel. Members may express their views on the report of the Appellate
Body, but they cannot derail it: an Apellate Body report shall be adopted by the DSB and
unconditionally accepted by the parties, unless the DSB decides by consensus within thirty
days of its circulation not to adopt the report.

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. 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. As is typical
of WTO procedures, an offer of accession is only given once consensus is reached among
interested parties.

Members and Observers

The WTO has 151 members (almost all of the 123 nations participating in the Uruguay
Round signed on at its foundation, and the rest had to get membership).

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. Five principles are of
particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO:

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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.[34] "Grant someone a special favour and you have to do the
same for all other WTO members."[35] National treatment means that imported goods
should be treated no less favorably than domestically produced goods (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).[34]

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 materialise.[36]

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.[35][36]

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).[37] 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.[35]

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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.
Exceptions to the MFN principle also allow for preferential treatment of developed
countries, regional free trade areas and customs unions.

Organizational structure

The General Council has multiple bodies which oversee committees in different areas, re the
following:

Council for Trade in Goods

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 10 members. The body also has several groups relating
to textiles.

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.

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.

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.

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The Service Council has three subsidiary bodies: financial services, domestic regulations,
GATS rules and specific commitments. The General council has several different
committees, working groups, and working parties. There are committees on the following:
Trade and Environment; Trade and Development (Subcommittee on Least-Developed
Countries); Regional Trade Agreements; Balance of Payments Restrictions; and Budget,
Finance and Administration. There are working parties on the following: Accession. There
are working groups on the following: Trade, debt and finance; and Trade and technology
transfer.

Voting system

The WTO operates on a one country, one vote system, but actual votes have never been
taken. Decision making 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.

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 criticised by many of the WTO's developing country members which are often
totally excluded from the negotiations.

Richard Harold 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 U.S., and may not lead to Pareto improvement.

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.Dispute settlement is regarded by the WTO as the central pillar of the multilateral

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trading system, and as a "unique contribution to the stability of the global economy". 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.

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. Bodies involved in the dispute settlement process, World Trade Organization.

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. 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. As is typical
of WTO procedures, an offer of accession is only given once consensus is reached among
interested parties.

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 (FTR) 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. The
application is submitted to the WTO in a memorandum which is examined by a working
party open to all interested WTO Members.

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.

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

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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.

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.

Members and observers

The WTO has 153 members and 31 observers. In addition to states, the European Union is
also a member. 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 (Taiwan) acceded to the WTO in 2002 as
"Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" (Chinese Taipei)
despite its disputed status. The WTO Secretariat omits the official titles (such as Counselor,
First Secretary, Second Secretary and Third Secretary) of the members of Chinese Taipei's
Permanent Mission to the WTO, except for the titles of the Permanent Representative and the
Deputy Permanent Representative.

Russia is the biggest economy outside WTO and after the completion of Russia's accession,
Iran would be the biggest economy outside the WTO. 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. 14 states and 2 territories so far have no official interaction with the WTO.

Agreements

Uruguay Round

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 discussion
of some of the most important agreements follows. The Agreement on Agriculture came into

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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. 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. 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.

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). 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 ensures that technical
negotiations and standards, as well as testing and certification procedures, do not create
unnecessary obstacles to trade". The Agreement on Customs Valuation, formally known as
the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT, prescribes methods of customs
valuation that Members are to follow. Chiefly, it adopts the "transaction value" approach.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. J.C.T. Chauh, Law of International Trade, 1998 edn.
2. K.R. Gupta, World Trade Organisation and India, 1st edn.
3. Surender Bhandari – World Trade Organisation and Developing Countries
4. S.R. Myneni, International Trade Law ,2008s

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