Presentation on

 WTO & ITS IMPLICATION IN INDIAN

BUSINESS.
 HISTORY OF GATT
  A Brief History of GATT
 The WTO's predecessor, the GATT, was established on a
provisional basis after the Second World War in the wake
of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to
international economic cooperation - notably the "Bretton
Woods" institutions now known as the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund.
 The original 23 GATT countries were among over 50
which agreed a draft Charter for an International Trade
Organization (ITO) - a new specialised agency of the
United Nations. The Charter was intended to provide not
only world trade disciplines but also contained rules
relating to employment, commodity agreements, restrictive
business practices, international investment and services.
 In an effort to give an early boost to trade liberalization after the Second
World War - and to begin to correct the large overhang of protectionist
measures which remained in place from the early 1930s - tariff
negotiations were opened among the 23 founding GATT "contracting
parties" in 1946. This first round of negotiations resulted in 45,000 tariff
concessions affecting $10 billion - or about one-fifth - of world trade. It
was also agreed that the value of these concessions should be
protected by early - and largely "provisional" - acceptance of some of
the trade rules in the draft ITO Charter. The tariff concessions and rules
together became known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade and entered into force in January 1948.
 Although the ITO Charter was finally agreed at a UN Conference on
Trade and Employment in Havana in March 1948 ratification in national
legislatures proved impossible in some cases. When the United States'
government announced, in 1950, that it would not seek congressional
ratification of the Havana Charter, the ITO was effectively dead.
Despite its provisional nature, the GATT remained the only multilateral
instrument governing international trade from 1948
 URUGUAY ROUND
 The Uruguay Round
 It took seven and a half years, almost twice the original schedule. By
the end, 123 countries were taking part. It covered almost all trade,
from toothbrushes to pleasure boats, from banking to
telecommunications, from the genes of wild rice to AIDS treatments. It
was quite simply the largest trade negotiation ever, and most
probably the largest negotiation of any kind in history.
 At times it seemed doomed to fail. But in the end, the Uruguay Round
brought about the biggest reform of the world’s trading system since
GATT was created at the end of the Second World War. And yet,
despite its troubled progress, the Uruguay Round did see some early
results. Within only two years, participants had agreed on a package
of cuts in import duties on tropical products — which are mainly
exported by developing countries. They had also revised the rules for
settling disputes, with some measures implemented on the spot. And
they called for regular reports on GATT members’ trade policies, a
move considered important for making trade regimes transparent
around the world.
 DOHA ROUND
 Doha Round
 The WTO launched the current round of negotiations, the Doha Development
Agenda (DDA) or Doha Round, at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in
Doha, Qatar in November 2001. The Doha round was to be an ambitious
effort to make globalisation more inclusive and help the world's poor,
particularly by slashing barriers and subsidies in farming. The initial agenda
comprised both further trade liberalization and new rule-making, underpinned
by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to developing countries.
 The talks have been highly contentious and agreement has not been
reached, despite the intense negotiations at Fifth Ministerial Conference in
Cancún in 2003 and at the Sixth Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong on
December 13 - 18, 2005. On July 24, 2006, at the end of yet another futile
gathering of trade ministers in Geneva, Pascal Lamy, the WTO's Director-
General, formally suspended the negotiations. Nevertheless, in his report to
the WTO General Council on February 7, 2007, Lamy said that "political
conditions are now more favorable for the conclusion of the Round than they
have been for a long time". He then added that "political leaders around the
world clearly want us to get fully back to business, although we in turn need
their continuing commitment".
 HISTORY
 "A short history of WTO
 Deeply divided over the make-or-break issue of farm subsidies, rich and poor
countries begin five days of talks on Wednesday aimed at preparing the
ground for a deal to tear down barriers to global trade.
Here is a brief history of the World Trade Organisation and predecessor the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or GATT.
October 30, 1947 - The "General Agreement" is signed by 23 countries at
Geneva's Palais des Nations after the first-ever "trade round". It is the first
attempt to write a rule-book for commerce, and includes tariff cuts on one fifth
of world trade.
January 1, 1948 - The agreement goes into force with a temporary
Secretariat to administer it. A new world body, the International Trade
Organisation (ITO) is to be formed later.
March 24, 1948 - 53 countries agree in Havana to create the ITO, which is to
have similar authority as the International Monetary Fund and the World
Bank. But the U.S. Congress balks at approving it, and the temporary GATT
becomes in effect a permanent organisation."
 Wt o

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.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
 How is the WTO different from GATT?
 The World Trade Organization is not a simple extension of
GATT; on the contrary, it completely replaces its
predecessor and has a very different character. Among
 the principal differences are the following:
 The GATT was a set of rules, a multilateral agreement,
with no institutional foundation, only a small associated
secretariat, which had its origins in the attempt to establish
an International Trade Organization in the 1940s. The
WTO is a permanent institution with its own secretariat.
 The GATT was applied on a "provisional basis" even if,
after more than forty years, governments chose to treat it
as a permanent commitment. The WTO commitments are
full and permanent.
 The GATT rules applied to trade in merchandise goods. In addition to
goods, the WTO covers trade in services and trade-related aspects of
intellectual property.
 While GATT was a multilateral instrument, by the 1980s many new
agreements had been added of a plurilateral, and therefore selective,
nature. The agreements, which constitute the WTO, are almost all
multilateral and, thus, involve commitments for the entire membership.
 The WTO dispute settlement system is faster, more automatic, and thus
much less susceptible to blockages, than the old GATT system. The
implementation of WTO dispute findings will also be more easily
assured.
 The "GATT 1947" will continue to exist until the end of 1995, thereby
allowing all GATT member countries to accede to the WTO and
permitting an overlap of activity in areas like dispute settlement.
Moreover, GATT lives on as "GATT 1994", the amended and up-dated
version of GATT 1947, which is an integral part of the WTO Agreement
and which continues to provide the key disciplines affecting international
trade in goods.
 Location & other data
 Geneva, Switzerland
Established: 1 January 1995
Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-94)  
Membership: 151 countries on 27 July 2007
Budget: 182 million Swiss francs for 2007
Secretariat staff: 625
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
countries
• Cooperation with other international organizations  
 Functions of WTO
 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  
 10 benefits of the
WTO trading system
 1. The system helps promote peace
 2. Disputes are handled constructively
 3. Rules make life easier for all
 4. Freer trade cuts the costs of living
 5. It provides more choice of products and qualities
 6. Trade raises incomes
 7. Trade stimulates economic growth
 8. The basic principles make life more efficient
 9. Governments are shielded from lobbying
 10. The system encourages good government