In , the WTO reached a significant milestone with the receipt of its th trade dispute for settlement. The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of the WTO and usually meets every two years. Its most recent — the 11th — was held in Buenos Aires in December Other videos.
The early days of trade Trade and foreign policy have been intertwined throughout history, with foreign policy often tailored to promote trade interests. Contact us Site map A-Z Search. The World Trade Organization WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization. It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements.
If a trade dispute occurs, the WTO works to resolve it. If for example, a country erects a trade barrier in the form of a customs duty against a particular country or a particular good, the WTO may issue trade sanctions against the violating country.
The WTO will also work to resolve the conflict through negotiations. The anti-WTO protests we have seen around the world are a response to the consequences of establishing a multilateral trading system. Critics say the after-effects of WTO policies are undemocratic because of the lack of transparency during negotiations. Opponents also argue since the WTO functions as a global authority on trade, and it's within its rights to review a country's domestic trade policies, national sovereignty is compromised.
For example, regulations a country may wish to establish to protect its industry, workers, or environment could be considered barriers to the WTO's aim to facilitate free trade.
A country may have to sacrifice its own interests to avoid violating WTO agreements. Thus, a country becomes limited in its choices. Moreover, brutal regimes that are pernicious to their own countries may inadvertently be receiving concealed support from foreign governments who continue, in the name of free trade, to do business with these regimes.
Unfavorable governments in favor of big business, therefore, remain in power at the cost of a representative government. One high-profile WTO controversy has to do with intellectual property rights and a government's duty to its citizens versus a global authority.
Poor countries, such as those in South America and sub-Saharan Africa, simply cannot afford to buy these patented drugs. If they were to buy or manufacture these same drugs under an affordable generic label, which would save thousands of lives, these countries would, as members of the WTO, be in violation of intellectual property rights agreements and subject to possible trade sanctions.
Free trade fosters investment into other countries, which can help boost the economy and eventually the standard of living of all countries involved. As most investment flows from the developed and economically powerful countries into the developing and less-influential economies, there is, however, a tendency for the system to give the investor an advantage.
Regulations that facilitate the investment process are in the investor's interest because these regulations help foreign investors maintain an edge over local competition. As several countries, including the United States, strengthen their protectionist stance on trade, the future of the World Trade Organization remains complex and unclear. World Trade Organization. The White House. Congressional Research Service. Accessed May 2, Seattle Municipal Archives. International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development.
Her term of office will expire on 31 August Her predecessor H. The highest institutional body is the Ministerial Conference, which meets roughly every two years. A General Council conducts the organization's business in the intervals between Ministerial Conferences, as well as performs function of Dispute Settlement Body and Trade Policy Review.
Decisions in the WTO are generally taken by consensus of the entire membership.
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