The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates international trade. It has 153 member countries. The WTO oversees agreements between members, provides a framework for negotiating trade agreements, and acts as a forum for resolving disputes. Its goal is to ensure trade flows freely, predictably, and beneficially between nations.

2.  The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an
organization that intends to supervise and
liberalize international trade.
 The organization deals with regulation of trade between
participating countries; it provides a framework for
negotiating and formalizing trade agreements, and a
dispute resolution.
 The organization officially commenced on January
1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT), which commenced in 1948.

3.  Location: Geneva, Switzerland
 Established:1 January 1995
 Created by: Uruguay Round
negotiations (1986-94)
 Membership: 153 countries
on 23 July 2008
 Budget: 196 million Swiss francs for 2011
 Head: Pascal Lamy (Director-General)

4.  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

5.  The 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 goal is to improve the welfare of the peoples
of the member countries
 By lowering trade barriers, the WTO’s system also
breaks down other barriers between peoples and
nations.

6.  The WTO agreements are lengthy and complex
because they are legal texts covering a wide range of
activities. But a number of simple, fundamental
principles run throughout all of these documents.
These principles are the foundation of the multilateral
trading system.
 Non-discrimination
 More open
 Predictable and transparent
 More competitive
 More beneficial for less developed countries
 Protect the environment

7.  More open : Lowering trade barriers is one of the most
obvious ways of encouraging trade; these barriers include
customs duties and measures such as import bans or
quotas that restrict quantities selectively.
 More beneficial for less developed countries : Giving them
more time to adjust, greater flexibility and special privileges; over
three-quarters of WTO members are developing countries and
countries in transition to market economies.
 Non-discrimination : A country should not discriminate
between its trading partners and it should not discriminate between
its own and foreign products, services or nationals.

8.  The WTO is run by its member governments. All major
decisions are made by the membership as a whole, either
by ministers or by their ambassadors or delegates
 While the WTO is driven by its member states, it could not
function without its Secretariat to coordinate the
activities.
 Trade negotiations
 Implementation and monitoring
 Dispute settlement
 Building trade capacity
 Outreach

9.  Trade negotiations : They include individual countries’
commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade
barriers, and to open and keep open services markets.
They set procedures for settling disputes. These
agreements are not static; they are renegotiated from
time to time and new agreements can be added to the
package.
 Dispute settlement : The WTO’s procedure for resolving
trade quarrels under the Dispute Settlement
Understanding is vital for enforcing the rules and
therefore for ensuring that trade flows smoothly.

10. The ten benefits
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

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

12.  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.

13.  Disputes chronologically
 Disputes by country/territory
 Disputes by agreement
 Disputes by subject
 Find disputes cases
 Dispute Settlement Body
 Appellate Body

14.  The Doha Round is the latest round of trade
negotiations among the WTO membership.
 Its aim is to achieve major reform of the
international trading system through the
introduction of lower trade barriers and revised
trade rules.
 The work programme covers about 20 areas of
trade. The Round is also known semi-officially as
the Doha Development Agenda as a fundamental
objective is to improve the trading prospects of
developing countries.

15.  The Round was officially launched at the WTO’s
Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in
November 2001.
 The Doha Ministerial Declaration provided the
mandate for the negotiations, including on
agriculture, services and an intellectual property
topic, which began earlier.
 In Doha, ministers also approved a decision on how
to address the problems developing countries face
in implementing the current WTO agreements.

16.  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 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

17.  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 on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights sets down minimum
standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP)
regulation.
 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

18.  Agriculture  Subsidies & countervail
· Agriculture negotiations measures
· Cotton Sub-Committee  Tariffs
 Balance of payments  Technical barriers to trade
 Customs valuation  Textiles
 GATT & the Goods Council  Trade facilitation
 Goods schedules
 Import licensing
 Information Technology
Agreement
 Safeguard measures
 State trading enterprises

19.  There are 153 members of WTO.
 In which India is ranked 67th
 India became the member of WTO on 1st January
1995.

20.  Pascal Lamy
 Pascal Lamy is the fifth Director-General of the
WTO.
 His appointment took effect on 1 September 2005
for a four-year term.
 In April 2009 WTO members
reappointed Mr. Lamy for a
second four-year term, starting
on 1 September 2009.

21.  There is so much more about this organization
If interested please visit the site
www.wto.org
Information from:
WTO web site
Google
Forex News show

22.  Akib Siddiqui
 Zohaib Najam
 Pritesh Patel
 Ron Charles
 Hiren Sapra
 Avin Thomas.
THANK YOU//////