INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

2. WTO HEADQUARTERS @ GENEVA

4. MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
 The top most decision making authority is
ministerial conference
 It is composed of representatives from all
WTO signatories and they meet at least
once in every two years
 Ministerial Conference can make decision
on any multilateral trade agreement

5. Multilateral trade agreement
Involves three or more countries
To regulate trade between the nations without
discrimination
Complicate to negotiate as all member nations have to
sign
Very powerful
Usually intended to lower trade barriers between
participating countries and so increase the degree of
economic integration between the participants
The most effective way of liberalizing trade in an
interdependent global economy

6. Example:
The Doha round of trade agreements is a multilateral trade
agreement between all 149 members of the World Trade
Organization
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.-covers about 20 areas of trade
Round is also known semi-officially as the Doha Development
Agenda -fundamental objective is to improve the trading
prospects of developing countries. also approved a decision
on how to address the problems developing countries face in
implementing the current WTO agreements

7. 17TH DEC 2011 @ GENEVA

8. CONTD…..
 Five other bodies are also established by the
Ministerial Conference.
 The Committee on Trade and
Development, the Committee on Trade and
Environment, the Committee on Regional
Trade Agreements, the Committee on
Balance of Payments, and the Committee on
Budget, Finance and Administration.
 They should also report to the General
Council.

9. GENERAL COUNCIL
WTO’s highest-level decision-making body in
Geneva
It is composed of senior representatives from all
member nations
Members meet regularly and are responsible for
overseeing the day-to-day business and
management of the WTO, and is located at the

10. Current chair person Mrs. Elin Ostebo Johansen
General council has the authority to act on behalf of the
ministerial conference
The members of general council also work as Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB) and as the Trade Policy Review Body
Next comes the Goods Council, Services Council and
Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Council, which report to the
General Council

11. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY
 This is also composed of all the WTO
members.
 The WTO dispute settlement process
involves the Dispute Settlement panels, the
Appellate Body, the WTO
Secretariat, independent experts and several
specialized institutions.
 Dispute settlement as per WTO is the central
pillar of the multilateral trading system, and
as a "unique contribution to the stability of
the global economy“.

12. CONTD…..
 It oversees the implementation and
effectiveness of the dispute resolution process
for all WTO agreements, and the implementation
of the decisions on WTO disputes.
 Disputes are heard and ruled on by dispute
resolution panels chosen individually for each
case, and the Appellate Body which was
established in 1994.
 WTO members has agreed that, if their fellow-
members are violating trade rules, they will use
the multilateral system of settling disputes
instead of taking action.

13. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT APPELATE BODY

15. TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY
The WTO General Council meets as the Trade
Policy Review Body to undertake trade policy
reviews of Members under the TRPM. The TPRB
is thus open to all WTO Members
Surveillance of national trade policies is a
fundamentally important activity running
throughout the work of the WTO. At the centre of
this work is the Trade Policy Review Mechanism
(TPRM). All WTO members are reviewed, the
frequency of each country’s review varying
according to its share of world trade

16. TRADE NEGOTIATION COMMITTEE(TNC)
 This is a part of General Council and was established
in November 2001 as a result of Doha declaration.
It also composes of all the members of WTO.
 TNC is the committee that deals with the current
trade talks round.
 The chair of TNC is WTO's director-general.
 The special sessions of TNC are Services Council /
TRIPS Council / Dispute Settlement Body /
Agriculture Committee and Cotton Sub-Committee /
Trade and Development Committee /Trade and
Environment Committee

17. PASCAL LAMY, DIRECTOR GENERAL,WTO
HE IS THE FIFTH DG OF WTO.
APPOINTED FOR THE SECOND TIME
1ST SEPTEMBER 2005 AND 1ST SEPTEMBER 2009 (FOUR
YEAR TERM)