WTO was formed on January 1, 1995 to oversee international trade and replaced the previous GATT agreement. It aims to implement multilateral trade agreements and promote free trade. Key organs of the WTO include the Ministerial Conference and councils overseeing trade in goods, services, intellectual property, and dispute settlement. The WTO agreements cover trade in goods, services, intellectual property rights, agriculture, textiles, investment measures, and dispute resolution. India has benefited from WTO membership but still faces challenges in agriculture and other sectors.

1. WHAT IS WTO
• WTO was formed on 1st Jan , 1995 .
• It took over GATT (general agreement on tariffs and
trade).
• In 8th round of GATT, popularly known as Uruguay round,
members nation of GATT decided to set up a new
organization, ‘World Trade Organization’ in place of GATT.
[World Trade Organization]

2. • 160 members
• 97% of world trade
• Geneva Switzerland Decision making
body – (Ministerial Conference)
• General council Trade Policy review body
Dispute settlement body
• Council for Trade in Goods
• Council for Trade in services
• Council for TRIPS

3. GATT
• Provisional
• Less authority
• No power to create an
organization
• More contradiction
• No legal base
• not Dealing much with trade
in goods, service &intellectual
property
• &dispute settlement
• Less efficient
• Less automatic
WTO
• Permanent
• More authority
• Power to cerate organizations
• Legal base
• No contradiction with local law
• Deals with trade in
goods,service,intellectual
property & dispute settlement
• More efficient
• More automatic

4. OBJECTIVES OF WTO
 To implement the new world trade agreement. Promote
multilateral trade.
 Improve the level of living and speed up economic
development
 Promote free trade enhance competitiveness Increase the
level of production and productivity with employment
 Expand and utilize world resources
 Development of poorest nation

5. Scope of WTO
• Trade in goods Trade related
investments Measures (TRIMs)
• General Agreements on Trade in
Services (GATTS)
• Trade Related Intellectual Property
Right’s (TRIPs)

6. ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF WTO
• Increase in inflow of foreign investment
• Increase in agricultural export
• Increase in foreign trade Benefits for
clothing and textile industry
• Improvement in services
• Inflow of better technology and better
products

7. Arguments IN :
It all began with trade in goods. From 1947 to 1944, GATT was the forum for negotiation
lower customs duty rates and other trade barriers, the text of general agreement spelt
out important rules, particularly non-discrimination. Since 1995, the updated GATT has
become the WTO’s umbrella agreement for trade in goods. It has annexes dealing with
specific sectors such as agriculture and textiles, and with specific issues such as state
trading, product standards, subsidies and actions taken against dumping.

8. Cross–border supply
Consumption abroad
Commercial presence
Presence of natural person
Four modes of supply

9. Trade related investments measures
Measures prohibited by TRIM’S agreement
Local content requirement
Trade balancing requirement
Foreign exchange restriction
Export restriction
Exceptional provisions of TRIM’s agreement
Transitional period
Exception for developing countries
Equitable provisions

10. TRIPs
• The WTO’s intellectual property agreement amounts to rule for trade and
investment in ideas and creativity.
• The rule state how copy rights, patents, trademarks, geographical names
used to identify products, industrial designs and undisclosed information
such as trade secrets – ”intellectual property” – should be protected
when trade is involved.
• In nutshell, the TRIPs Agreement covers 7 categories of intellectual
property

11.  WTO and Indian Agriculture
 Introduction After over 7 years of negotiation the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations were
concluded on December 1993 and were formally ratified in April 1994 at Marrakesh, Morocco. The WTO
agreement on agriculture was one of the main agreements which were negotiated during the Uruguay
round

12. Market access this includes tariffications,
tariff reduction and access opportunities
Tariffication means that all non-tariff
barriers such as….
1. Quotas
2. Variable levies
3. Minimum import prices
4. Discretionary licensing
5. State trading measures
Agreement on Agriculture
The WTO Agreement on
Agriculture contains
provisions in three broad
areas of agriculture
• Market access.
• Domestic support.
• Export subsidies.

13. Domestic Support
WTO uses a traffic light analogy to
group program
• Green box (non-trade distorting)
• Blue box (production limiting)
• Amber box (market distorting)
• Prohibited(i.e. red box)
AoA provisions on
Market Access
• Prohibition of quantitative
restriction on import
• Tariff binding and reduction
• Bound versus Applied tariffs
• Tariff Rate Quota
• Special safeguard measures

14. Measure be placed in blue box
• Be based on fixed area and
yield Be made of 85% or less of
the base level of production
• If livestock payments, be made
on fixed no of head
Amber box Product specific
domestic support Non-product
specific domestic support
Measure be placed in green box
1. It must be publicly funded govt. program and
does not involve transfers from consumers.
2. 2. It must not have the effect of price support
to producer Or it must comply to these
criteria A general service e.g. pest and
disease control, training, extension, advisory
services, health, safety etc.
Stockholding of product for food security .
Domestic food aid .
Income insurance or income safety program . For
natural disaster relief etc

15. Export subsidies
• An export subsidy reduce the price paid
by foreign importer, which mean domestic
consumer pay more than foreign
consumer .
• Export subsidy in Agricultural Sector .
 Direct export subsidies contingent on
export performance
 Sale of non-commercial product on less
prices than domestic market
 Producer financed subsidy
 Cost reduction measures
• Some of agricultural product under 23
product groups, such as wheat, coarse grain,
sugar, beef, cheese and oilseeds.
• Rates of cut
◦ Developed countries
21% by volume
36% corresponding budgetary outlay
Over 6 years
◦ Developing countries
14% by volume
24% corresponding budgetary outlay
Over 10 years

17. SUGGESTIONS Based on the above discussion
the following steps may be relevant to boost the space of growth of Agri-exports from
India in near future.
1. Lack of co- ordination among various department engaged in the promotion of
agricultural exports has created number of problems. Hence, there is an urgent need to
establish efficient co-ordination among these departments.
2. In the wake up new economic policy of liberalization and WTO rules special care
should be taken by the government to protect the interest of exporting farmers.
3. It is also necessary to create the awareness among the exporting farmers with
regards to sanitary and phytol- sanitary standards imposed by developed countries
4. Agri-exports need to organize themselves untidily to face global competition instead
of each exporter trying to export in small quantities in an unorganized manner

18. 5.At present, new emerging markets like Eastern Europe, China, UAE, African countries have a lot of
potential for absorbing more Agri- exports. Hence, the efforts should be made to tap the potential of
there markets
6. The apex marketing agency like APEDA should intensify and speed- up the export procedure of quality
agricultural product. 7. High rate of interest for export finance make India's exports non- competitive.
Therefore, the rate of interest changed by financial intuitions is reasonable.
8. The government should come forward to invest on basic infrastructure. In this regard a complete cold
chain facility needs to be created on urgent basis.
9. Sincere and dedicated efforts are also needed to increase the quality of exportable fruits and
vegetables because there is immense scope for increasing exports of fruits and vegetables in India.
10. The proper branding of agricultural products needs to be promoted as the branded products gets
higher prices in comparison to unbranded items.

19. India as a developing economy, has been benefitted being a founding member of World trade
organization. The country at large has seen many significant changes which have taken place
after the formation of WTO. There are some issues which are yet to be sorted out with the WTO
and but by and large things are falling in shape for the Indian Economy.