World Trade Organization

World Trade Organization
Organisation mondiale du commerce (in French)
Organización Mundial del Comercio (in Spanish)
AbbreviationWTO
Formation1 January 1995 (1995-01-01)
TypeIntergovernmental organization
PurposeReduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade
HeadquartersCentre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland
Coordinates46°13′27″N 06°08′58″E / 46.22417°N 6.14944°E / 46.22417; 6.14944
Region served
Worldwide
Membership
164 members (160 UN member states, the European Union, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan)[1]
Official languages
English, French, Spanish[2]
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala[3] (since 2021)
Budget
197.2 million Swiss francs (approx. 220 million US$) (2020)[4]
Staff
640[5]
WebsiteWTO.org

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland[6] that regulates and facilitates international trade.[7] Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade in cooperation with the United Nations System.[7][8] The WTO is the world's largest international economic organization, with 164 member states representing over 98% of global trade and global GDP.[9][10][11]

The WTO facilitates trade in goods, services and intellectual property among participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements, which usually aim to reduce or eliminate tariffs, quotas, and other restrictions; these agreements are signed by representatives of member governments[12]: fol.9–10  and ratified by their legislatures.[13] It also administers independent dispute resolution for enforcing participants' adherence to trade agreements and resolving trade-related disputes.[14] The organization prohibits discrimination between trading partners, but provides exceptions for environmental protection, national security, and other important goals.[14]

It officially commenced operations on 1 January 1995, pursuant to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement, thus replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been established in 1948.

Its top decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference, which is composed of all member states and usually convenes biennially; consensus is emphasized in all decisions.[15] Day-to-day functions are handled by the General Council, made up of representatives from all members.[16] A Secretariat of over 600 personnel, led by the Director-General and four deputies, provides administrative, professional, and technical services.[17] The WTO's annual budget is roughly 220 million USD, which is contributed by members based on their proportion of international trade.[18]

Studies show the WTO has increased trade and reduced trade barriers.[19][20][21][22] It has also influenced trade agreement generally; a 2017 analysis found that the vast majority of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) up to that point explicitly reference the WTO, with substantial portions of text copied from WTO agreements.[23] Goal 10 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals also referenced WTO agreements as instruments of reducing inequality.[24] However, critics contend that the benefits of WTO-facilitated free trade are not shared equally.[25][26]

  1. ^ Members and Observers Archived 10 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine at WTO official website
  2. ^ Languages, Documentation and Information Management Division Archived 24 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine at WTO official site
  3. ^ "Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala confirmed as WTO chief". the Guardian. 15 February 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  4. ^ "WTO Secretariat budget for 2020". WTO official site. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference wto.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Overview of the WTO Secretariat". WTO official website. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  7. ^ a b Oatley, Thomas (2019). International Political Economy (6th ed.). Routledge. pp. 51–52. ISBN 978-1-351-03464-7. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  8. ^ "WTO | the WTO and the United Nations". Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  9. ^ "The Reporter Archives". Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  10. ^ "WTO – Understanding the WTO – The GATT years: from Havana to Marrakesh". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Understanding the WTO Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Handbook at WTO official website. (Note that the document's printed folio numbers do not match the pdf page numbers.)
  13. ^ Malanczuk, P. (1999). "International Organisations and Space Law: World Trade Organization". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 442. p. 305. Bibcode:1999ESASP.442..305M.
  14. ^ a b "U.S. Trade Policy: Going it Alone vs. Abiding by the WTO". Econofact. 15 June 2018. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  15. ^ "WTO | Ministerial conferences". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  16. ^ "WTO | Understanding the WTO – Whose WTO is it anyway?". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  17. ^ "WTO | Understanding the WTO – the Secretariat". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  18. ^ "WTO | Budget for the year". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  19. ^ Broda, C.; Limão, N.; Weinstein, D. E. (2008). "Optimal Tariffs and Market Power: The Evidence". American Economic Review. 98 (5): 2032–2065. doi:10.1257/aer.98.5.2032. S2CID 6116538. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ "Goal 10 targets". UNDP. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Wilkinson, Rorden (2014). What's wrong with the WTO and how to fix it. Cambridge, UK: Polity. ISBN 978-0-745-67245-8. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2020.