World trade organisation

(WTO)

Presented by -
Neha Raje: 24
Pavan Hegde: 26
Sachin Jain: 29
Vaibhav Kothare: 39
Shraddha Goje: 42
 Flow of the presentation

 Introduction to WTO & its functions

 Why was it necessary to form WTO

 Scope

 Objectives

 What are obligations of WTO

 Criticism of WTO
 Introduction to wto
 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) was a successor to the
General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT)

 Came into existence in January 1995 after the Uruguay round of the
GATT

 The WTO is the only global international organization responsible

for administering international trade agreements and declarations
and handles:
 Trade disputes

 Monitors national trade policies,

 Operates as the forum for global trade negotiations
 The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and
importers conduct their business.

 The WTO has 153 members

 The forum for Government to negotiate trade agreement.

 Facilitate the implementation, administration and operation of

Multilateral Trade Agreements

 Rules and Procedures Governing Dispute Settlement

 Governed by a Ministerial Conference, which meets every two
years, General Council, Director – General.

 Treaties are built upon the principle

 Trade should be as uninhibited as possible

 A country should treat all its trading partners equally and avoid
discriminating between domestic and foreign products, services
or people.
 More beneficial for less developed countries
 Functions of wto
 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
 why was it necessary to form WTO
 Trade creates the wealth necessary for economic development,
creation of employment opportunities and the alleviation of
suffering
 Loopholes in GATT

 Saturation of home markets , trade restrictions & barriers to entry in

foreign markets
 Problems faced by developing countries

 GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and its
agreements now cover trade in services, and in traded inventions,
creations and designs (intellectual property)
 Scope of wto
 In addition to national trade policies, such as antidumping
duties, the WTO also supervises domestic policies that affect
trade in goods or services particularly, a government’s use of
taxes, regulations, and standards to correct market failure

 Using government subsidies as a first-best instrument to

address market failure is covered by several WTO agreements

 Using government subsidies to promote equity and social

justice within a country is also covered by WTO rules
 The legislative clout of the WTO comes not only through the
indirect application of its rules but also in the dynamic way in
which the WTO interpenetrates other regimes. Two forms of
interaction are:
 is the enforcement of non-trade law and the other is the
incorporation of WTO rules into other treaties

 WTO has also gained legislative clout through the maneuver of

directing governments to confer rights on foreign nationals
that owing to a sense of fairness will likely also be conferred
on domestic persons
 The TRIPS Agreement, in effect,
turned the traditional national
treatment principle on its head by
inducing a political dynamic in
which domestic persons would
inevitably gain the same rights that
were being extended to foreign
nationals

 The TRIPS Agreement fomented

one of modern history’s greatest
transfers of wealth from the public
domain into private hands
 Objectives of WTO
 The main objectives of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) :

 to raise the standards of living of

the member countries
 to ensure their full employment,
and to expand their production
 trade of goods and services
 Other objectives
 To create a knowledge base on various matter concerning
various National and International Trade Laws and Protocols,
and their National and International implications and
ramifications

 Carry out R&D & the building up of a clearing-house of cases

on all matters of WTO agreements which are of national
concern

 Increasing awareness amongst Domestic Industry, business,

agriculture, service and other sectors on the impacts of trade
laws arising out of WTO agreement and other treaties as
member of WTO
 Exploit all potential provisions of WTO agreement available
to the developing nations and advising and counseling them on
all such issues of national importance

 To assist the Government in negotiating with the International

Community in the perspective of the WTO regime and to help
strengthen the position of developing countries in these
regards in all possible ways

 To develop a base of expertise amongst the members of the

Institute on Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS, Anti-dumping
laws, EXIM Policy matters etc through training programs
 To co-ordinate efforts with the Government in creating a level
playing field for all countries

 Identify areas of non-fulfillment of the WTO agreement which

concern developing countries interest and suggest line of
action and remedies

 Discussions on making the domestic trade and export and

import policies more WTO compatible and suggest initiatives
to be taken in this respect at various levels to ensure high
growth of the economy
 Obligations of wto
Trade Related Obligations:

 MFN TREATMENT
-countries cannot normally discriminate between their
trading partners
 National treatment: Treating foreigners and locals equally
- Imported and locally-produced goods should
be treated equally
 Freer trade: gradually, through negotiation
 RECOGNIZING THE LEGITIMACY OF
SANITARY PROTECTION

 SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures)

- How do you ensure that your country’s consumers are being

supplied with food that is safe to eat ?

- Member countries are encouraged to use international

standards, guidelines and recommendations where they exist
 RECOGNIZING THE LEGITIMACY OF IPRs

 TRIPS (Trade related intellectual property rights)

 Patents

 Copyright

 Trademarks

 Geographical indications
 Discouraging “unfair” practices

 Export subsidies and dumping products at below cost to gain

market share

 It doesn't pass judgment. Its focus is on how governments can

or cannot react to dumping

 It disciplines the use of subsidies, and it regulates the actions

countries can take to counter the effects of subsidies
 Settling disputes

 Dispute settlement is regarded by WTO as the central pillar of

the multilateral trading system

 Agreements, including those painstakingly negotiated in the

WTO system, often need interpreting.

 The purpose behind the dispute settlement process is:

 The most harmonious way to settle differences through some

neutral procedure based on an agreed legal foundation.
 Criticisms of wto
 WTO trading rules are still in effect and help provide a solid
framework for global commerce however, WTO was biased
towards developed countries

 WTO is accused of widening the sociological gap between

rich and poor it claims to be fixing

 Global trade negotiations have become much more complex &

complicated WTO decision-making, and the process of
"consensus-building" has broken down

 GATT decision making process worked – no compulsion to

adhere rules
 Putting the interests of business especially big multinationals
above those of workers, the environment and poor nations lead
to the rise of G20

 Frustrated by the lack of progress at the global level, U.S., the

Europeans, and Japan have increasingly turned to bilateral and
regional negotiations

 The maintenance of high protection of agriculture in

developed countries while developing ones are pressed to open
their markets

 TRIP agreement limits developing countries from utilizing

some technology that originates from abroad in their local
systems
 Critics claim that the issues of labor and environment are
easily ignored
Thank you