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The WTO

The WTO. The Uruguay Round Its most important results are: Trade liberalization Administrative reforms Trade Liberalization The average tariff imposed by advanced countries decreased by almost 40%.

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The WTO

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  1. The WTO • The Uruguay Round • Its most important results are: • Trade liberalization • Administrative reforms • Trade Liberalization • The average tariff imposed by advanced countries decreased by almost 40%. • More important is the move to liberalize trade in two important sectors: agricultural and clothing. • From the GATT to the WTO • Much of the publicity surrounding the Uruguay Round focused on its creation of the WTO. Nisha Malhotra

  2. The WTO • How different is the WTO from the GATT? • The GATT was a provisional agreement, while the WTO is a full-fledged international organization. • The GATT applied only to trade in goods, while the WTO included rules on trade in services (the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)) and on international application of international property rights. • The WTO has a new “dispute settlement” procedure which is designed to reach judgments in a much shorter time. Nisha Malhotra

  3. The WTO • Location: Geneva, Switzerland • Established: 1 January 1995 • Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-94) • Membership: 146 countries (as of April 2003) accounting for over 97% of world trade. • Budget: 155 million Swiss francs for 2003 • Secretariat staff: 560 • Head: Director-General, Supachai Panitchpakdi • It does not have branch offices outside Geneva. • Since decisions are taken by the members themselves, the Secretariat does not have the decision-making role that other international bureaucracies are given. Nisha Malhotra

  4. Members - Developing Countries Nisha Malhotra

  5. The WTO 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 Nisha Malhotra

  6. Dispute Settlement Procedure of the WTO • 301 disputes have been initiated under the dispute settlement system of the WTO since its creation less than 9 years ago. • Country Complaints/ Respondent • Canada 24 12 • United States 75 81 • European Communities 62 47 • China 1 0 • Japan 11 13 • India 15 14 Nisha Malhotra

  7. The dispute settlement has following stages • Consultation between the Governments involved in the dispute. 60 days to reach a settlement. • The case is then examined by a panel body consisting of three legal/technical experts. The Panel has six to nine months to produce a detailed report. • If the Panel report is appealed, an Appellate body is set up which takes two to three months to examine the appeal and report its finding. • The DSB then decides if both the panel and the appellate report is to be adopted. These reports can only be rejected by consensus from all the parties involved. If the accused party is found to be innocent the case stops there. If not then we move to the third stage. • The accused government is given a reasonable period of time to implement the DSB’s ruling. Nisha Malhotra

  8. The dispute settlement has following stages • In case there is a dispute regarding the proper implementation of the ruling: There is no clear procedure to handle such disagreements. • In case the accused government concedes to non-implementation • members generally agree that the complaining government can seek compensation, suspension of concessions or authorization to retaliate. The authorization is given by the DSB within 30 days of the expiry of the time frame for implementation. . • Any disagreements regarding the suspension of concessions or retaliation are referred for arbitrations. Nisha Malhotra

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