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The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization which oversees a large number of agreements covering the "rules of trade" between its member states. It was created in 1995 as a secretariat to administer the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, a trade treaty which laid much of the groundwork for the WTO. WTO headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland. Its current Director-General is Supachai Panitchpakdi.WTO members are required to grant one another most favored nation status.
In the late 1990s, the WTO became a major target for protests by the anti-globalization movement.
1 Decision-making structure
Where most international organizations operate on a one country, one vote or even a weighted voting basis, many WTO decisions, such as adopting agreements (and revisions to them) are determined by consensus. Voting is only employed as a fall-back mechanism or in special cases. Critics observe that the consensus governance model moves power away from developing countries towards powerful first-world states, who can veto proposals they object to and prevent formal dissent on most measures they support. However the most noteable recent failures of consensus, at the Ministerial meetings at Seattle (1999) and Cancún (2003), were due to the the refusal of some developing countries to accept proposed decisions.
The advantage of consensus is that it encourages efforts to find the most widely acceptable decision. This does not necessarily mean that unanimity is ever found: only that no Member finds a decision so unacceptable that they must insist on their objection. The main disadvantage of consensus is that it can take a long time and many rounds of negotiation to develop a consensus decision and the final agreement may include ambiguous language on contentious points that makes future interpretation of the treaty difficult.
Unlike many other international organizations, the WTO has significant power to enforce its decisions, through the operation of its Dispute Settlement Body, an international trade court with the power to authorize sanctions against states which do not comply with its rulings.
2 History
- January 1, 1995 - WTO came into existence, following the Marrakech Agreement.
- May 1, 1995 - Renato Ruggiero became director-general for a 4-year term.
- September 1, 1999For the album by Prince, see 1999 (album 1999 is a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the UN. Events Kosovo War Former child star Gary Coleman files for bankruptcy Y2K prep - Mike MooreThis page is about the New Zealand politician and Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. For others of the same name, see Michael Moore (disambiguation). Mike Moore (born 1949) has served as Prime Minister of New Zealand and as Director-General became director-general. The post had been fiercely contested; eventually a compromise was reached with Mike Moore and Supachai Panitchpakdi taking half each of a six-year term.
- November 30November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 31 days remaining. Events 1782 American Revolutionary War: In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign prelimina, 1999 - 3rd ministerial conferenceOn November 30, 1999, the World Trade Organization convened in Seattle, Washington, USA, for what was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations. The negotiations, which were unsuccessful, were quickly overshadowed by massive and con in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle is the largest city in the U. state of Washington, and in the U. Pacific Northwest, with a total estimated population of 569,101 as of 2003. It is situated between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 108 miles (180 km) south of the Canadian bor, USAThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in. The conference itself ended in failure, with massive demonstrations and riots drawing worldwide attention.
- November 9November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. Events 694 Hispano-Visigothic king Egica accuses Jews of aiding Moslems, and sentences all Jews to slavery. 1282 Pope Martin IV excommunicates - November 13November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. Events 1775 American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Col. Ethan Allen attack Montreal defended by British ] GeneralKing, 2001 - 4th ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar. Issuance of the Doha Declaration.
- December 11, 2001 - The People's Republic of China joined the WTO after 15 years of negotiations (the longest in GATT history).
- September 1, 2002 - Supachai Panitchpakdi became director-general.
- September 10 - September 14, 2003 - 5th ministerial conference in Cancún, Mexico. An alliance of 22 southern states, led by India, China and Brazil, resisted demands from the North for agreements on the so-called "Singapore issues": investment protection , competition policy , transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation , while calling for an end to agricultural subsidies within the EU and the US. The talks broke down without progress.
Iran, which first asked to join the WTO in 1996, has seen its request repeatedly blocked by the United States, which lists Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. Russia is also not yet a member, and first applied to join GATT in 1993.
