Essay about World Trade Organization is the Way to Go

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a set of trade agreements. It was created in hopes for the abolition of quotas and the reduction of tariff duties among it's member nations. GATT’s most important principle was to trade without discrimination. GATT was succeeded by the World Trade Organization in 1995, formally going out of existence on April15,f 1994.

Even dating back to times of Aristotle there has always been some form of trade and along with trade came rules and regulations. In the time of Aristotle trading took place on a smaller scale and between people much like bartering. In the modern world trade is what makes the world function on a broader and larger scale. We have become globalized as a world and we now are engaged in free trade, among many countries. There still needs to be regulations for each individual country and for trade in general. For the past century the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) has been the one to deal with issues that would arise, between countries. The GATT wrote

Indeed, it has established the normative legal framework for multilateral trade in the four corners of the globe. As Matsushita notes ‘The WTO is the first international organization to bring about the rule of law in international trade in large scale backed up by the effective dispute settlement mechanism’. The over 300 hundred decision by the dispute settlement mechanism on various cases establishes an important corpus of legal precedent that serves as a frame of reference for the negotiation of Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements. As a result, the fundamental principles underlying the WTO agreements, such as the MFN and National Treatment (NT) are here to stay and will continue to influence all future trade agreements. Hence, it can be agreed that the WTO has instituted the value system of free trade worldwide, such that the majority of the globe believes in trade liberalization and is willing to open up their economies to participate in free trade. Moreover, by creating a common trade language that almost every country understands, it has only made trading that much easier to negotiate. The existing agreements also provide a solid foundation for countries to build upon when drafting their own trade agreements, whether it is for free trade or preferential

The World Trade Organization was formed on January 1, 1995 however; its trade system is almost 50 years older. Since 1948, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had provided the rules for the system. The main purpose for the World Trade Organization is to offer a forum for negotiation of trade between member Governments. The bulk of these agreements came from the 1986-1994 Uruguay Round negotiations, as well as from the GATT. Currently, the WTO is host to a new set of negotiations under the “Doha Development Agenda” launched in 2001. At the center of the WTO, are the agreements reached between the majorities of the world’s trading nations. These documents provide legal guidelines (and rules) for international commerce and general business. These agreements are ultimately viewed as contracts, binding the participating governments to keeping their trade policies within agreed limits. The system’s overriding purpose is to help trade flow freely for the economic development and well being of participating governments and their countries.

The WTO continues the practice of decision making inter alia by consensus followed under GATT 1947. The WTO provides for the effective enforcement of its rules and agreements through the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) which contributes to its decision-making process. This is the core function of the WTO in settling member disputes and is a formal process which is based upon the principles of

The United States Congress would not allow it and other intergovernmental trade negotiations to happen, and these negotiations led to an agreement called the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (George et al., 2015, p. 476).

The origin of the WTO has its roots in the creation of the International Trade Organization (ITO) at the 1944 Bretton Woods ' Conference. While the terms of the ITO charter were being drafted and debated and countries pondered whether or not they would be a part of the organization, representatives from a group of 17 nations assembled in Geneva and concluded an interim agreement (GATT) to lower trade barriers and

Western Europe after the World War-I was caught up with economic instability and disparity of the economic recovery following the World War-II was more evident in the context of international trade relations. Economic reconstruction after the World War-I was deficient in institutional machinery to make possible the reduction of trade barriers that has arisen during the war and had become well-established thereafter. The European countries had faced political weaknesses and it was reflected in trade policies which was evident with the proposal of “equality of trade conditions” in draft League of Nations was discarded in favour of a the provision for the “equitable treatment.” The World Economic Conference held in 1927 found it indispensible to call upon the governments to do away with maritime controls on trade, which incorporated, licensing requirements, import quotas and foreign exchange controls. After over a decade of its formation, the League of Nations had nevertheless had yet to sponsor any negotiations on liberalizing world trade from high tariffs, and the commencement of the depression

This research paper centres on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the single undertaking rule. I will start this paper by giving a brief introduction of the World Trade Organization, its membership, functions and structure and its way of operation. Further, I will give a concise introduction on the Single Undertaking rule before asserting my view on the effect the Single Undertaking Rule in the WTO. I will go into great lengths to explain why I believe the removal of this rule would lead to a more effective WTO and multilateral trading system. To support my view, I will briefly explain the single undertaking rule’s history and practice in the WTO; point out the reasons why the rule has a more adverse effect; how it leads

There are many different ways of understanding the world trade organisation (WTO). It is an organisation for trade openings where the governments of different countries are giving the opportunity to negotiate trade agreements and for them to resolve trade controversy. Many countries have faced a lot of trade barriers and wanted them to be removed, so these negotiations have helped to open trade in the market. Although the organisation is not only about opening markets because in some situations the rules support maintaining trade barriers for the country’s benefit. The agreement signed by the world trading nations is a document which provides legal rules for international exchange. They are contract binding governments to keep their trade policies within an agreed limit. The goal of the WTO is to help conduct the business for producers of goods and services, exporters and importers whereas allowing the governments to meet their social and environmental objectives. The trade relations frequently include contradictory interests, so the most pleasant way to sort out these quarrels is through some unbiased procedures based on an agreed legal foundation. This is the intention behind the dispute settlement process written into the WTO agreements. (WTO | What is the WTO? - Who we are 2016)

GATT allows developing countries to have a special treatment of long terms in the agreements of WTO and assures the safeguard of these countries e.g. not to be dumping sites which they already are in some parts of

The establishment of a formal Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) took international trade a step away from being a system based on power politics to one that was based on rules. As only one party as compared to two in GATT could now establish a panel, and countries in dispute were obligated not to settle it themselves unilaterally, countries were treated equally under WTO regardless of size and power.

However Doha Round 2001 still remains to be ratified. It settles trade disputes between member countries. Finally, with 188 members it is argued that this organisation has played a key role in bringing unity and the tighter integration of the world economy. It was known as General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) up until 1995. The WTO has four main roles. Firstly, it acts as an orchestra conductor to ensure that all rules are respected. The Doha Round includes agriculture, environment, development etc. so it is no surprise that an agreement between the 188 countries has not been resolved as it is a lengthy process, a consensus among members through a round of negotiations must be agreed. Secondly, a role of trade tribunal. The WTO settles disputes between countries. If countries in dispute cannot settle differences by themselves a definitive ruling will be issued in which the losing party must comply. If it does not comply it is liable to sanctions, over 400 complaints have been filed by WTO members since 1995. Furthermore, it acts as a monitor as it is constantly reviewing trade policies of its members, assessing whether members are abiding by WTO rules. Finally, a training role. Government officials from developing countries are offered training programmes, an average of 35 million Swiss francs is spent annually with Africa as the main beneficiary followed by Asia and Latin America.

The General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) was signed in 1947 as a global international organization that specifies and enforces rules for the conduct of international trade policies and serves as a forum for negotiations to reduce tariffs and other barriers to international trade.

International community admits that frequently - shipper is the one less powerful contracting party and absolute freedom of contract would result in unfair and imbalance outcome. It would not be a big mistake to amount shipper and carrier relationships to the ones of consumer and seller respectively. Therefore, international instrument is an essential condition to ensure a fair balance between bargaining parties as well as to encourage the development of international commerce. Moreover, the cost of diversity in legal regimes end up with years of expensive and complex international litigation between contracting parties who are established under the different legal regimes. Consequently prolonged litigation creates a number of obstacles for international trade which respectively impede an expansion of international trade. Since the international community is well aware of these underlying issues the work towards global harmonisation was carried constantly. Proceedings have not been stopped after the success of Hague Rules. Four decades later the amendments to Hague Rules have been produced and as well as its predecessor, the protocol of Hague-Visby Rules been widely accepted. However, international trade evermore been and still is a rapidly evolving area. Especially over the last century, maritime trade has experienced a sharp increase in a number of breakthroughs/innovations designated to serve the international trade. Moreover,