Tono, Gabriel Yushua G.

International Finance and Economics

World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an international institution that oversees trade rules
among nations. It was born from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT)
which was established in 1947. The GATT was based on the most favored-nation
clause which gives a country privileged trading rights. The WTO replaced GATT as the
world’s trading body in 1995 with its current set of rules coming from the Uruguay
Round of GATT negotiations that took place from 1986 to 1994. The WTO currently has
164 member countries and its headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland. The
current Director-General is Dr. Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria, the first woman and first
African to hold the position. The main objective of the WTO is to help its members use
trade to raise living standards, create jobs, and improve people’s lives. In order to
become a member of the WTO, a country has to agree to the WTO’s terms. This is
done through the creation of a party of WTO members and then negotiations on the
“Terms of accession” take place between the WTO and the acceding government.
Basically, the nation that wants to join has to make the commitments to open their
markets and abide by the rules of the WTO and in return, they can enjoy the privileges
that other members give to them.

The main function of the WTO is to provide open lines of communication on trade
between its member countries and ensure global trade happens smoothly. This involves
negotiating agreements aimed at reducing trade barriers, implementing and monitoring
of trade rules, and settling disputes among its members. The WTO agreements cover
goods, services, and intellectual property. This also includes individual countries’
commitments to reduce import tariffs and other trade barriers. Agreements are
renegotiated from time to time and additional agreements can be made as well. The
WTO also requires governments’ trade policies to adhere to the WTO agreements.
Governments have to notify the WTO about laws in force and measures being adopted.
WTO councils/committees ensure that these requirements are being followed and that
WTO agreements are implemented. All members have to go through a periodic
evaluation of trade policies to see if they are being followed. The WTO also serves as
the medium and provides a platform for members to negotiate and resolve trade issues
with one another. If a complaint has been filed by a country who thinks their rights are
being infringed, WTO appoints a panel to hear the case in which there are two ways to
resolve it. Either the parties find a mutually agreed solution or through the panel’s ruling,
which is binding upon the parties. The WTO also aims to support developing countries
by ensuring the agreements contain special provisions for these countries which include
longer time to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase their
trading opportunities, and provisions requiring WTO members to protect trade interests
of developing countries.

The Philippines has been a member of the WTO since January 1, 1995. The WTO helps
the country through projects such as Aid for Trade. Launched in 2005, Aid for Trade
aims to help developing countries, especially least developed countries to address
issues they face when engaging in international trade. Aid for Trade helps these
countries address bottlenecks in trading that prevents them from accessing the global
market and being able to trade efficiently. This includes technical assistance, developing
trade strategies, building infrastructure (roads, ports), and investing in certain industries
that countries can build their advantage on. As I mentioned earlier, the WTO
agreements also provide special provisions for developing countries so the Philippines
can take more time to implement the WTO’s agreements and commitments. Their trade
interests should also be protected by fellow WTO members. The WTO has helped the
Philippines expand trade horizons and bring down tariffs and other barriers when
trading internationally.

Sources:
Heakal, R. (2021, May 19). What is the World Trade organization? Investopedia.
https://www.investopedia.com/investing/what-is-the-world-trade-organization/.
Tarver, E. (2021, June 15). How best to define the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wto.asp.
World trade organization - global trade. World Trade Organization - Home page - Global
trade. (n.d.). https://www.wto.org/index.htm.