Name:-Riya Topiwala

Roll No:-24

Brief History of WTO [The World Trade Organization]:-

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental

organization which regulates international trade. The WTO officially commenced on 1
January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994,
replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in
1948. The WTO deals with regulation of trade between participating countries by
providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process
aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to WTO agreements, which is signed by
representatives of member governments  and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the
issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from
the Uruguay Round (1986–1994).
The  World Trade Organization's predecessor, the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established after World War II in the wake of other
new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation – notably
the Bretton Woods institutions known as the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. A comparable international institution for trade named the International Trade
Organization was successfully negotiated. The ITO was to be a United Nations
specialized agency and would address not only trade barriers but other issues indirectly
related to trade, including employment, investment, restrictive business practices, and
commodity agreements. But the ITO treaty was not approved by the U.S. and a few other
signatories and never went into effect.
In the absence of an international organization for trade, the GATT would over the years
"transform itself" into a de facto international organization.

 World Trade Organization's members & other works:-

The WTO is the most important international organization that governs

world trade. Decisions are made by the member countries. The WTO has 151 members
and 31 observer governments (most of which have applied for membership), and
members represent over 95% of world trade. The highest-level decisions are made at the
Ministerial Conference, which is the meeting of trade ministers from member countries.
The Ministerial Conference must meet at least every two years. The General Council is
the body of national representatives that oversees the day-to-day operations of the WTO.
The General Council meets approximately monthly. It also meets in two other capacities:
it reviews national trade policies, and it oversees the dispute settlement process. Under
the General Council are numerous committees, working groups, and other bodies.

Assisting the members is a WTO Secretariat that numbers about 635 and is located in
Geneva, Switzerland. The top official of the Secretariat is Director-General Pascal Lamy
of France, whose three-year term began on September 1, 2005.

Trade agreements administered by the WTO cover a broad range of goods and
services trade and apply to virtually all government practices that directly relate to trade,
for example tariffs, subsidies, government procurement, and trade-related intellectual
property rights. The WTO agreements are based on the principle of non-discriminatory
treatment among countries. Some exceptions however, such as preferential treatment for
developing countries, are allowed. Other basic principles of the WTO are open
information on rules and regulations, negotiated limits on trade barriers, and settlement
of disputes under specific procedures.

The 110th Congress may examine the relationship between the United States and
the WTO in two ways. Congress may consider implementing legislation for a potential
Doha Round agreement. U.S. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) expired on July 1, 2007,
however, Congress may extend or reauthorize TPA to consider such an agreement.
Secondly, Congress may consider changes to U.S. laws in response to WTO dispute
settlement procedures.

COVID 19 & World Trade:-

Trade in goods declined by 5.3 percent in 2020. Trade in services also
declined as limits to travel and other health-related restrictions prevented or severely
curtailed face-to-face service delivery activities. Travel and transport services declined
by 63 percent and 19 percent respectively. Most of the 335 COVID-19 trade and trade-
related measures identified in WTO trade monitoring reports were adopted on a
temporary basis. In the early stages of the pandemic, most of the measures taken by
WTO members restricted trade. But by mid-October, 195 (58 percent) of the measures
were trade facilitating compared with 140 (42 percent) that could be considered trade-
restrictive.

Around 39 percent of the restrictive measures implemented in response to the

pandemic had been repealed by mid-October. Some 18 percent of trade-facilitating
measures related to COVID-19 had also been eliminated. The trade coverage of
pandemic-related trade-facilitating measures implemented since the beginning of the
pandemic was estimated at US$ 227 billion while trade-restrictive measures stood at US$
180 billion. To help respond to trade issues arising from the global health crisis, the
WTO established an internal, cross-cutting working group. This was directed to help
ensure comprehensive monitoring of COVID-19-related trade measures touching on
WTO work.

 Impact of COVID-19 on world trade:-

Global merchandise trade volumes declined by 14.3 percent in the second quarter of
2020 compared to the previous period as COVID-19 containment measures affected
economies around the world. This contraction is sharper than the 10.2 percent drop
recorded during the financial crisis between the third quarter of 2008 and first quarter of
2009.

However, most categories of manufactured goods saw significant gains in the second
half of 2020. World trade in iron and steel was down 17 percent in the third quarter but
this decline was reduced to 2 percent by the fourth quarter. Iron and steel trade is
indicative of broader economic conditions as these products are heavily used in both
automobile manufacturing and building construction, both of which were hit hard by the
pandemic.

Strong growth in textiles trade in both the third and fourth quarter partly reflected high
demand for medical face coverings. Electronic goods including computers also saw steady
growth of 12 percent in the second half of 2020, reflecting strong demand for upgraded
equipment to facilitate working remotely.

Travel and transport services, down 63 percent and 19 percent respectively in 2020,
were directly impacted by containment measures designed to limit the spread of COVID-
19, many of which remain in place or have been tightened in response to the resurgence of
the disease.

The number of daily international flights fell around 80 percent in the first quarter of
2020 as countries closed their borders to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This number
gradually picked up as cases declined and people resumed limited travel. The end of 2020
saw an uptick in flights as people travelled to meet friends and family for seasonal
holidays, but a resurgence of the virus has reduced flights again in 2021.

WTO economists estimate the volume of world merchandise trade will increase by 8.0
percent in 2021. Travel services are not expected to fully recover until the pandemic
wanes.
 NITI Aayog:-

National Institution for Transforming India, also known as NITI Aayog, was
formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on 1 January 2015. It is the premier policy
think tank of the Government of India, providing directional and policy inputs. Apart from
designing strategic and long-term policies and programmes for the Government of India,
NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre, States, and Union
Territories.
The Governing Council of NITI Aayog is chaired by the Hon'ble Prime Minister
and comprises Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories with legislatures and
Lt Governors of other Union Territories. The Governing Council was reconstituted vide a
notification dated 19 February 2021 by the Cabinet Secretariat.

The Government of India constituted NITI Aayog to replace the Planning

Commission, which had been instituted in 1950. This step was taken to better serve the
needs and aspirations of the people. An important evolutionary change, NITI Aayog acts
as the quintessential platform of the Government of India to bring the States to act together
in national interest, and thereby fosters cooperative federalism.

 My views on this initiative by the Government NITI Aayog:-

NITI aayog is giving the correct advise and directions to all it is doing great
service for building and giving support and welcome advise in betterment of our
countrymen including workers, kissan and all through their manifold directives and
suggestions in all round growth and keeping the wishes of all common person in mind for
progress and strengthening our country. They provide training to the students based on
newly emerging technologies like 3-D printing, Artificial Intelligence, Arduino electronics
circuits.

NITI has been set up by replacing Planning Commission. It's functions have
been revised basically to formulate policy in respect to various sectors of economy.
Further, it has also been entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring and evaluation of
various programmes and schemes to assess their outcomes and impact on beneficiaries.
However, monitoring and evaluation tasks are not to the satisfactory level. The expected
coordination and cooperation of the States is also not up-to the expectation.

As my opinion NITI Aayog is a very good initiative at the national level.