1.

What is the World Trade Organization?

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with
the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed
by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help
producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
1.1. Mention the main function, Objectives and structures of WTO.
 Function

The WTO’s functions can be broadly divided into the following categories:

1. Trade Negotiations

The WTO facilitates trade negotiations among countries by providing a framework to structure
the agreements, as well as providing dispute resolution mechanisms. It creates an international
legal framework that ensures the smooth exchange of goods and services among the member
countries.

2. Implementation and Monitoring

Once the agreements are negotiated, the job of the WTO is to ensure that the signatory countries
adhere to their commitments in practice. It also produces research based on the impact of the
agreements on the economies of the countries involved.

3. Dispute Settlement

The WTO also acts as a dispute settlement body when there is a trade conflict between its
member states. The members of the WTO can file complaints against other member states if they
feel the trade and economic policies of a country are divergent from their commitments under
one of the agreements of the WTO. Following the complaint, there are formal hearings like a
court until a settlement is reached.

4. Building Trade Capacity

The WTO runs special programs to support developing countries by helping them build the
capacity to participate in free trade with more developed countries. It also gives concessions
under certain agreements to low-development countries to ease them into free trade with other
countries.

5. Outreach

Finally, the WTO carries out lobbying and outreach across the world as a part of its larger
objectives to promote free trade. They try to persuade governments to reduce barriers to trade to
free, fair, and open markets around the world.

 Objectives
  To improve standard of living of people in the member countries by ensuring full
employment.
 To ensure broad increase in effective demand.
 To enlarge production and trade of goods and services.
 To ensure optimum utilization of world resources.
 To protect environment and accept the concept of sustainable development.
 Structures

The Ministerial Conference

The Ministerial Conference of the WTO meets every two years to make important decisions
about existing trade agreements. The Ministerial Conference holds the authority to make
decisions on any aspects of all multilateral agreements made under the WTO.

The Conference includes representatives from all members of the WTO. It gives equal
representation to all its members regardless of the size of their economy or share in international
trade. It can be thought of as the legislative branch of the WTO. The 12th Ministerial Conference
is now scheduled to take place in June 2021 in Kazakhstan.

The WTO is headed by the Ministerial Conference, while the daily operations are carried out by
three administrative bodies:

1. General Council

The General Council comprises the representatives of all member countries and acts as the
representative of the Ministerial Conference when it comes to daily operations. Its job is to carry
out the implementation and monitoring function of the WTO.

The General Council is further divided into multiple councils and committees that focus on
specific topics. Examples of such bodies include the Council on Goods, the Councils on
Services, the Committee on Textiles under the Council on Goods, etc.

2. Dispute Settlement Body

The Dispute Settlement Body is a part of the General Council and is responsible for settling trade
disputes between member states. There is also an Appellate Body, where member states can
appeal any decisions made against them during a dispute settlement.

3. Trade Policy Review Body

The Trade Policy Review Body is also a part of the General Council and is responsible for
ensuring the trade policies of member states are in line with the goals of the WTO. Member
countries are required to inform the WTO about changes in their laws and trade policies.
The body undertakes regular reviews of the policies to ensure they conform to the rules of the
WTO. This is part of the monitoring function of the WTO, and it helps the WTO to adapt to the
changing economic landscape.

2. What are the WTO agreement in terms of the ff:

2.1. Services
 The WTO has also introduced an agreement on services called GATS. Under this agreement, the
member nations have to liberalize the services sector.
It provides greater market access in the service sector such as telecommunication, air transport,
financial services etc. Certain developing countries like India would benefit from such an
agreement.
For instance, India’s services exports have increased from about 5 billion US $ in 1995 to 102
billion US $ in 2008- 09. The software services accounted for about 45% of the services exports
of India.
2.2. Intellectual Property
The TRIPs agreement has benefited the developing countries like Brazil, India, China, and
others. The firms in developing countries have also developed new products and got them
patented.
Developing countries have also benefited. For instance, India has obtained GIS for products like
Darjeeling Tea, Neem, Goa Feni, Basmati rice and so on.
2.3 Dispute Settlement
A dispute arises when a member government believes another member government is violating a
WTO agreement. The complaining member must submit a “request for consultations” identifying
the agreements it believes are being violated. A dispute can be, and often is, brought under more
than one agreement.
2.4. Policy Reviews
Surveillance of national trade policies is a fundamentally important activity running throughout
the work of the WTO. At the centre of this work is the Trade Policy Review Mechanism
(TPRM). All WTO members are reviewed, the frequency of each country’s review varying
according to its share of world trade.
2.5. Technical Assistance
The Technical Assistance Plan for 2022-23 aims to help:
 government officials implement WTO agreements and make full use of members' rights
 governments negotiating WTO membership participate in accession negotiations
 members access the most relevant trade information so that they can better enforce their
rights and obligations
 members of parliament, journalists and civil society learn more about WTO activities
  students and academic institutions supported by the WTO gain a better understanding of
trade policy and WTO subjects.
The aim is to strengthen trade capacity in the following areas:
 trade policy formulation and implementation
 compliance with WTO obligations
 the exercising of WTO rights
 WTO-related trade negotiations.
2.6 Training and development and Trade
A partnership supported by the WTO is the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF),
set up to help developing economies meet international standards for food safety, plant and
animal health and access global markets. The WTO houses the Secretariat and manages the
STDF trust fund, which has provided financing of over US$ 50 million to support projects in
low-income economies.

3. What are the Subsidy Rules to World Trade Organization?

The Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (Subsidies Agreement) of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) provides rules for the use of government subsidies and for the
application of remedies to address subsidized trade that has harmful commercial effects. These
remedies can be pursued through the WTO’s dispute settlement procedures, or through a
countervailing duty (CVD) investigation which can be undertaken unilaterally by any WTO
member government.

4. Identify the sets of issues of U.S agenda for the WTO.

The Appellate Body has strayed far from the limited role that WTO Members assigned to it.
Through persistent overreaching, the Appellate Body has increased its own power, at the expense
of the authority of the United States and other WTO Members.
The Report demonstrates the Appellate Body’s persistent failure to follow basic WTO rules and
highlights several examples of how the Appellate Body has altered WTO Members’ rights and
obligations through erroneous interpretations of WTO agreements. These actions have harmed
the United States and its citizens, workers and businesses and have undermined the effectiveness
of the WTO dispute settlement system.

5. Mention the Principles of WTO Trading System.

The WTO agreements are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide
range of activities. They deal with: agriculture, textiles and clothing, banking,
telecommunications, government purchases, industrial standards and product safety, food
sanitation regulations, intellectual property, and much more. But a number of simple,
fundamental principles run throughout all of these documents. These principles are the
foundation of the multilateral trading system.
A closer look at these principles:
 Trade without discrimination
 Freer trade: gradually, through negotiation
 Predictability: through binding and transparency
 Promoting fair competition
 Encouraging development and economic reform

6. What is meant by WTO oversees GATT agreement?

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) covers international trade in goods. The
workings of the GATT agreement are the responsibility of the Council for Trade in Goods
(Goods Council) which is made up of representatives from all WTO member countries. The
current chair is Mr. Etienne OUDOT DE DAINVILLE (France).
The Goods Council has 10 committees dealing with specific subjects (such as agriculture, market
access, subsidies, anti-dumping measures and so on). Again, these committees consist of all
member countries.
References
(n.d.). Retrieved from World Trade Organization: https://www.wto.org/
Trade Guide: WTO Subsidies. (n.d.). Retrieved from International Trade Administration:
https://www.trade.gov/trade-guide-wto-subsidies
USTR Issues Report on the WTO Appellate Body. (2020). Retrieved from United States Trade
Representative: https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2020/
february/ustr-issues-report-wto-appellate-body
World Trade Organization (WTO). (2022). Retrieved from Corporate Finance Institute:
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/world-trade-
organization-wto/
World Trade Organization (WTO): Functions, Objectives, Significance. (2021). Retrieved from
Geek Tonight: https://www.geektonight.com/world-trade-organization-wto/