Overview of The WTO

 Objective of presentation

 WTO: The Beginnings

 Growth in Trade Underway

 A New Multilateral Organization

 The WTO: what is it?

 How does the WTO function?

 Principles of the Trading System

 Provisions for developing countries

 Progressing by packages

 The Round to end all rounds

 The WTO Agreement

 Liberalising trade in goods

 Textiles - back in the mainstream

 Agriculture: fairer markets for all

 Trade remedies

 Standards and procedures

 Administrative procedures

 Services: rules for growth and investment

 Services: the key rules

 Services: Better Access to Markets

 Intellectual Property: protection and enforcement of rights

 TRIPS: what does it cover?

 Settling Disputes: the heart of the system

 Meetings of Ministers

  Singapore Ministerial

 Geneva and Seattle Ministerials

 Doha Ministerial Meeting

 Cancun Ministerial Meeting

 Recent Developments

The Round to end all rounds

The longest of them all

The Uruguay Round extended from 1986 to 1994 and was by far the largest, longest and most productive of the eight rounds of GATT negotiations. It was preceded by seven other rounds, including the Dillon Round, the Kennedy Round and the Tokyo Round.

Liberalizing trade

In some respects the Uruguay Round was just more — though much more - of what had gone before in earlier rounds. Tariffs on industrial products were reduced and defences against non-tariff barriers were strengthened. But the Uruguay Round also reversed earlier failures.

... but more than that ...

Member governments agreed to phase out restrictions on textiles and clothing. They agreed to ban so called "grey-area" measures, where governments agreed to operate outside the rules of the trading system and do private deals to restrict trade. These arrangements were particularly prevalent in the area of textiles and clothing.  Governments also made a start on a long-term effort to reform trade in agricultural products.

Brand new rules

In addition, they negotiated a brand new set of rules, together with initial market-opening measures, for trade in services. This was a dynamic area of world trade they had not previously touched. Another new agreement set out agreed rules on minimum protection to be given to intellectual property through - for example - patents, copyright and measures against counterfeiting.

Integrated approach to disputes

Further, the adoption of the integrated dispute settlement mechanism applying to all areas of trade that is, goods, services and intellectual property rights, now provides a solid basis for the multilateral trading system.

Thousands of pages

The overall results of the Uruguay Round are contained in more than five hundred pages of legal texts, plus over twenty six thousand pages of schedules. These schedules are commitments to provide market access to the other countries for both goods and services.  They are an integral part of the WTO Agreement.

The whole package of trade liberalization and rules was firmly tied together in the Agreement Establishing the World Trade  organization and placing it under the responsibility of the new institution.