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

Administrative procedures

Red tape and trade

The WTO Agreement also deals with very basic processes that can have an important influence on the flow of trade.

Customs valuation

For example, it is important for importers to know that the value placed on imported goods by customs officials is fair and uniform. It is also important from the point of view of the customs administration that fictitious values are not declared for customs purposes. The Agreement on Customs Valuation provides a set of valuation rules to ensure that these objectives are met.

Import licensing

A further important barrier to trade relates to import licensing systems applied to administer quantitative restrictions. The Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures says that procedures should be simple, transparent and predictable. The objective is also to ensure fair and equitable application and administration of such procedures. It is also to ensure that the procedures do not themselves have restrictive or distortive effects on imports.

Pre-shipment Inspection

Pre-shipment inspection is the practice of employing specialized private companies to check shipment details such as price, quantity and quality, for goods ordered overseas. In particular, it is a process used by governments of some developing countries to prevent capital flight and commercial fraud as well as customs duty evasion. In a sense, it is a means to compensate for inadequacies in administrative procedures. The Agreement on Pre-Shipment Inspection ensures non-discrimination in the application of regulations which will relate to pre-shipment inspection procedures, as well as transparency through the prompt publication of those regulations.

Rules of origin

Rules of origin are an administrative procedure that can also restrict trade. They are normally defined as the criteria needed to determine the territorial origin of a product.  The main aim of the Agreement is to harmonize non-preferential rules of origin so that the same criteria are applied by all WTO Members whatever their purpose.

Investment measures

The Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures recognizes that certain investment measures - such as a minimum domestic content for exported goods - can restrict and distort trade. It states that no member shall discriminate against foreigners in the application of such measures.  An illustrative list of trade related measures that are agreed to be inconsistent with the Agreement is appended to it.