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

Meetings of Ministers

Every two years

The WTO was a result of not only the eighth of the multilateral trade negotiations. It was built on progress made in earlier rounds - such as the Tokyo Round and the Kennedy Round. The process of periodic meetings of ministers has been important in progressing both trade liberalization and the development of rules - sometimes culminating in the launching of a round of negotiations. The importance assigned by governments to ministerial meetings is underscored by the fact that they formally agreed that with the creation of the WTO, they would hold meetings of ministers on a regular basis every two years.

What do they do?

In fact, the ministerial conferences guide the work of the WTO. The central tasks of the ministerial meetings are threefold. First, to review what the WTO has been doing. Second, to assess the present situation of international trade relations and to identify the challenges that must be met. Finally, to agree on the work programme of the WTO for the months and years ahead. This may, for example, involve the launching of a new round of multilateral trade negotiations.

When and where were they?

The first WTO Ministerial Conference took place in Singapore, in 1996 and the second was in Geneva, in l998. The Seattle Ministerial Conference in 1999 was the third in the series, and the fourth was held in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. It was at this meeting that ministers agreed to launch the Doha Development Agenda. The most recent Ministerial Meeting was in Cancun in September 2003.  The objective was to take stock of progress in the Doha Development Agenda, and to provide an impetus and direction to the process of negotiations. Each of the Ministerial meetings has been very different in terms of location, objectives and outcomes. As they have influenced the direction of the WTO, it is worth briefly reviewing each of them in turn.