World Trade Organization Definition and Tasks

Introduction

Looking at the process of globalization maintained and developing in the world practice and in the international relationships one can point out the significance of financial and economic growth for countries using some regulative organization. GATT and then WTO is the organization for the provision of highly considered and planned policy in trade affairs in the world. First, GATT (General Agreement on Trade Tariffs) was established at times when the global processes of regulations were raised and after the creation of NATO and UN this body of control appeared in 1947.

WTO definition

The main functions are control of tariffs and implementation of quotas among countries so that to establish fair conditions for trade. Realized and worked through the so-called rounds of negotiations (International Institutions). In the year 1995, GATT was renamed as WTO (World Trade Organization) with the policy of facilitating free trade throughout the consultations and reliable negotiations finding out consensuses indifferent apart from trade issues considered with the environment, in particular (International Institutions).

When speaking about the mechanisms of export/import taxation it is remarkable to take into account different quotas as of non-tariff barriers (NTB), because the domestic industry of a country may suffer from import increase. Moreover, measures for safeguarding the economies of different countries are pointed out throughout the activities of WTO in terms of minimum quotas for import. Voluntary export restraints, on the other hand, control quotas imposed by an exporting country toward the rest of the world voluntarily (Lecture Two, 2008). After the Uruguay round agreements, one of the main principles of WTO became the point on intellectual property rights as for non-material trade which is so important in the era of information torrents and their value.

The round of consultations in Doha outlined the significance for world’s economic points among which the most noteworthy are:

• Agricultural protection;
• Removal of nontariff barriers;
• Problems of less developed countries (LDC’s);
• Removal of barriers to the provision of services;
• Environmental issues (Robertson, 2006).

Conclusion

There are a huge variety of debates according to standards in WTO. Among 151 current members of the organization and more than 90 % of trade influence in the world trade the main role of horizons shaping in external activities, nevertheless, is realized by the developed countries, such as the United States and the EU. With regards to Financial Times (2002), there were controversies among major countries in standards following. International Trade Policy, however, points out uneasy development of negotiations between EU, the US, and WTO due to a specter of contradictories which are connected with different areas of world trade for major players and appearance of some forms of monopoly, as a result: “One problem is that US anti-trust (i.e. anti-monopoly) legislation concerns itself only with the effects of monopoly on US consumers” (International Trade Policy). Such unequal elaboration of relationships cannot but be applied in labor standards and intellectual property rights which are under the control of the WTO. Moreover, the organization should contemplate all thoughts of member countries.

Reference List

1. Robertson, D 2006, ‘The Doha Round: Where to now for the WTO?’, Policy, Vol. 22 No. 2.
2. Lecture Seven, International Institutions: GATT, WTO, IMF, Complex of slides.
3. Lecture Two, Protectionism, Complex of slides.
4. International Trade Policy, Trade Theory and Policy.