2. WTO (Introduction)

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WORLD TRADE

ORGANIZATION


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Goals

• to improve the welfare ofthe peoples of the

member countries• to ensure that tra!e

"ows as smoothl#$pre!ictabl# an! freel# aspossible


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WTO structure

Ministerial Conference

General Council meeting asTrade Policy Review

Body

General CouncilGeneral Council meeting as

Dispute Settlement Body

Council forTrade in Goods

Council forTrade in Services

Council for

Trade- Related spects!f "ntellectual

Property Rig#ts


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Objectives

• Administering tradeagreements

• Acting as a forum for tradenegotiations

• Settling trade disputes

• Reviewing national tradepolicies

• Assisting developing countriesin trade policy issues, through

technical assistance andtraining programme

• Cooperating with otherinternational organizations


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Worl! Tra!e Or%ani&ation'(istor#

• What GATT )an! WTO* Does NOT Do $ Re%ulate international +nancial

transactions an! mar,ets• E-cept in recent ne%otiations on tra!e in

+nancial services )e%$ ban,in%$ insurance*

• That.s left up to I/0

$ Assist !evelopin% countries• Even thou%h current Roun! is 1Doha

Development A%en!a2

• That.s left up to Worl! 3an,


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Worl! Tra!e Or%ani&ation'Roun!s

• (ow ne%otiations ta,e place $ On Tari4s'

• Tari4 cuts are ne%otiate! between 1principalsupplier2 countr# an! 1principal !eman!er2 countr#

$ 5uts are e-ten!e! to all other members

$ 3ut lar%e countries !ominate this process

$ In recent roun!s$ ne%otiations start with a formula fortari4 cuts$ then ne%otiate e-ceptions

$ On Rules'• Groups of countries !raft chan%es$ then persua!e

others

• A%ain$ lar%e countries !ominate


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Worl! Tra!e Or%ani&ation'Roun!s

• Do small an! poor countries lose6 $ The# nee! not lose$ if the# participate in the

process

• The# bene+t from the 1rule of law2' Otherwisethe lar%e countries woul! be even more powerful

• 3# %roupin% to%ether$ the# can also e-ertbar%ainin% power

$ The# ma# well lose if the# !o notparticipate' %rowth of tra!e ma# e-clu!ethem


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Worl! Tra!e Or%ani&ation' To!a#

• WTO To!a# $ Establishe! 7an 8$ 899:

$ (ea!;uarters' Geneva$


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• WTO.s Three =arts $ GATT ) General A%reement on Tra!e in Tra!e Relate!

Aspects of Intellectual =ropert# Ri%hts


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• WTO.s /ost 3asic =rinciples $ /0N > /ost 0avore! Nation

• Each member countr# shoul! treat all members

as well as it treats its 1most favore! nation2)ie$ the member that it treats the best*

$ National Treatment• Once a pro!uct or seller has entere! a countr#$

it shoul! be treate! the same as pro!ucts or

sellers that ori%inate! insi!e that countr#)There are man# e-ceptions to both ofthese principles*


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• WTO Decision /a,in% $ Decisions b# consensus' all member countries

must a%ree$ at ministerial meetin%s

$ In practice$ lar%e an! rich countries !ominatethis process

• The# +rst a%ree amon% themselves

)This !one in 1Green Room2*

• Then see, consensus base! on that $ Is this 1!emocratic2

• ?es' Ever# countr# has one vote

• No' Rich countries !ominate !ecisions


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1 commonmisunderstandings

about the !"O

• 8 The WTO !ictates polic#

• @ The WTO is for free tra!e at an#cost

• 5ommercial interests ta,e

priorit# over !evelopment B• C B an! over the environment

• : B an! over health an! safet#


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5ontB

• The WTO !estro#s obs$ worsenspovert#

• F


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1# it$s a member%drivenorganization

• The WTO !oes not tell %overnments how to con!ucttheir tra!e policies

• the rules of the WTO s#stem are a%reementsresultin% from ne%otiations amon% member%overnments

• the rules are rati+e! b# all members.parliaments$ an!J

• !ecisions ta,en in the WTO are %enerall# ma!eb# consensus amon% all members


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It all depends on what countries want to bargain

• The WTO.s role is to provi!e the forum forne%otiatin% liberali&ation It also provi!es therules for how liberali&ation can ta,e place

• The rules written into the a%reements allowbarriers to be lowere! %ra!uall# so that !omesticpro!ucers can a!ust

• 3ut ust how low those barriers shoul! %o issomethin% member countries bar%ain with each

other Their ne%otiatin% positions !epen! on howrea!# the# feel the# are to lower the barriers$ an!on what the# want to obtain from other membersin return


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3. Sustainable development is a principal objective

• The WTO a%reements are full of provisions ta,in%the interests of !evelopment into account

• Kn!erl#in% the WTO.s tra!in% s#stem is thefact that freer tra!e boosts economic %rowthan! supports !evelopment In that sense$commerce an! !evelopment are %oo! foreach other


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'# (t cares about theenvironment

• /an# provisions ta,e environmental concernsspeci+call# into account

• The preamble of the /arra,esh A%reementEstablishin% the Worl! Tra!e Or%ani&ationinclu!es amon% its obectives$ optimal use ofthe worl!.s resources$ sustainable!evelopment an! environmental protection


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5. Safety concerns are builtinto the WTO agreements.

• The a%reements were ne%otiate! b# WTOmember %overnments$ an! therefore thea%reements re"ect their concerns

•


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. The WTO does not destroys jobsnor widens the gap between rich and

poor. • The accusation is inaccurate an! simplistic Tra!e can

be a powerful force for creatin% obs an! re!ucin%povert# Often it !oes ust that


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!. Small countries are not powerless in the WTO

• In the WTO tra!in% s#stem$ ever#one has tofollow the same rules As a result$ in the WTO.s!ispute settlement proce!ure$ !evelopin%

countries have successfull# challen%e! someactions ta,en b# !evelope! countries Withoutthe WTO$ these smaller countries woul! havebeen powerless to act a%ainst their morepowerful tra!in% partners


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". The WTO is not a prey tovested interests

• The WTO s#stem o4ers %overnments a means tore!uce the in"uence of narrow veste! interests

• This is a natural result of the 1roun!s2 t#pe

of ne%otiation )ie ne%otiations thatencompass a broa! ran%e of sectors* Theoutcome of a tra!e roun! has to be abalance of interests The private sector$ non%overnmental or%ani&ations an! otherlobb#in% %roups !o not participate in WTOactivities e-cept in special events such asseminars an! s#mposiums The# can onl#e-ert their in"uence on WTO !ecisionsthrou%h their %overnments

# W $ t i t


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#. Wea$er countries are notthey are forced to join the

WTO• /ost countries !o feel that it.s better tobe in the WTO s#stem than to be outsi!eit That.s wh# the list of countries

ne%otiatin% membership inclu!es bothlar%e an! small tra!in% nations

• 3# oinin% the WTO$ even a small countr#

automaticall# eno#s the bene+ts that allWTO members %rant to each other


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%&. The WTO isundemocratic

• Decisions in the WTO are %enerall#b# consensus In principle$ that.seven more !emocratic than maorit#

rule because ever#one has to a%ree


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END

Documents

2. WTO (Introduction)