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WTO - World Trade Organization
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WTO Latest Update – On 15th February 2021, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed as the WTO Director-General.
She is the Wrst woman chief of the WTO. She is also the Wrst African to hold the oXce of WTO as its director- Email Address
general.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade
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between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading
nations and ratiWed in their parliaments. UPSC Aspirants preparing for IAS Exam should know about this topic.
The WTO’s goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
This makes the topic very important for International Relations as well as Economics segments of the UPSC
Syllabus. upsc prelims
There are various international organizations that remain in the news and are also important for the UPSC GS 2
preparation. Read about some of the international groupings, organizations or bodies linked below:
BRICS G20
United Nations (UN) World Health Organization (WHO)
World Bank Group UNESCO
ASEAN SAARC
BIMSTEC OECD
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. World Trade Organization (WTO)
2. History of WTO
3. Functions of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
4. Ministerial Conferences of WTO BNST IAS
5. Doha Declaration
6. Dispute Settlement of the World Trade Organization
7. UPSC Questions related to WTO
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Daily Updates – 18/04/2023
UPSC NotiTcation 2023
Daily Free Current Affairs Notes
Comprehensive News Analysis - 18 Apr 2023
The Hindu Video Analysis - 17 Apr 2023
PIB - 17 Apr 2023
Topic of the Day – National Credit Framework (NCrF)
417 This Day in History – 18 Apr 1859 - Tatya Tope Was
We can look at WTO in several ways. WTO happens to be an organization responsible for liberalizing trade. It’s a Executed
forum to negotiate trade agreements for various governments. It’s a place where trade disputes are settled. It AIR Spotlight - India’s Digital Public Infrastructure
operates a system of trade rules. Sansad TV Perspective - India-France Strategic Ties
UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice
One of the most important features is that it is a forum where results come out after serious negotiations.
Essentially, the WTO is a place where governments who are members go, in order to sort out the trade
problems they face with each other.
The Wrst step is to talk. The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result
of negotiations. Weekly Updates
The bulk of the WTO’s current work comes from the 1986-94 negotiations called the Uruguay Round. Gist of EPW: March 2023 Week 4
The negotiations have helped to liberalize trade where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them to Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Apr 15 – Apr 21
be lowered. But the WTO is not just about liberalizing trade, and in some cases, its rules are such that trade View more...
barriers get support— for example, to protect consumers.
History of WTO
The WTO started functioning on 1 January 1995, but its trading system is half a century older. Since 1948, the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had given the rules for the system. (The second WTO ministerial Monthly Updates
meeting, held in Geneva in May 1998, included a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the system.)
Gist of Yojana - April 2023
It did not take long for the General Agreement to give birth to an unoXcial, extant international Gist of Kurukshetra - April 2023
organization, also known informally as GATT. UPSC Monthly Magazine - March 2023
Over the years, GATT evolved through several rounds of negotiations. UPSC Monthly Question Bank - March 2023
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had its last round in 1986 and it lasted till 1994.
This was known as the Uruguay Round and it led to the formulation of the World Trade Organization
(WTO).
While GATT mostly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and its agreements could not only cover goods but also
Latest Current Affairs
trade in services and other intellectual properties like trade creations, designs, and inventions.
Last Updated: 18-04-2023
The WTO has 164 members and 23 observer governments. Afghanistan became the 164th member in July
2016. In addition to states, the European Union, and each EU country in its own right is a member. Uttaramerur Inscription [UPSC Notes]
Functions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)
[UPSC Notes]
The WTO’s overriding objective is to help trade how smoothly, freely, fairly, and predictably. It does this by:
Kudmis’ Agitation For ST Status [UPSC Notes]
Administering WTO trade agreements
Conducting forum for trade negotiations National Credit Framework (NCrF) [UPSC Notes]
Handling trade disputes
Monitoring national trade policies
Providing technical assistance and training for developing countries
Cooperation with other international organizations
April Archive – Daily Posts
Ministerial Conferences of WTO April 2023
Ministerial Place Year Description M T W T F S S
Conferences
1 2
MC1 Singapore 1996 Ministers of Wnance, trade, foreign, and agriculture from more
than 120 countries participated and the following issues were in 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
discussion.
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
trade and investment
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
trade facilitation
transparency in government procurement 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
trade and competition
These are known as the Singapore Issues. « Mar
MC2 Geneva, 1998 Discussions on the implementation of Singapore Issues.
Switzerland
Further discussions for the next round related to Export
subsidies, market access, etc.
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MC3 Seattle, 1999 The Uruguay Round was discussed.
USA
Further discussions on agricultural and services mandated at
the last Ministerial.
The Ministerial Conference ended without a conclusion though.
MC4 Doha, Qatar 2001 The Doha Round was discussed.
MC5 Cancún, 2003 Discussions on the progress of the Doha Development Agenda
Mexico and other negotiations from the last Ministerial.
MC6 Hong Kong 2005 Discussions on aiming to conclude the Doha Round by 2006.
Adoption of the ‘Swiss Formula’ to cut down tariffs on non-
agricultural goods (NAMA) by both developed and developing
countries with different coeXcients.
MC7 Geneva, 2009 This meeting didn’t revolve around the Doha Round.
Switzerland
Ministers discussed various other ideas for further
development.
The theme of MC7 was ‘The WTO, the Multilateral Trading
System and the Current Global Economic Environment’
MC8 Geneva, 2011 Discussions on multiple topics for least developed nations and
Switzerland trade policy reviews.
WTO approved Montenegro, Russian Federation, and Samoa
accessions.
Doha Round was discussed to make the mandate more
effective, operational, and precise.
MC9 Bali, 2013 The ‘Bali Package’ was adopted by the WTO that aimed at the
Indonesia following points:
Boosting trade in the least developed countries (LDCs)
Higher food security provisions for developing countries
Streamlining trade
The Bali Package is a selection of issues from the broader Doha
Round negotiations.
Yemen became a part of WTO.
MC10 Nairobi, 2015 Discussion on agriculture, cotton, and issues of LDCs.
Kenya
The Nairobi Package was adopted by WTO that delivered
beneWcial commitments to WTO’s poorest members.
MC11 Buenos 2017 Discussions on e-commerce duties, Wsheries subsidies, and
Aires, other commitments to negotiations in all sectors.
Argentina
MC12 Nur-Sultan, 2021 Postponed due to pandemic situation.
Kazakhstan
Click the link to read about the WTO Agreements.
Doha Declaration
The Doha Declaration is the November 2001 declaration that came out of the 4th Ministerial Conference of the
WTO, that took place in Doha, Qatar.
This declaration gives the mandate for negotiations on an array of topics including issues concerning the
implementation of the previous agreements.
This is called the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health.
There were disagreements between developed and developing countries.
The major bones of contention were agriculture, non-tariff trade barriers, industrial tariffs, services, and
trade remedies.
The Bali Ministerial Declaration was achieved in 2013 which is the Wrst agreement under the Doha Round,
and also the Wrst unanimous agreement under WTO.
Dispute Settlement of the World Trade Organization
WTO is an international body that also deals in Dispute Settlements.
The member country will approach the WTO’s dispute settlement body when a country fails to comply
with WTO rules.
All the members are encouraged to settle the disputes through consultation or a panel if the consultation
fails.
The constituted panel will circulate the verdict of the dispute settlement amongst WTO members who can
decide to reject the ruling.
If the ruling is approved, the member country that violated the rules must change rules in line with the
WTO Agreement.
In the case of failure to do so, the complaining country and the violating country may determine a
mutually-acceptable compensation, failing which, the complaining country may retaliate suitably.
World Trade Organization (WTO):- Download PDF Here
Candidates can go through the video on India, WTO and Dispute Settlement for better clariWcation for exam
preparation-
29,877
UPSC Questions related to WTO
Q1 Is India a founding member of the WTO?
India has been a member of the World Trade organization since the beginning of 1995.
India was also a member of GATT since 1948.
Q2 What is the WTO and what are its functions?
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization
dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
Its main functions are to maintain smooth trade globally and resolve issues or disputes
that can affect world trade.
Q3 What are the advantages of WTO?
With WTO, member countries get a provision of a legal framework to process
negotiations and disputes amongst them. Other advantages are:
Better stability in trade
Predictability
The WTO is also an administrative organization that allows trade under certain
conditions for global ease.
The above-mentioned information will help you with UPSC 2023 preparation.
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