Global InformationWorld Trade Organization information
| Organisation mondiale du commerce (in French) Organización Mundial del Comercio (in Spanish) | |
 | |
 Members Members, dually represented by the EU Observers Non-participant states
Not applicable | |
| Abbreviation | WTO |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1 January 1995 |
| Type | Intergovernmental organization |
| Purpose | Reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade |
| Headquarters | Centre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland |
| Coordinates | 46°13′27″N 06°08′58″E / 46.22417°N 6.14944°E |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | 164 members (160 UN member states, the European Union, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan)[1] |
Official languages | English, French, Spanish[2] |
Director-General | Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala[3] (since 2021) |
Budget | CHF 197,203,900 (2023)[4] |
Staff | 623 (December 2023)[5] |
| Website | WTO.org |
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland[6] that regulates and facilitates international trade.[7] Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade in cooperation with the United Nations System.[7][8] The WTO is the world's largest international economic organization, with 164 member states representing over 98% of global trade and global GDP.[9][10][11]
The WTO facilitates trade in goods, services and intellectual property among participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements, which usually aim to reduce or eliminate tariffs, quotas, and other restrictions; these agreements are signed by representatives of member governments[12]: fol.9–10 and ratified by their legislatures.[13] It also administers independent dispute resolution for enforcing participants' adherence to trade agreements and resolving trade-related disputes.[14] The organization prohibits discrimination between trading partners, but provides exceptions for environmental protection, national security, and other important goals.[14]
It officially commenced operations on 1 January 1995, pursuant to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement, thus replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been established in 1948.
Its top decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference, which is composed of all member states and usually convenes biennially; consensus is emphasized in all decisions.[15] Day-to-day functions are handled by the General Council, made up of representatives from all members.[16] A Secretariat of over 600 personnel, led by the Director-General and four deputies, provides administrative, professional, and technical services.[17] The WTO's annual budget is roughly 220 million USD, which is contributed by members based on their proportion of international trade.[18]
Studies show the WTO has increased trade and reduced trade barriers.[19][20][21][22] It has also influenced trade agreement generally; the vast majority of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) explicitly reference the WTO, with substantial portions of text copied from WTO agreements.[23] Goal 10 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals also referenced WTO agreements as instruments of reducing inequality.[24] However, critics contend that the benefits of WTO-facilitated free trade are not shared equally.[25][26]
- ^ Members and Observers Archived 10 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine at WTO official website
- ^ Languages, Documentation and Information Management Division Archived 24 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine at WTO official site
- ^ "Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala confirmed as WTO chief". the Guardian. 15 February 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ "WTO Annual Report 2023". www.wto.org. p. 199. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "WTO Annual Report 2023". www.wto.org. p. 196. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Overview of the WTO Secretariat". WTO official website. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
- ^ a b Oatley, Thomas (2019). International Political Economy (6th ed.). Routledge. pp. 51–52. ISBN 978-1-351-03464-7. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ "WTO | the WTO and the United Nations". Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ "The Reporter Archives". Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ "WTO – Understanding the WTO – The GATT years: from Havana to Marrakesh". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:9was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Understanding the WTO Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Handbook at WTO official website. (Note that the document's printed folio numbers do not match the pdf page numbers.)
- ^ Malanczuk, P. (1999). "International Organisations and Space Law: World Trade Organization". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 442. p. 305. Bibcode:1999ESASP.442..305M.
- ^ a b "U.S. Trade Policy: Going it Alone vs. Abiding by the WTO". Econofact. 15 June 2018. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ "WTO | Ministerial conferences". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "WTO | Understanding the WTO – Whose WTO is it anyway?". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "WTO | Understanding the WTO – the Secretariat". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
- ^ "WTO | Budget for the year". www.wto.org. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
- ^ Broda, C.; Limão, N.; Weinstein, D. E. (2008). "Optimal Tariffs and Market Power: The Evidence". American Economic Review. 98 (5): 2032–2065. doi:10.1257/aer.98.5.2032. S2CID 6116538. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:3was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:4was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:5was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:6was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Goal 10 targets". UNDP. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:7was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Wilkinson, Rorden (2014). What's wrong with the WTO and how to fix it. Cambridge, UK: Polity. ISBN 978-0-745-67245-8. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2020.