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World Trade Organization (WTO) Summary

• The WTO is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade by establishing, revising, and enforcing rules that govern international trade.

• It officially commenced operations on 1 January 1995, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been established in 1948.

• The WTO has 164 member states representing over 98% of global trade and global GDP.

• The WTO facilitates trade in goods, services, and intellectual property among participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and administering independent dispute resolution for enforcing participants' adherence to trade agreements and resolving trade-related disputes.

• The WTO prohibits discrimination between trading partners but provides exceptions for environmental protection, national security, and other important goals.

• The WTO's top decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference, which is composed of all member states and usually convenes biennially.

• Day-to-day functions are handled by the General Council, made up of representatives from all members.

• The WTO's annual budget is roughly 220 million USD, which is contributed by members based on their proportion of international trade.

• Studies show the WTO has boosted trade and reduced trade barriers and has also influenced trade agreement generally.

• The Doha Development Round was launched in 2001 to make globalization more inclusive and help the world's poor, particularly by slashing barriers and subsidies in farming. However, progress stalled over differences between developed nations and major developing countries on issues such as industrial tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade.

• The WTO's dispute-settlement system is regarded by the WTO as the central pillar of the multilateral trading system and involves case-specific panels appointed by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), the Appellate Body, The Director-General and the WTO Secretariat, arbitrators, and advisory experts.

• The process of becoming a WTO member is unique to each applicant country, and the terms of accession are dependent upon the country's stage of economic development and the current WTO members' consensus.Overview of the World Trade Organization

• The WTO has 164 member countries and 25 observer governments.

• The WTO oversees about 60 different agreements which have the status of international legal texts.

• A country wishing to accede to the WTO submits an application to the General Council, and has to describe all aspects of its trade and economic policies that have a bearing on WTO agreements.

• The final phase of accession involves bilateral negotiations between the applicant nation and other working party members regarding the concessions and commitments on tariff levels and market access for goods and services.

• The WTO derives most of the income for its annual budget from contributions by its Members.

• Although tariffs and other trade barriers have been significantly reduced thanks to GATT and WTO, the promise that free trade will accelerate economic growth, reduce poverty, and increase people's incomes has been questioned by many critics.

• The WTO boosted trade and the dispute settlement mechanism in the WTO is one way in which trade is increased.

• The presence of the WTO in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) has increased over time.

• A 2017 study argues that "political ties rather than issue-area functional gains determine who joins" and shows "how geopolitical alignment shapes the demand and supply sides of membership".

• The procedures for the appointment of the WTO director-general were updated in January 2003, and include quadrennial terms.

• In May 2020, Director-General Roberto Azevedo announced that he would step down on 31 August 2020. As of October 2020, a nomination and selection process is currently under way with eight candidates.

• WTO members made history on 15 February 2021 when the General Council agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization's seventh Director-General.