World Trade Organization

Aim :- To liberalize international trade.

Founded:- Founded in 1995, replaced GATT. (Marrakech Agreement)

Headquarter:- Geneva, Switzerland.

Membership:- 160 member states. (Yemen became 160^th WTO member.)

Conflict:- On free trade vs protectionism and subsidies (as pushed by developing and welfare nations.)

Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (1986- 1994) which was concerned with two aspects of trade in goods and services.

The organization is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha Development Round, which was launched in 2001 with an explicit focus on addressing the needs of developing countries.

The highest decision – making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years.

The WTO has 160 members and 25 observer governments.

In addition to states, the European Union is a member.

GATT was established after World War II in the wake of new multilateral institutions formed – notably the Bretton Woods institutions known as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Conference Brief Details

Conference No.	Date	Host City
1st	9th – 13th December 1996	Singapore
2nd	18th – 20th May 1998	Geneva, Switzerland
3rd	30th Nov. – 3rd December 1999	Seattle, United States
4th	9th – 14th November 2001	Doha, Qatar
5th	10th – 14th September 2003	Cancun, Mexico
6th	13th – 18th December 2005	Hong Kong
7th	30th Nov. – 2nd December 2009	Geneva, Switzerland
8th	15th – 17th December 2011	Geneva, Switzerland
9th	3rd – 6th December 2013	Bali Indonesia