The
World Trade
Organization (WTO), established January 1, 1995, is the
central body of the multilateral trading system. Based in
Geneva, the
WTO
was established as a result of the Uruguay Round of
multilateral trade negotiations (1986 - 1994), replacing the
secretariat of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT).
One of the
WTO’s
purposes is to oversee the administration and functioning of
the multilateral trade agreements, including the dispute
settlement system. The Organization also serves as a forum
for future trade negotiations and rule making.
As of 2011, the
WTO
has 153 members. An additional 30 countries are seeking
membership. Once these countries join, the organization will
cover practically all world trade.
The multilateral trading system was
developed through a series of trade negotiations, or rounds,
held under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT). The first rounds dealt mainly with tariff
reductions. Later negotiations included other areas, such as
anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The last complete
round — the 1986–94 Uruguay Round — led to the
WTO’s
creation.
The negotiations did not end there. To date, 63 members
have successfully concluded negotiations for tariff-free
trade in information technology products, and 70 members
have negotiated a financial services deal covering more than
95 per cent of trade in banking, insurance, securities and
financial information. In February 1997, agreement was
reached on telecommunications services, with 55 members
agreeing to wide-ranging liberalization measures that went
beyond those agreed to in the Uruguay Round.
The "Doha Development Round" of trade negotiations was
launched in 2001. The Declaration specifically
recognized that most of the members of the
WTO
are developing countries, whose needs and interests will be
at the heart of the adopted Work Program. Accordingly,
negotiations under the Doha Development Round aimed to
cover:
- Substantial improvements in agricultural market
access;
- The reduction, with a view to phasing out, of all
forms of agricultural export subsidies and substantial
reductions in trade-distorting domestic support;
- Improvement of disciplines in the areas of subsidies
and countervailing and anti-dumping laws;
- The reduction or elimination of non-agricultural
tariffs and non-tariff measures;
- Clarification of the intellectual property rules
that reaffirm that developing countries can take
measures to protect public health;
- A focused work program on investment, competition
policy, transparency and government procurement and
trade facilitation; and,
- Developing and least developed countries' abilities
to implement any new rules, and the provision of
technical assistance.
A WTO Ministerial Conference, in Cancun, Mexico in
September, 2003, failed to achieve consensus, particularly
on the so-called “Singapore issues” – trade and investment,
trade and competition, policy, transparency in government
procurement and trade facilitation.
Post-Cancun, all of the Singapore issues, except trade
facilitation, have been dropped from the negotiations.
The Doha Development agenda now focuses on the following
issues:
- Agriculture
- Non-agriculture market access
- Services
- Development issues
- Trade facilitation
The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference took
place in Hong Kong in December 2005. Trade ministers
representing most of the world's governments reached a deal
that sets a deadline for eliminating subsidies of
agricultural exports by 2013. The July 2006 talks in Geneva
failed to reach an agreement about reducing farming
subsidies and lowering import taxes.
In June 2007, negotiations within the Doha Round broke
down at a conference in Potsdam, as a major
impasse occurred between the US, the EU, India and Brazil.
The main disagreement was over opening up agricultural and
industrial markets in various countries and also how to cut
developed nation farm subsidies.
In July 2008, negotiations within the Doha Round
collapsed over issues of agricultural trade between the
United States, India, and China. In particular, there was
disagreement between India and the United States over
special safeguard mechanisms (SSM), a measure designed to
protect poor farmers by allowing countries to impose a
special tariff on certain agricultural goods in the event of
an import surge or price fall. Several
countries have since called for negotiations to start again.
Although international trade is within the jurisdiction
of the Federal Government, British Columbia advances its
priorities and interests with Canada on a regular basis.
Since British Columbia views trade as an economic
priority, it supports the conclusion of the Doha Round talks
as soon as possible, with a particular focus on the
Agriculture, Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) and
Services negotiations.
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