Abstract
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a commercial organization that plans to liberalize trade worldwide. This organization was started on 1st January, 1995, just after the Marrakech Agreement. It replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The GATT was signed in 1947 and was a “multilateral” agreement in order both to regulate international trade and to obtain free trade reducing trade barriers, mainly tariffs. That's why all the members have to be organized and participate in eight rounds of negotiations.
The seven first rounds (from Annecy to Tokyo: 1947-1986) are focused on reducing tariffs. The eighth named Uruguay Round (1986-1994) was the biggest trade negotiation ever known. All the members had decided to reduce once again trade barriers (tariffs) but also extend the organization and the trade system to new fields such as:
-Services (General Agreement on Trade in Services)
-Intellectual Property (Agreement on Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights – TRIPS)
-Dispute settlement
-Textile
For example, the negotiation had led to full and open access for clothing from developing countries. This led to the creation of the WTO, and the adoption of a new set of agreements. WTO had launched a new round of negotiation called the Doha Round in 2001 . It intended to help poor countries in reducing trade barriers and provide subsidies in farming. However, the negotiations have not been finished yet because there are disagreements on several areas like the agriculture and right balance between trade and environmental conservation. This Doha Round is not yet concluded.
