World Trade Organization - History of creation. Structure. Main functions. World Trade Organization (WTO) The WTO is an international organization that

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international body that oversees global trade. The organization, which is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in force since 1947, began its activities on January 1, 1995.

The main goal of the WTO is to liberalize world trade and ensure fair competition conditions.

The WTO headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Head of the WTO (Director General) - Roberto Carvalho di Azevedo.

What functions does the WTO perform?

The most important functions of the WTO are:

• monitoring the implementation of agreements and understandings of the Uruguay Round package of documents;
• conducting multilateral trade negotiations between interested member countries;
• resolution of trade disputes;
• monitoring national trade policies of member countries;
• cooperation with international specialized organizations.

What advantages does WTO membership provide?

• obtaining more favorable conditions for access to world markets for goods and services;
• access to the WTO dispute resolution mechanism, which ensures the protection of national interests if they are infringed by partners.

How can you become a member of the WTO?

The procedure for joining the WTO consists of several stages. This process takes on average 5-7 years.

At the first stage, within the framework of special working groups, a detailed consideration of the economic mechanism and trade and political regime of the acceding country takes place for their compliance with the norms and rules of the WTO.

After this, consultations and negotiations begin on the terms of membership of the applicant country in this organization. These consultations are usually carried out at a bilateral level with all interested member countries of the working group. During negotiations, participants discuss the concessions that the acceding country will be willing to make in order to provide WTO members with access to its markets. In turn, the acceding country usually receives the rights that all other WTO members have.

When did Russia become a member of the WTO?

Negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO lasted 18 years. The Russian Federation became a full member of the organization on August 22, 2012. The most difficult negotiations were with the United States and the European Union. In particular, for a long time it was not possible to resolve issues with Washington on access to the Russian market for American pork and on the protection of intellectual property rights, with the EU on export duties on timber, on agriculture, and on the conditions for the industrial assembly of cars in the Russian Federation.

World Trade Organization (WTO)- an international economic organization that creates certain conditions of trade in the territory of participating countries.

History of the creation of the WTO

The WTO was created on January 1, 1995 with the aim of regulating trade and political relations between member countries. It was formed on the basis of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), concluded in 1947. The very historical fact of the creation of the World Trade Organization occurred in the city of Marrakesh (country - Morocco) in April 1994. As a result, the agreement between the countries on the creation of common trade rules is called the “Marrakesh Agreement”. However, the date of commencement of operation of the organization is January 1, 1995, therefore this date is recognized as the date of creation. At the start of its operation, the WTO included 76 countries.

The main purpose of creating a world trade organization was to introduce uniform principles of trade on the world stage for all participating countries. However, each of the participants in this association has the right to introduce additional control measures for goods entering their markets.

The application of additional conditions for goods is introduced, to a greater extent, if there is a crisis situation in the country in any area of ​​production. This principle also applies in cases of violation of the WTO partnership principles themselves.

Despite more than twenty years of experience, the WTO has not found favor in a number of countries. The main reason for this was the complexity of the system and structure of the world trade organization itself.

Many enterprises do not see all the possible benefits, and also cannot fully assess the global position of the system as a whole. At the same time, for the participating countries, this system provides not only a single market on common rules, but also a considerable list of rights for each participant in trade relations.

Today, the headquarters of the WTO is located in Geneva (country – Switzerland). The Director General of the WTO is Roberto Azevedo (Brazilian economist).

Principles of the World Trade Organization

• No matter how complicated the WTO rules may seem, in fact they have three basic principles on which the entire single trade system is built - the most favored nation principle (MFN). This principle states that there cannot be any discrimination between participating countries.

For example, if goods are imported from Gambia (serial number 125 in the unified register of WTO member countries) and France (serial number 69 in the unified register of WTO member countries) to the territory of Poland (serial number 99 in the unified register of WTO member countries), then the conditions for the import and registration of these goods will be absolutely the same;

• The principle of national treatment. The most controversial principle. It assumes that the conditions for foreign goods, provided that they are imported by WTO members, will be the same as for goods produced in the host country. However, the conditions for participation in the WTO do not prohibit the introduction of procedures that simplify the systems for selling national goods. But such rules, most often, apply only to their own manufacturing enterprises. Thus confirming that this principle of the world trade organization is not perfect;
• The principle of transparency. This principle is the basis of all legal agreements between WTO participants. He says that each participating country must ensure full accessibility of other participants to its regulatory and legislative framework in terms of trade on its territory. The participating countries are obliged to create information centers where, in an accessible form, each interested party could explain to themselves all the aspects of the legislative regulation of trade relations that interest them.

In order to join the WTO, the country's leadership needs to go through a very long and scrupulous procedure, on average it lasts about five years. The main requirement for potential participating countries is to bring international trade to the standards set out in the agreement signed at the Uruguay Round.

At the first stage, the economy and trade policy of the country as a whole are assessed, after which lengthy negotiations take place about the potential benefits of the parties from joining the new market to the general trading system.

Finally, if the parties have reached a mutual agreement, the new participating country signs an agreement to the proposed terms of trade, and is also assigned an individual, unchangeable number. Also, the new participating country is required to pay for membership in this organization in accordance with current tariffs.

In order to leave the WTO, you must send a written notice to the Director General of the World Trade Organization, which must indicate your desire to leave this association. After six months, membership will be considered complete. It is worth noting that in the history of the WTO there has not been a single statement with such a petition.

Functions and tasks of the WTO

The main functions of the WTO are as follows:

• monitoring the commercial policies of participating states;
• monitoring compliance with all contractual terms and relations concluded under the auspices of the WTO;
• organization of negotiations between WTO member countries;
• providing participating countries with information aids within the framework of the WTO program;
• maintaining diplomatic ties with other countries and commonwealths to develop trade relations;
• resolution of controversial issues.

Based on the listed functions of the WTO, we can safely say that the main task of the World Trade Organization is to organize the interaction of member countries among themselves, as a result of which – controversial issues that may arise at the stage of interaction between several parties.

The legal basis of all documents issued by the WTO consists of sixty agreements that prescribe the three basic principles of the WTO in various forms and sections.

WTO structure

Since already in 2015 there were 162 participating countries, the countries are united by one single criterion - trade, and these are countries with different national languages, religions, economic levels, etc.

Therefore, it is so important that all decisions are made purely in order to achieve material well-being, without any targeting.

In order to make this or that decision, large meetings are held in which all participants try to reach a common denominator. The method of open (or closed) voting is also permitted, by means of determining the majority. But this method has never been used in the history of the WTO.

Members of the Ministerial Conference have the greatest number of rights in the World Trade Organization, while members of this structural unit are required to convene meetings at least once every two years.

1. This conference was first held in 1996 in Singapore (country: Singapore). The agenda of the meeting was the approval of the intended goals and objectives, as well as confirmation of the basic principles of the WTO.
2. The second time the conference was held in 1998 in Geneva and was dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of GATT (the community on the basis of which the World Trade Organization was organized).
3. The third conference took place in 1999 in Seattle (country - USA) and was called upon to formulate new goals to determine a new direction for trade, but these negotiations remained fruitless.

The next link in the WTO structure, after the Ministerial Conference, is the General Council, which deals with the daily work of preparing standard documents and solving current problems.

The General Council is composed of ambassadors and heads of delegations of the participating countries, and the frequency of meetings of this structural unit is several times a year. In turn, the General Council is subordinate to several substructures, between which the main functions of the WTO are divided:

• Commodity Trading Council. Its main function is to ensure that WTO principles are respected at every level of trade among member countries. The described principles must also be observed in all documents concluded under the auspices of the WTO;
• Council for Trade in Services. This control unit monitors compliance with the GATS rules that were prescribed in the relevant agreement. The Council for Trade in Services is divided into two main departments: the Committee on Trade in Financial Services and the Working Group on Professional Services. The staff of this council is expanding every year, and the requirements for WTO member countries are becoming more stringent;
• Council on Trade Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. In this WTO Council, the greatest number of disputes and conflicts arise, since it is intellectual property that becomes the most controversial object. As throughout the world, in the WTO rules the issue of intellectual property rights is not fully disclosed, and new disputes arise every time.

If we talk about which division of the World Trade Organization works directly with all statements from member countries and the population, then this is the WTO secretariat. This division employs several hundred people. The director general is appointed as the head of the secretariat

The responsibility of the secretariat is that it organizes all the technical aspects that accompany important meetings and conferences, as well as the Ministerial Conference.

Technical support is also provided to countries at the development stage. In addition, specialists from this department analyze the global economy, as well as hold conferences with the media.

Russia in the WTO

In 1995, the authorities of the Russian Federation made an official demand for the right to join the World Trade Organization.

The most difficult stage was the negotiations with the United States, China and the EU countries. However, after Russia supported European countries in defending the positions of the Kyoto Protocol, the United States remained the only dissenting WTO member.

Negotiations with this country continued for six years. However, after numerous meetings and reforms carried out in the agricultural sector of the Russian economy, a protocol on Russia’s accession to the WTO was signed on November 20, 2006.

The signing took place within the framework of a session of the Asia-Pacific Forum in Hanoi (country: Vietnam).

But despite all the work done since 1995, the official entry of the Russian Federation into the WTO was constantly postponed for various reasons, the main one of which was the unstable economic situation of the participating countries, which could become even worse after the accession of the Russian market, the assessment of which was extremely low and not stable.

In June 2009, the Russian Federation made a very unusual decision. In the person of Prime Minister V.V. Putin. A statement was announced that negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO had been terminated. The initiator of stopping the consideration of the issue of accession of the Russian Federation was the Russian authorities themselves. However, they also decided to begin negotiations on Russia’s accession to the WTO as part of a single Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

By that time, the Georgian authorities had become anti-supporters of Russia.

In October 2011, with the assistance of the Swiss authorities, an agreement was formulated between Russia and Georgia to resolve controversial issues, which ensured the support of the Russian Federation even from this opponent. The official date of accession of the Russian Federation to the World Trade Organization is August 22, 2012, with the assignment of a permanent serial number - 156.

This was not a simple story of Russia's accession to the WTO.

However, one cannot help but notice that WTO membership did not help in resolving trade sanctions against the Russian Federation.

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)(World Trade Organization - WTO) - international economic organization governing the rules international trade according to the principles of liberalism.

The WTO has been operating since January 1, 1995, the decision to create it was made at the end of many years of negotiations within the framework of the Uruguay Round of GATT, which ended in December 1993. The WTO was officially formed at a conference in Marrakech in April 1994, therefore the Agreement establishing the WTO is also called the Marrakesh Agreement.

While the GATT was concerned with regulating only trade in goods, the scope of the WTO is broader: in addition to trade in goods, it also regulates trade in services and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. The WTO has the legal status of a specialized agency of the UN system.

Initially, 77 countries joined the WTO, but by mid-2003, 146 countries – developed, developing and post-socialist – were already members. The “variegated” composition of the WTO member states is reflected in the very emblem of this organization.

Some ex-Soviet countries also joined the WTO: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan. An important event was accession to the WTO in December 2001 China, considered one of the most promising participants in world trade. The WTO member countries account for approximately 95% of world trade turnover - in essence, almost the entire world market without Russia. A number of other countries have officially expressed their desire to join this organization and have the status of observer states. In 2003 there were 29 such countries, including the Russian Federation and some other post-Soviet states ( Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan).

WTO tasks.

The main task of the WTO is to promote smooth international trade. Developed countries, on whose initiative the WTO was created, believe that it is economic freedom in international trade that contributes to economic growth and improved economic well-being of people.

It is currently believed that the world trading system should comply with the following five principles.

1). No discrimination in trade.

No state should disadvantage any other country by imposing restrictions on the export and import of goods. Ideally, in the domestic market of any country there should be no differences in the terms of sale between foreign products and national ones.

2). Reducing trade (protectionist) barriers.

Trade barriers are factors that reduce the possibility of foreign goods entering the domestic market of a country. These include, first of all, customs duties and import quotas (quantitative restrictions on imports). International trade is also affected by administrative barriers and foreign exchange rate policies.

3). Stability and predictability of trading conditions.

Foreign companies, investors and governments must be confident that trade conditions (tariff and non-tariff barriers) will not be changed suddenly and arbitrarily.

4). Stimulating competition in international trade.

For equal competition between firms from different countries, it is necessary to stop “unfair” methods of competition - such as export subsidies (state assistance to exporting firms), the use of dumping (deliberately low) prices to capture new markets.

5). Benefits in international trade for less developed countries.

This principle partly contradicts the previous ones, but it is necessary for drawing into the world economy the underdeveloped countries of the periphery, which obviously cannot compete with developed countries on equal terms at first. Therefore, it is considered “fair” to give special privileges to underdeveloped countries.

In general, the WTO promotes the ideas of free trade, fighting for the elimination of protectionist barriers.

(WTO) is an international organization created with the aim of liberalizing international trade and regulating trade and political relations of member states. The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which has been in force since 1947.

Established on January 1, 1995 on the basis of a system of mutual agreements (the so-called Uruguay Round) between GATT member countries.

More than 20 states and more than 60 international organizations, including the UN, IMF and World Bank, regional groupings, and commodity associations have observer status in the WTO.

Among the observer countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Iraq, Serbia, Uzbekistan, etc. The vast majority of observer countries are at various stages of joining the WTO.

The procedure for joining the WTO consists of several stages. This process takes on average 5-7 years.

At the first stage, within the framework of special Working Groups, a detailed consideration at the multilateral level of the economic mechanism and trade and political regime of the acceding country takes place for their compliance with the norms and rules of the WTO. After this, consultations and negotiations begin on the terms of membership of the applicant country in this organization. These consultations and negotiations are usually carried out at the bilateral level with all interested countries that are members of the Working Group.

First of all, the negotiations concern the “commercially significant” concessions that the acceding country will be willing to provide to WTO members on access to its markets.

In turn, the acceding country, as a rule, receives the rights that all other WTO members have, which will practically mean the end of its discrimination in foreign markets.

In accordance with the established procedure, the results of all negotiations on liberalization of market access and accession conditions are formalized in the following official documents:

- report of the Working Group, which sets out the entire package of rights and obligations that the applicant country will assume as a result of the negotiations;

- a list of obligations on tariff concessions in the field of goods and on the level of support for agriculture;

- a list of specific obligations for services and a List of exceptions from the MFN (most favored nation treatment);

- protocol of accession, legally formalizing the agreements reached at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

One of the main conditions for new countries to join the WTO is to bring their national legislation and practice of regulating foreign economic activity in accordance with the provisions of the package of agreements of the Uruguay Round.

At the final stage of accession, the national legislative body of the candidate country ratifies the entire package of documents agreed upon within the Working Group and approved by the General Council. After this, these obligations become part of the legal package of WTO documents and national legislation, and the candidate country itself receives the status of a WTO member.

The highest body is the Ministerial Conference, which brings together representatives of all WTO member countries. Sessions meet every two years. In the period between sessions, its functions are carried out by the General Council (GC), which also consists of representatives of all WTO members. In addition, the GC serves as a Dispute Settlement Body and a Trade Policy Review Body. The Council for Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade in Services and the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights operate under the leadership of the GC.

The Ministerial Conference creates the Committee on Trade and Development, the Committee on Balance of Payments Restrictions, and the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration. Membership on boards and committees is open to all WTO member countries.
The Ministerial Conference appoints the Director General of the WTO.

The Director General appoints the staff of the WTO Secretariat, determines their duties and conditions of service in accordance with the provisions adopted by the Ministerial Conference.

The WTO includes working and expert groups and specialized committees, whose functions include establishing and monitoring compliance with competition rules, monitoring the operation of regional trade agreements and the investment climate in member countries, and admitting new members.

World Trade Organization (WTO - English World Trade Organization (WTO))- an organization created in 1995 with the aim of establishing international trade and establishing regulation of trade and political relations of member states. The WTO began as a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), concluded in 1947.

World Trade Organization WTO is a community of countries that recognize its Charter and adhere to the main agreements governing foreign trade. Currently, the WTO is not a UN body and has mechanisms for resolving trade issues between member states.

The WTO headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization includes both developed and developing countries from all continents. Initially, there were 77 countries participating in the World Trade Organization. It currently has 162 members (158 internationally recognized states, Taiwan, 2 dependent territories and the European Union).

What tasks does the WTO perform?

The tasks of the WTO include:

• monitoring the implementation of agreements and understandings of the Uruguay Round package of documents;
• conducting multilateral trade negotiations between interested member countries;
• resolution of trade disputes;
• monitoring national trade policies of member countries;
• cooperation with international specialized organizations.

WTO rules regulate only trade and economic issues. In general, the WTO promotes the ideas of free trade, seeking to remove any protectionist barriers.

What does joining the WTO give a country?

The main benefits of WTO membership are:

• assistance in creating favorable conditions on the international trade market in the form of the development of stable, strong trade relations between participating countries (including assistance in creating favorable conditions in foreign economic policy);
• elimination of all discrimination, protection of interests, both national and common, of WTO member countries if they are infringed upon by other partner countries;
• assistance in the implementation of planned plans, the emergence of new trade and economic interests.

All countries that have joined the World Trade Organization undertake to comply with the terms of agreements, legal documents, which are combined under the single term “Multilateral Trade Agreement” (MTA). In other words, the organization provides a package of agreements (contracts), rules, and certain norms that govern all global trade.

Among the international organizations that received observer status: the World Bank, the UN and the IMF.

Is Russia a member of the WTO?

Negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO lasted 18 years. The Russian Federation became a full member of the organization on August 22, 2012. The most difficult negotiations were with the United States and the European Union. In particular, for a long time it was not possible to resolve issues with Washington regarding access to the Russian market for American pork and the protection of intellectual property rights, with the EU - on export duties on timber, on agriculture, on the conditions for the industrial assembly of cars in the Russian Federation.

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