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Presented By:S.CHAITANYA(12BEC0209)K.N.ABHINAV(12BIT0151)
XIDAS Jabalpur
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The World Trade Organization is member-driven, with decisions
taken by General agreement among all member of governments and it
deals with the rules of trade between nations at a global or
near-global level. But there is more to it than that. They deal
with: agriculture, textiles and clothing, banking,
telecommunications, government purchases, industrial standards and
product safety, food sanitation regulations, intellectual property,
and much more.*XIDAS Jabalpur*
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The World Trade Organization (WTO) came into being on January
1st 1995. It was the outcome of the lengthy (1986-1994) Uruguay
round of GATT negotiations. The WTO was essentially an extension of
GATT. It extended GATT in two major ways. First GATT became only
one of the three major trade agreements that went into the WTO (the
other two being the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
and the agreements on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS)).
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Second the WTO was put on a much sounder institutional footing
than GATT. With GATT the support services that helped maintain the
agreement had come into being in an ad hoc manner as the need
arose. The WTO by contrast is a fully fledged institution (GATT
also was, at least formally, only an agreement between contracting
parties and had no independent existence of its own while the WTO
is a corporate body recognized under international law).
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General Agreement on Tariffs and TradeGATT was formed in 1947
and lasted until 1994 was replaced by the World Trade Organization
On 1 January, 1948 the agreement was signed by 23 countries.GATT
held a total of 8 rounds.** XIDAS Jabalpur
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World Trade Organization
The WTO was born out of theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT).
Headquarters:Geneva, Switzerland
Formation:1 January 1995
Membership:153 member countries
Budget:163 million USD (Approx).
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It is an international organization designed to supervise and
liberalize international trade.
The WTO has 153 members, which represents more than 95% of total
world trade.
WTO cooperate closely with 2 other component IMF and World
Bank.
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WTO is to ensure that global trade commences smoothly, freely
and predictably.
Transparency in trade policies.
Work as a economic research and analysis centre.
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To create economic peace and stability in theworld through a
multilateral system based onconsenting member states, that have
ratified therules of the WTO in their individual countries asWell.*
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GATT
It was ad hoc & provisional.It had no provision for creating
an organization. It allowed contradictions in local law & GATT
agreements.It was less powerful,dispute settlement system was
slow,less efficient,its ruling could be easily blocked
WTO
It is permanent.It has legal basis because member nations have
verified the WTO agreements.More authority than GATT. It doesn't
allow any contradictions in local law .It is more powerful than
GATT,dispute settlement mechanism is faster,more efficient,very
difficult to block the rulings* XIDAS Jabalpur*
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** XIDAS Jabalpur
GATT and WTO trade roundsNameStartDurationCountriesSubjects
coveredAchievementsGenevaApril 19477 months23TariffsSigning of
GATT, 45,000 tariff concessions affecting $10 billion of
tradeAnnecyApril 19495 months13TariffsCountries exchanged some
5,000 tariff concessionsTorquaySeptember 19508
months38TariffsCountries exchanged some 8,700 tariff concessions,
cutting the 1948 tariff levels by 25%Geneva IIJanuary 19565
months26Tariffs, admission of Japan$2.5 billion in tariff
reductionsDillonSeptember 196011 months26TariffsTariff concessions
worth $4.9 billion of world tradeKennedyMay 196437
months62Tariffs,Anti-dumpingTariff concessions worth $40 billion of
world tradeTokyoSeptember 197374 months102Tariffs, non-tariff
measures, "framework" agreementsTariff reductions worth more than
$300 billion dollars achievedUruguaySeptember 198687
months123Tariffs, non-tariff measures, rules, services,
intellectual property, dispute settlement, textiles, agriculture,
creation of WTO, etcThe round led to the creation of WTO, and
extended the range of trade negotiations, leading to major
reductions in tariffs (about 40%) and agricultural subsidies, an
agreement to allow full access fortextilesand clothing from
developing countries, and an extension of intellectual property
rights.DohaNovember 2001?141Tariffs, non-tariff measures,
agriculture, labor standards, environment, competition, investment,
transparency, patents etcThe round is not yet concluded.
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*XIDAS Jabalpur*Administering WTO trade agreementsForum for
trade negotiationsHandling trade disputesMonitoring national trade
policiesTechnical assistance and training for developing
countriesCooperation with other international organizations
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Trade Without Discrimination 1. Most-favoured-nation (MFN):
treating other people equallyUnder the WTO agreements, countries
cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. Grant
someone a special favour (such as a lower customs duty rate for one
of their products) and you have to do the same for all other WTO
members.
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2. National treatment: Treating foreigners and locals
equallyImported and locally-produced goods should be treated
equally at least after the foreign goods have entered the market.
The same should apply to foreign and domestic services, and to
foreign and local trademarks, copyrights and patents. *XIDAS
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Freer trade: gradually, through negotiation Lowering trade
barriers is one of the most obvious means of encouraging trade. The
barriers concerned include customs duties (or tariffs) and measures
such as import bans or quotas that restrict quantities
selectively
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Predictability: through binding and transparency Sometimes,
promising not to raise a trade barrier can be as important as
lowering one, because the promise gives businesses a clearer view
of their future opportunities. With stability and predictability,
investment is encouraged, jobs are created and consumers can fully
enjoy the benefits of competition choice and lower prices. The
multilateral trading system is an attempt by governments to make
the business environment stable and predictable.
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Promoting fair competition The WTO is sometimes described as a
free trade institution, but that is not entirely accurate. The
system does allow tariffs and, in limited circumstances, other
forms of protection. More accurately, it is a system of rules
dedicated to open, fair and undistorted competition.
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Encouraging development and economic reform. The WTO system
contributes to development. On the other hand, developing countries
need flexibility in the time they take to implement the systems
agreements. And the agreements themselves inherit the earlier
provisions of GATT that allow for special assistance and trade
concessions for developing countries.
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* XIDAS Jabalpur*Ministerial ConferenceGeneral CouncilDispute
Settlement BodyTrade Policy Review BodyGoods CouncilIntellectual
Property CouncilServices CouncilThe Committee on T&D and
T&E
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Introduction.
After over 7 years of negotiations the Uruguay Round
multilateral trade negotiations were concluded on December 1993 and
were formally ratified in April 1994 at Marrakesh, Morocco.
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture was one of the main agreements
which were negotiated during the Uruguay Round.
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The WTO Agreement on Agriculture contains provisions in 3 broad
areas of agriculture:Market access.Domestic support.Export
subsidies* XIDAS Jabalpur*
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This includes tariffication, tariff reduction and access
opportunities. Tariffication means that all non-tariff barriers
such as... quotas; variable levies; minimum import price;
discretionary licensing; state trading measures.* XIDAS
Jabalpur*
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For domestic support policies, subject to reduction commitments,
the total support given in 1986-88, measured by the Total Aggregate
Measure of Support (total AMS).
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The Agreement contains provisions regarding members commitment
to reduce Export Subsidies.
Developed countries are required to reduce their export subsidy
expenditure by 36%.
For developing countries the percentage cuts are 24%.
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As India was maintaining Quantitative Restrictions due to
balance of payments reasons(which is a GATT consistent measure), it
did not have to undertake any commitments in regard to market
access.
India does not provide any product specific support other than
market price support.
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In India, exporters of agricultural commodities do not get any
direct subsidy.
Indirect subsidies available to them are in the form
of-:exemption of export profit from income tax under section 80-HHC
of the Income Taxsubsidies on cost of freight on export shipments
of certain products like fruits, vegetables and floricultural
products.
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Indias basic objectives in the ongoing negotiations are:To
protect its food and livelihood security concerns and to protect
all domestic policy measures taken for poverty alleviation, rural
development and rural employment.
To create opportunities for expansion of agricultural exports by
securing meaningful market access in developed countries.* XIDAS
Jabalpur*
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The Agreement on Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) is
one of Agreements covered under Annex IA to the Marrakech
Agreement, signed at the end of the Uruguay Round (UR)
negotiations. The Agreement addresses investment measures that are
trade related and that also violate Article III (National
treatment) or Article XI (general elimination of quantitative
restrictions) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.An
illustrative listof the measures that are volatile of the
provisions of the Agreement is annexed to the text of the
Agreement. These pertain broadly to local content requirements,
trade balancing requirements and export restrictions, attached to
investment decision making.
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The Agreement requires all WTO Members to notify theTRIMs that
are inconsistent with the provisions of theAgreement, and to
eliminate them after the expiry of thetransition period provided in
the Agreement. Transitionperiods of two years in the case of
developed countries,five years in the case of developing countries
and sevenyears in the case of LDCs, from the date of entry
intoforce of the Agreement (i.e. 1stJanuary 1995) areprovided in
the Agreement.
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As per the provisions of Art. 5.1 of the TRIMs Agreement
Indiahad notified three trade related investment measures
asinconsistent with the provisions of the Agreement:Local content
(mixing) requirements in the production of News Print,Local content
requirement in the production of Rifampicin and Penicillin G,
andDividend balancing requirement in the case of investment in 22
categories consumer goods.Such notified TRIMs were due to be
eliminated by 31stDecember,1999. None of these measures is in force
at present. Therefore,India does not have any outstanding
obligations under the TRIMsagreement as far as notified TRIMs are
concerned.
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The areas of intellectual property that it covers
are:copyrightandrelated rights(i.e. the rights of performers,
producers of sound recordings and broadcasting
organizations);trademarksincluding service marks;
geographicalincluding appellations of origin;industrial designs;
patentsincluding the protection of new varieties of plants;
thelayout-designs of integrated circuits; andundisclosed
informationincluding trade secrets and test data.
Three main features of TRIPS :
Standards
Enforcement
Dispute settlement
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The November 2001Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and
Public Healthwas adopted by theWTO Ministerial Conference
of2001inDohaonNovember 14,2001. It reaffirmed flexibility
ofTRIPSmemberstates in circumventingpatentrights for better access
toessential medicines.
In Paragraphs 4 to 6 of the Doha Declaration, governments agreed
that:
"4. The TRIPS Agreement does not and should not prevent Members
from taking measures to protect public health. Accordingly, while
reiterating our commitment to the TRIPS Agreement, we affirm that
the Agreement can and should be interpreted and implemented in a
manner supportive of WTO Members' right to protect public health
and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all. In this
connection, we reaffirm the right of WTO Members to use, to the
full, the provisions in the TRIPS Agreement, which provide
flexibility for this purpose.
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5. Accordingly and in the light of paragraph 4 above, while
maintaining our commitments in the TRIPS Agreement, we recognize
that these flexibilities include:
In applying the customary rules of interpretation of public
international law, each provision of the TRIPS Agreement shall be
read in the light of the object and purpose of the Agreement as
expressed, in particular, in its objectives and principles. Each
Member has the right to grantcompulsory licensesand the freedom to
determine the grounds upon which such licenses are granted. Each
Member has the right to determine what constitutes a national
emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency, it being
understood that public health crises, including those relating to
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics, can represent
a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency. The
effect of the provisions in the TRIPS Agreement that are relevant
to the exhaustion of intellectual property rights is to leave each
Member free to establish its own regime for such exhaustion without
challenge, subject to the MFN and national treatment provisions of
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6. We recognize that WTO Members with insufficient or no
manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector could face
difficulties in making effective use of compulsory licensing under
the TRIPS Agreement. We instruct the Council for TRIPS to find an
expeditious solution to this problem and to report to the General
Council before the end of 2002."These provisions in the Declaration
ensure that governments may issue compulsory licenses on patents
for medicines, or take other steps to protect public health. **
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In 2005, WTO members reached agreement on an amendment to the
TRIPSAgreement to make permanent the temporary waiver contained in
the August 30WTO Decision, which itself fulfilled the requirement
of para.6 of the DohaDeclaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public
Health of November 14, 2001.This decision created a mechanism to
allow WTO members to issue compulsorylicenses to export generic
versions of patented medicines to countries withinsufficient or no
manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector.
The 2005 Ministerial Declaration stated:"We reaffirm the
importance we attach to the General Council Decision of 30August
2003 on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration
on theTRIPS Agreement and Public Health, and to an amendment to the
TRIPSAgreement replacing its provisions. In this regard, we welcome
the work that hastaken place in the Council for TRIPS and the
Decision of the General Council of 6December 2005 on an Amendment
of the TRIPS Agreement."** XIDAS Jabalpur
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The amendment, the first ever to the TRIPS Agreement, was
circulated to WTOmembers for formal adoption. A deadline of
December 1, 2007 was set formembers to accept the permanent
amendment. For the amendment to be put intoeffect, at least
two-thirds of members must formally adopt it.
On November 30, 2007 Peter Mandelson, the then European Union's
TradeCommissioner, announced that the European Union formally
accepted the WorldTrade Organization -approved protocol of December
2005, amending the TRIPSAgreement. However, in order for the
decision to have legal effect, two-thirds ofthe WTO's 151 Members
are required to ratify the agreement. The EuropeanUnion's
acceptance only brings the number to 41.
In 2008 a decision was made to extend the deadline for accepting
the TRIPSagreement amendment. The deadline has been extended until
31December 2009or "such later date as may be decided by the
Ministerial Conference."
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India, as a developing economy, has been benefittedbeing a
founding member of the World tradeOrganization. The country at
large has seen manysignificant changes which have taken place after
theformation of WTO. There are some issues which areyet to be
sorted out with the WTO and but by andlarge things are falling in
shape for the IndianEconomy.** XIDAS Jabalpur
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Dispute settlement at the WTO:The developing country experience
by Gregory C.Shaffer,Ricardo Melendez-OrtizIntellectual Property
Rights,the WTO and developing countries:The trips by Carlos
M.CorreaWTO,Agriculture and developing countries:The case of
Ethiopia by Michiel keyzer,Max Merbis,Geert OverboschSelf-enforcing
Trade:Developing countries and WTO dispute SettlementNegotiating
Trade:Developing countries in the WTO and NAFTA by John S.OdellWTO
law and Developing Countries by George A,Bermann,Petros
C.Mavroidis*XIDAS Jabalpur*
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