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World Trade Organization: Members
built 140 days ago
The WTO's mandate is to continue and expand the liberalization of world commerce begun by GATT, eliminating tariffs and other impediments to free trade. Unlike GATT, which dealt principally with tangible goods, the WTO ... is responsible for telecommunications, financial and other services, and intellectual property such as books, films, music recordings, and computer software. Members agree to abide by WTO regulations and decisions, but the organization has no enforcement powers. Problems are dealt with by consensus, and a dispute settlement panel has been set up to handle conflicts among members. The principal executive body of the WTO is the General Council. The WTO Secretariat, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is headed by a director-general.
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The working papers discuss the Doha Round trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and implications for developing country members. Both papers touch on the need for the WTO to simplify its mechanisms and give voice to developing countries.
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Japan Economic Newswire | September 14, 2002 Economic ministers from 13 East Asian nations on Saturday called for progress in multilateral trade liberalization talks being held under the World Trade Organization (WTO). The ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (...
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A discussion paper by the Third World Network analyses the background to the breakdown of the talks in July 2006. It ... provides a development perspective on the positions of the various members of WTO on agriculture, NAMA, services and the "development issues." November 2006 (doc version).
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WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments Database contains data on implementation of trade policy commitments by WTO member countries. Data on domestic support, export subsidies, and tariffs are organized for comparison across countries. This queriable database offers various options for viewing and downloading data.
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Fund assistance for trade liberalization: In an effort to support progress under the WTO’s Doha round of trade talks, the IMF established the Trade Integration Mechanism (TIM) in April 2004. The TIM is available to all Fund member countries whose balance of payments positions might suffer, albeit temporarily, as a result of multilateral trade liberalization. It is not a new lending facility, but rather a policy aimed at making Fund resources more predictably available under existing IMF facilities.
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