Published: 23rd Aug, 2019
US President Donald Trump has questioned ‘Developing Tag’ for India and China.
Context
US President Donald Trump has questioned ‘Developing Tag’ for India and China.
About
World Trade Organization (WTO)
- It is a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in the wake of the Second World War.
- Several rounds of negotiations were held under GATT.
- WTO came into existence in Uruguay Rounds of 1986-1994 through Marrakesh Agreement in 1995.
- Members – 164 and together, they constitute 98% of the global trade
- In 2000, 4th WTO Ministerial led to a new round of negotiation, Doha Development Agenda, which is still in progress.
- Mandate – to open trade for the benefit for all
- All decisions are made by consensus.
- WTO Headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland. It has no other branch office.
- Ministerial Conference is WTO’s top level decision making body. It meets once in two years.
- WTO Agreements
- For Goods – Marrakesh Agreement (1995) and Trade Facilitation Agreement ( 2017)
- For Services – General Agreement on Trade in Services
- For Intellectual Property - The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
- Functions
- Administering WTO Trade Agreement
- Act as forum for trade negotiation
- Handling trade disputes
- Monitoring trade policies
- Cooperation with other international organization
Criteria for Developing, Developed and Least Developed Countries
- There are no WTO definitions of “developed” and “developing” countries.
- Members announce for themselves whether they are “developed” or “developing” countries.
- However, other members can challenge the decision of a member to make use of provisions available to developing countries.
Advantages for Developing Members:
The special provisions include:
- longer time periods for implementing Agreements and commitments,
- measures to increase trading opportunities for developing countries,
- provisions requiring all WTO members to safeguard the trade interests of developing countries,
- support to help developing countries build the capacity to carry out WTO work, handle disputes, and implement technical standards, and
- Provisions related to least-developed country (LDC) Members.
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