Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a multilateral body that regulates world trade and provides a forum for negotiations to reduce trade barriers. It includes a mechanism for settling trade disputes between member states and authorizing sanctions. The 150-plus member states agree to abide by negotiated rules governing trade in goods and services. Negotiations take place in rounds of talks about a package of reduced tariffs and trade barriers. A set of principles guides negotiations, including most-favored nation treatment, predictability, transparency, fair competition, and special treatment for least-developed nations. The most contentious issues in negotiations have been agricultural subsidies in developed nations. The WTO has been the focus of anti-globalization protests that highlight negative consequences of trade liberalization such as high unemployment and environmental damage. The World Trade Organization originated in the 1944 Bretton Woods conference convened to establish effective postwar international financial and trade structures. Allied leaders hoped to create an International Trade Organization (ITO) that would set broad rules for international commerce. They envisioned the ITO as the trade counterpart to the other Bretton Woods institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The ... log in or subscribe to read full text