The document discusses the World Trade Organization (WTO), an international organization formed in 1995 with 164 member countries that facilitates international trade. It summarizes key aspects of the WTO including its governing bodies like the Trade Negotiations Committee and key initiatives it oversees like the Doha Round of trade negotiations aimed at trade liberalization. Specific topics covered in the negotiations include agriculture, services, and intellectual property rights.
2. A supreme international organization that
was set up to facilitate, supervise and
liberalize the international trade.
Formed in 1995 and headquarters are in
Geneva.
It has 164 members, that represents the 95%
of the total world trade.
3. The Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC)
operates under the authority of the General
Council.
It was set up by the Doha Declaration to
handle negotiating subjects.
4. The Doha Round is the latest round of trade
negotiations among the WTO membership.
Its aim is to achieve major reform of the
international trading system through the
introduction of lower trade barriers and
revised trade rules.
Under this, the Doha Ministerial
Declaration provided the mandate for the
negotiations, including on agriculture,
services and an intellectual property topic,
which began earlier.
5. WTO members continue to conduct negotiations
to reform agricultural trade. These talks began in
early 2000 under the original mandate of the
Agriculture Agreement and became part of the
Doha Round at the 2001 Doha Ministerial
Conference. At the 2013 Bali Ministerial
Conference, ministers adopted important
decisions on agriculture. More recently, at the
2015 Nairobi Ministerial Conference, WTO
members agreed on a historic decision to
eliminate agricultural export subsidies,
6. he General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS) mandates WTO member governments to
progressively liberalize trade in services through
successive rounds of negotiations. Under the
mandate of Article XIX, the latest round of
negotiations began in January 2000. At the Doha
Ministerial Conference in November 2001 the
services negotiations became part of the single
undertaking under the Doha Development
Agenda, whereby all subjects under the
negotiations are to be concluded at the same
time.
7. The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual property
law into the international trading system for the first
time and remains the most comprehensive international
agreement on intellectual property to date.
It introduced WTO members to provide copyright rights
and patent, covering content producers including
performers, producers of sound recordings and
broadcasting organizations; geographical indications,
including appellations of origin; industrial
designs; integrated circuit layout-designs; patents; new
plant varieties; trademarks; trade dress; and
undisclosed or confidential information.