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List of Partners vendors. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. Table of Contents Expand. Understanding the WTO. How the WTO Functions. Free Trade, but at What Cost? The Bottom Line. Key Takeaways The World Trade Organization is a global organization made up of member countries that deals with the rules of trade between nations. The goal of the WTO is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly and predictably as possible.
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A working party , comprised of all interested WTO members, scrutinizes each application and negotiates the terms of accession. This is followed by an extended period of bilateral negotiations between the applicant and each member of the working party on tariff levels and market access. For more information on the accession process, consult the secondary sources listed to the right. Consult the Accessions Page on the WTO's website for accession-related news, meeting documents, and more, including:.
The protocol of accession is the formal document by which a new member joints the WTO and agrees to be bound by its multilateral agreements. Accompanying each protocol of accession are the goods and services schedules that memorialize the specific commitments on tariffs and market access made by the new member as a condition of joining the WTO. The Georgetown Law Library has protocols of accession, and the related goods and services schedules, in print for the following jurisdictions:.
Founding members of the WTO are shown in dark green. Members that joined the WTO after are shown in light green. Public domain image by Emilfaro via Wikimedia Commons.
Search this Guide Search. Consult the Accessions Page on the WTO's website for accession-related news, meeting documents, and more, including: the Current Status of pending accessions; a Summary Table of ongoing accessions; and an Interactive Map of accessions.
The four countries with the largest shares of world trade are reviewed every two years, the next 16 largest traders are reviewed every four years, and other countries are reviewed every six years, although least-developed countries might be reviewed less frequently. The trade reviews provide information on a country's trade policies and comment on whether a country is pursuing market-opening or market-restrictive policies.
This public examination is a mild form of pressure for a country to avoid practices that discourage trade. The Uruguay Round agreements greatly strengthened the process for settlement of disputes.
The first stage of the process is consultation between the governments involved. If consultation is not successful, the complainant may ask the DSB to establish a dispute panel. The dispute panel hears the case and reports back to the DSB. If the complaint is upheld, the respondent must either change its practice or negotiate an agreeable resolution. Otherwise, the complainant may request that the DSB authorize suspension of obligations, thereby giving permission for the complainant to retaliate.
For example, a complainant may receive permission to increase tariffs against a respondent country that disregards a decision by the DSB. Permission is automatic unless unanimously disapproved. Procedures are clearly set out with specific timetables at each stage. More specialized work is done in three major bodies under the General Council.
One of these is the Council for Trade in Goods , under which committees work on a number of trade areas. One committee works on trade in agriculture. Another committee oversees the related topic of sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which are measures that pertain respectively to animal and plant health and safety.
Some committees monitor practices that are considered "unfair" if not implemented in accordance with WTO rules antidumping, subsidies and countervailing measures. Other committees examine practices that are not necessarily "unfair" but could be trade-distorting nonetheless rules of origin, safeguards, technical barriers, customs valuation, and import licensing.
One committee works on the relatively new area of trade-related investment measures, and another addresses market access issues tariffs and nontariff measures. A second major body under the General Council is the Council for Trade in Services , which oversees the Uruguay Round agreement on trade in services. The Uruguay Round services agreement has three parts. The first part lists basic principles that countries agree to observe, including national treatment, most-favored-nation treatment, and transparency open information about relevant laws and regulations.
The second part contains four annexes with rules on: 1 the movement of persons who provide services, 2 financial services, 3 telecommunications, and 4 air transport services. The third part is a schedule of country commitments. These commitments are bound and cannot be reduced in scope, much like the tariff levels on goods, which cannot be increased once they are bound.
The service commitments may include exceptions to the national treatment and most-favored-nation principles, if countries included these exceptions when they originally negotiated the commitments.
The first part outlines basic principles that countries must observe, including national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment. The second part establishes standards for the different types of intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs, and geographical indications e.
The third part of the agreement establishes enforcement processes. In addition to the bodies discussed above, there are many other committees and working groups under the General Council. For example, there are working groups on trade, debt, and finance and on trade and transfer of technology. There are committees on plurilateral agreements, which are not signed by all WTO members, on civil aircraft and on government procurement. The Committee on Trade and Development often works with other international institutions on special concerns of countries in development.
Working parties on accession meet with applicant countries to identify changes that are necessary to bring the applicant's trade regime into line with WTO rules and principles. The Uruguay Round also established a committee on trade and environment. Congressional debate involving the WTO has focused on several major issues. These concern: 1 achievement of U.
To what extent are U. The WTO has many benefits for the United States: it provides the only multilateral dispute mechanism for international trade, administers rules to discourage discrimination, and ensures greater security on how trade will be conducted.
However, some criticize the WTO as slow-moving and cumbersome because of its large membership, varied national interests, and consensus-based decisionmaking. One alternative is to pursue U. For example, the United States and other mostly developed countries have pursued negotiations on shipbuilding and investment in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, but with mixed success.
Another option is to pursue trade benefits through regional or bilateral agreements. These agreements can offer benefits to U. However, some contend that regional and bilateral agreements create trade diversion and may distract the United States and other countries from potentially greater benefits from multilateral negotiations.
As a member, the United States does commit to act in accordance with the rules of the multilateral body. Article XVI 4 of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Agreement, states, "Each Member shall ensure the conformity of its laws, regulations and administrative procedures with its obligations as provided in the annexed Agreements.
The WTO, however, cannot force members to adhere to their obligations. The WTO recognizes certain allowable exceptions such as national security. However, any multilateral institution is only as strong as its members' adherence to the institution's rules. If the United States or another member country chooses to take unilateral action contrary to WTO rules, that action may weaken the institution.
It is a decision for U. Are U. The United States realizes several benefits from the existence of a multilateral forum for trade disputes. Such a forum in general allows countries to peacefully resolve disputes without having to resort to more drastic measures. The WTO dispute process presents a clear, understandable set of rules to be followed, and the process is nondiscriminatory among countries.
As of October , the U. Trade Representative reports that 24 cases were resolved to U. There are many complaints about the WTO dispute settlement process. In some cases, countries have not adhered to dispute panels' findings. An example is the U.
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