Introduction
World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in 1995. It is a worldwide organization, which aims at the regulation of the international trading processes. Despite its small age, WTO has managed to make a great contribution in the development of the global trading (Shahabadi, 2007). It gives us all possibilities to speak about the relevance and importance of this organization for the modern world. World Trade Organization deals with the formal agreements and trading operations between the participants by making them easier and comprehensive. Therefore, we can say that WTO is quite important for the trading development in the world.
History of the Development of the WTO
World Trade Organization was developed under the impact and support of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Initially, it was regarded as a successor of this influential organization, which helped to cope with some aspects (Reis, 2009). Nevertheless, nowadays, WTO is a separate and independent organization with its own principles, rules and objectives. In addition, it is important to mention that during the recent years, we could observe a great growth in the trading sphere.
In fact, the achievements of the WTO are overwhelming. According to the recent reports, it managed to increase the merchandise exports on approximately 6%, annually. Moreover, it significantly improved the trading situation in many countries. For instance, the complete trade in 2000 was 22 times more effective and productive than in 1950. Such achievements witness that WTO together with GATT have developed efficient and fruitful methods of work, which considerably influence the economic situation in the whole world. Moreover, WTO tends to improve its techniques and methods in order to reach brilliant results.
Although, nowadays WTO is a successful organization, it faced plenty of difficulties at the stage of emergence. In fact, in undergo many series of negotiations, rounds and agreements before starting independent activities. Firstly, WTO focused its attention on the reductions of tariffs. However, soon later it began to deal with many other components, including anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The last negotiations in 195 resulted in the establishment of the World Trade Organization.
Nevertheless, the negotiations did not stop in 1995. After that, WTO had to sign down agreement with the governments of different countries. In 1997, 69 countries accepted WTO and its liberal and innovative methods of the world trading. This year marked one more significant event. In 1997, 70 governments concluded the negotiations, dealing with the tariff-free trade and providing access to the financial services (Bagwell, & Staiger, 2004). Thus, we can say that WTO has gained support from many countries, from the very beginning of its establishment. Additionally, it managed not to lose their backing and provide only qualitative services for the participating states.
Main Objectives and Goals of the WTO
Nowadays, World Trade Organization orients on the fulfillment of the following objectives. Firstly, it focuses its attention on the monitoring of the trading operations and their formality. In fact, WTO deals with many aspects of the modern trading. Therefore, it is responsible of plenty of agreements and implementations, signed in this sphere. Consequently, the main task of WTO is to maintain the current agreements on the high level and complete all their demands and requirements.
Secondly, World Trade Organization is open for the innovations and changes in the existed system. Therefore, it holds the annual forums and negotiations with the main purpose of finding effective ways of trade controlling and fulfilling. Many countries are involved in the process of negotiations in order to share experience and discuss different points of view.
In addition, World Trade Organization monitors the work of the national trading policies in order to evaluate their achievements and emphasize on any inaccuracies. Furthermore, WTO deals with the monitoring of the trading processes, in a global context (Bagwell, & Staiger, 2004). All these measures are done in order to provide the fair and justified methods of global trading without any contraventions and deviations. In such a way, WTO fights against the economic crimes in the sphere of the global trading.
Moreover, WTO pays special attention to the situation in the developing countries. It encourages the development of trade in low-income countries in order to improve their economic position. In fact, WTO deals not only with the developed states. Among its participants, we can observe plenty of least-developed countries. WTO provides them with the technical cooperation and appropriate trainings with the purpose of establishment of the effective trading system.
Finally, World Trade Organization copes not only with the practical side of the trading system. It is also one of the biggest centers of modern economic researches and analyses. It completes annual reports and statistics about the achievement and failures of the trading system. In addition, it aims at the development of the effective strategies for the further actions. Therefore, we can say the WTO deals with all the components and sides of the trade, including its practical fulfillment and theoretical background. In such a way, WTO manages to remain a successful organization and provide only qualitative services for its consumers.
Performance
The activities of WTO are completely based on the agreements and results of the negotiations between different countries (Shrybman, 2001). Therefore, we can say that there all actions of WTO are well designed and studied by all the participants. Nowadays, the set of its rules consists in more than 30,000 pages. Moreover, WTO has signed more than 30 agreements with the states and their governments. All this helps to maintain the high quality of WTO’s functions and services.
According to the numerous agreements, World Trade Organization provides non-discriminatory trading processes, which aim at the protection of the human rights. Every participant of the WTO achieves a written guarantee that its exports will be treated fairly, according to the general rules and obligations (Reis, 2009). On the contrary, every state promises to provide a conscientious attitude towards the imports. In such a way, WTO manages to maintain the favorable relationships between the nations on the global market. Speaking about the developing countries, they achieve some additional implementations and support from the organization.
From the very beginning, the WTO specialized on the goods’ trading. It has signed some agreements with the GATT, concerning about trading in such sectors as agriculture, textile and others. Moreover, WTO has made some steps toward the avoiding of dumping. Generally, we can say that WTO has reached success in this field and solved the task with the goods’ selling.
Later, however, World Trade Organization became involved in the service trading too. Different banks, hotels, telecommunication and transport companies, tour operators could apply to the WTO in order to protect their interests and compete on the global market (Shahabadi, 2007). Nowadays, WTO successfully deals with the service trades and provides good conditions for its participants. In addition, it guarantees protection and high quality services for the international companies. Therefore, we can say that different service companies, looking for the expansion of their activities, can enjoy the principles of fair and clear trading politics, supported by the World Trade Organization.
Membership
As we have already mentioned, WTO involve many governments from both developed and developing countries. WTO suggests beneficial conditions for the least-developing countries in order to improve their trading system and give significant motivation for the further development. During the annual reports and forums, every country can express their opinions about the work of WTO and suggest some ideas for its improvement. Each country can also ask for better conditions in case it faces some difficulties. Therefore, participants of the WTO achieve only positive results from such cooperation. They can be sure in the protection of their trading processes and high quality of the suggested services.
World Trade Organization cooperates with the Committee on Least-Developed Countries in order to provide all the necessary support for these states. For instance, one of its main tasks includes the responsibility of the implementation of the most effective conditions for such countries in order to make their goods and services competitive on the global market. In addition, WTO’s support involves technical assistance and cooperation with other organizations.
Conclusion
To sum up, WTO is an important organization in the modern world. It regulates different international trading processes and makes them easier and more convenient to fulfil. WTO cooperates with many other global organizations in order to provide a full spectrum of services for its participants. The statistics shows that WTO managed to reach overwhelming success during the years of its working. It provides only qualitative services for the states, promising the complete protection for their goods and services. Moreover, WTO helps to improve the global economic situation by assisting the developing countries and encouraging them to develop their economics and trading. Nowadays, WTO does not only include the regulation of the global trading. It is also a research center, which specialized on the qualitative analysis of the trading situation and its probable changes in the future. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that WTO plays a significant role in the modern world, and its actions are essential for the normal functioning of the global trading.
