10. WTO : WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is among the most powerful, and one of the most secretive international bodies on earth. It is rapidly assuming the role of global government, as 134 nation-states, including the U.S., have ceded to its vast authority and powers. The WTO represents the rules-based regime of the policy of economic globalization. The central operating principal of the WTO is that commercial interests should supersede all others. Any obstacles in the path of operations and expansion of global business enterprise must be subordinated. In practice these "obstacles" are usually policies or democratic processes that act on behalf of working people, labor rights, environmental protection, human rights, consumer rights, social justice, local culture, and national sovereignty.

The organization

The WTO’s overriding objective is to help trade flow smoothly, freely, fairly and predictably.The main features are as follows:

* Administering trade agreements

* Acting as a forum for trade negotiations

* Settling trade disputes

* Reviewing national trade policies

* Assisting developing countries in trade policy issues, through technical assistance and training programmes

* Cooperating with other international organizations

Structure:

The WTO has nearly 150 members, accounting for over 97% of world trade. Around 30 others are negotiating membership.

Decisions are made by the entire membership. This is typically by consensus. A majority vote is also possible but it has never been used in the WTO, and was extremely rare under the WTO’s predecessor, GATT. The WTO’s agreements have been ratified in all members’ parliaments.

The WTO’s top level decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference which meets at least once every two years.

Below this is the General Council (normally ambassadors and heads of delegation in Geneva, but sometimes officials sent from members’ capitals) which meets several times a year in the Geneva headquarters. The General Council also meets as the Trade Policy Review Body and the Dispute Settlement Body.

At the next level, the Goods Council, Services Council and Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Council report to the General Council.

Numerous specialized committees, working groups and working parties deal with the individual agreements and other areas such as the environment, development, membership applications and regional trade agreements.

Developing countries

Development and trade

Over three quarters of WTO members are developing or least-developed countries. All WTO agreements contain special provision for them, including longer time periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase their trading opportunities and support to help them build the infrastructure for WTO work, handle disputes, and implement technical standards.

The 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha set out tasks, including negotiations, for a wide range of issues concerning developing countries. Some people call the new negotiations the Doha Development Round.

Before that, in 1997, a high-level meeting on trade initiatives and technical assistance for least-developed countries resulted in an “integrated framework” involving six intergovernmental agencies, to help least-developed countries increase their ability to trade, and some additional preferential market access agreements.

A WTO committee on trade and development, assisted by a sub-committee on least-developed countries, looks at developing countries’ special needs. Its responsibility includes implementation of the agreements, technical cooperation, and the increased participation of developing countries in the global trading system

Technical assistance and training

The WTO organizes around 100 technical cooperation missions to developing countries annually. It holds on average three trade policy courses each year in Geneva for government officials. Regional seminars are held regularly in all regions of the world with a special emphasis on African countries. Training courses are also organized in Geneva for officials from countries in transition from central planning to market economies.

The WTO set up reference centres in over 100 trade ministries and regional organizations in capitals of developing and least-developed countries, providing computers and internet access to enable ministry officials to keep abreast of events in the WTO in Geneva through online access to the WTO’s immense database of official documents and other material. Efforts are also being made to help countries that do not have permanent representatives in Geneva.

Pakistan and the WTO:

Pakistan agreed to join WTO in 1994, one of the benefits of which is the integration of the textile sector into General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT). Looking at 2005, people mostly believe that the major impact of WTO on Pakistan would again be on the textile sector. However, WTO comprises several protocols and agreements focussing on various sectors and have different implications for different sectors and thus the impact might not just be limited to the textile sector. For example, a few subjects or agreements signed by the government mentioned below show which sectors will be the most affected:

1) Improved access to foreign markets (reduction/binding of tariffs, abolition of quotas)

2) Subsidies, countervailing and anti-dumping measures

3) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing

4) Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

5) Trade-related Investment Measures (TRIMs)

6) Agreement on Agriculture