WTO Its Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland. Its

Transcript:WTO Its Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland. Its:
WTO Its Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland. Its Director General is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Membership: 164 member states India is the member of WTO since 1 January 1995. Formed under Uruguay Round of GATT under the Marrakesh agreement. History Great Depression in 1930s which started from USA on 4 Sep 1929 which resulted in worldwide stock market crash on 29 October 1929. Following which Tariff War started which was one of the economic factor of World War 2 from 1939 to 1945 Bretton Wood Conference also called UN Monetary & Financial Conference happened at New Hampshire, USA from 1 July to 22 July 1944. The Conference lead to the formation of International Bank for Reconstruction and Development which later became World Bank. IMF Discussion Related to regulation of World Trade Geneva Conference was held in 1947 which lead to signing of General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT). It was signed by 23 countries on 30 October 1947 and came into effect on 1 January 1948. Uruguay Round Conference Uruguay Round Conference from 1986 to 1994 had discussions to convert GATT into an Organization. WTO was formed under Marrakesh agreement at Morocco. Reasons behind formation of WTO GATT included only tariff barriers, thus non tariff barriers were increased by the countries by 1970s. Shift of Comparative Advantage of developed countries from Manufactured Goods to Services. Demand by developing countries to include Trade in Agriculture and Textile to be included in international trade. Objectives Promote world trade by reducing trade barriers. Improve living standards of people. To encourage production and trade of goods and services. To promote sustainable development. Principles Non discrimination – Non-Discrimination has two aspects: A. Most favoured nation (MFN) and B. National Treatment. A. Most favoured nation (MFN): Under the MFN, all WTO member countries should be treated equally, without discrimination. For example- India decides to lower basic customs duty for imports of iron-ore from China. This favour will have to be extended to all other countries. B. National Treatment – Foreign goods and local goods must be treated equally. Fair Competition -Discouraging “unfair” practices, such as export subsidies and dumping products at below normal value to gain market share; the issues are complex, and the rules try to establish what is fair or unfair, and how governments can respond, in particular by charging additional import duties calculated to compensate for damage caused by unfair trade. 3.Free Trade: All trade barriers