The Aid for Trade initiative, launched by WTO members in , is designed to help developing economies build trade capacity, enhance their infrastructure and improve their ability to benefit from trade- opening opportunities. The Enhanced Integrated Framework EIF is the only multilateral partnership dedicated exclusively to assisting least developed countries LDCs in their use of trade as an engine for growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction.
The EIF partnership of 51 countries, 24 donors and eight partner agencies, including the WTO, works closely with governments, development organizations, civil society and academia. Another partnership supported by the WTO is the Standards and Trade Development Facility STDF , set up to help developing economies meet international standards for food safety, plant and animal health and access global markets.
The WTO organizes hundreds of technical cooperation missions to developing economies annually. It also holds many 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.
E-learning courses are also available. In , some participants benefited from WTO training aimed at improving understanding of WTO agreements and global trade rules. It does this by:. A total of 25 countries are negotiating membership. Decisions are made by the entire membership. This is typically by consensus. 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.
It does not have branch offices outside Geneva. The Secretariat also provides some forms of legal assistance in the dispute settlement process and advises governments wishing to become members of the WTO. From the early days of the Silk Road to the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GATT and the birth of the WTO, trade has played an important role in supporting economic development and promoting peaceful relations among nations.
This page traces the history of trade, from its earliest roots to the present day. Trade and foreign policy have been intertwined throughout history, with foreign policy often tailored to promote trade interests. In the year 30 BC, Rome conquered Egypt in large part to have a better supply of grain. The global rules that underpin our multilateral economic system were a direct reaction to the Second World War and a desire for it to never be repeated.
It seemed well-established, but throughout those 47 years, it was a provisional agreement and organization. The draft ITO Charter was ambitious. It extended beyond world trade disciplines, to include rules on employment, commodity agreements, restrictive business practices, international investment, and services.
Meanwhile, 15 countries had begun talks in December to reduce and bind customs tariffs. With the Second World War only recently ended, they wanted to give an early boost to trade liberalization, and to begin to correct the legacy of protectionist measures which remained in place from the early s. The group had expanded to 23 by the time the deal was signed on 30 October The 23 were also part of the larger group negotiating the ITO Charter. One of the provisions of GATT says that they should accept some of the trade rules of the draft.
They were right. The ITO Charter was finally agreed in Havana in March , but ratification in some national legislatures proved impossible. The most serious opposition was in the US Congress, even though the US government had been one of the driving forces. In , the United States government announced that it would not seek Congressional ratification of the Havana Charter, and the ITO was effectively dead.
In the early years, the GATT trade rounds concentrated on further reducing tariffs. The Tokyo Round during the seventies was the first major attempt to tackle trade barriers that do not take the form of tariffs, and to improve the system. The eighth, the Uruguay Round of , was the last and most extensive of all.
It led to the WTO and a new set of agreements. The Tokyo Round lasted from to , with countries participating. In other issues, the Tokyo Round had mixed results. Nevertheless, a series of agreements on non-tariff barriers did emerge from the negotiations, in some cases interpreting existing GATT rules, in others breaking entirely new ground. All major decisions are made by the membership as a whole, either by ministers who usually meet at least once every two years or by their ambassadors or delegates who meet regularly in Geneva.
The WTO agreements are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities. But a number of simple, fundamental principles run throughout all of these documents. These principles are the foundation of the multilateral trading system. An introduction, in more depth, to the WTO and its agreements. The world is complex.
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