WTO (world trade organization) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WTO (world trade organization) - Research Paper Example Hence, the origin dates back almost a century ago. The mother of WTO was General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (Ministry of Commerce and Industries 1). GATT offered some basic trade rules for member countries. However, with time it grew to an influential economic powerhouse. The aim of GATT was to have efficient trade rules to have a stable and predictable world trade. As a result, under GATT there was a reduction of tariffs and formidable trade rules. The initial members were twenty-three countries that were known as Contracting Parties (Ministry of Commerce and Industries 1). The members met in every six moths to negotiate on various issues of trade affecting member countries. Moreover, larger negotiating sessions â€Å"rounds† were held to deal with emerging issues (Ministry of Commerce and Industries 1). The body grew over the years. In the growth, there were more issues as well as greater responsibility. Moreover, reductions of tariffs in this period forced countries to divert their attention to addressing non-tariff trade barriers that were affecting the world trade. After this period, there were several rounds held. The most significant of the rounds was the Uruguay round. The round led to the birth of an organization that covered expanded issue of trade (Ministry of Commerce and Industries 1). In this round, over 120 countries took place (Ministry of Commerce and Industries 1). It was claimed to be the most significant trade negotiations to have happened. The result of the negotiations was formally approved in Marrakesh, morocco on 15 April 1994 (Ministry of Commerce and Industries 1). The approval led to the birth of WTO. There are various functions of WTO. The significant function is to negotiate for the reduction of barriers to trade and agree on principles of operation of the international trade (World Trade Organization (WTO) 1). Secondly, the organization plays a key role in reviewing of policies relating to trade. It