WTO WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

THE WTO MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SEEMS ACCORDING TO THE YES MEN - MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE

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UN75 YEARS OF INACTION - Many wars have been waged over mineral rights and control of oil flow, used to power our internal combustion engine vehicles. Imagine a world where free energy form nature powers our vehicles, and every country has their own electricity supply, independent of fossil fuel imports. Energy security is a big step towards world peace. By way of example, SmartNet™ service stations might supply hydrogen for heavy goods vehicles, and electricity to rapid charge conventional battery vehicles. They also act as grid load-levelers for changeable wind and solar renewables. This kind of technology could free us from carcinogens in cities and reduces global warming. If we are to supply trucks and cars with energy, we need around 600,000 smart service stations globally before 2050, meaning mass produced flatpacks are necessary to reach such goal economically. At 2019 end, 470 hydrogen stations were operating worldwide, 1/1200th of what is required.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade. It officially commenced operations on 1 January 1995, pursuant to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement, thus replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been established in 1948. The WTO is the world's largest international economic organization, with 164 member states representing over 98% of global trade and global GDP.

The WTO facilitates trade in goods, services and intellectual property among participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements, which usually aim to reduce or eliminate tariffs, quotas, and other restrictions; these agreements are signed by representatives of member governments: fol.9–10 and ratified by their legislatures. The WTO also administers independent dispute resolution for enforcing participants' adherence to trade agreements and resolving trade-related disputes. The organization prohibits discrimination between trading partners, but provides exceptions for environmental protection, national security, and other important goals.

The WTO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Its top decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference, which is composed of all member states and usually convenes biennially; consensus is emphasized in all decisions. Day-to-day functions are handled by the General Council, made up of representatives from all members. A Secretariat of over 600 personnel, led by the Director-General and four deputies, provides administrative, professional, and technical services. The WTO's annual budget is roughly $220 million USD, which is contributed by members based on their proportion of international trade.

Studies show the WTO has boosted trade and reduced trade barriers. It has also influenced trade agreement generally; a 2017 analysis found that the vast majority of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) up to that point explicitly reference the WTO, with substantial portions of text copied from WTO agreements. Goal 10 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals also referenced WTO agreements as instruments of reducing inequality. However, critics contend that the benefits of WTO-facilitated free trade are not shared equally, citing the outcomes of negotiations and data showing a continually widening gap between rich and poor nations.

Hence, the WTO may not be working as it is supposed to be, to close the poverty gap, an issue with SDG 1.

SMARTNET™ - Imagine being able to refuel with ammonia, hydrogen, methanol, or charge your battery at the same service station, all powered by renewable electricity. Imagine that robotrucks and robotaxis could use the same facilities without human intervention. Imagine that intermittent wind and solar power could be load leveled for greater efficiency and energy self sufficiency. That is SmartNet versatility - simply smarter. But without a change in patent law, to promote climate friendly tech, the Red Flag brigade win again. It's all about the money. Pity about the planet!

The World Trade Organization claim to be the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

It could be argued, that such provisions allows workers in poorer nations to be more efficiently exploited. Where the objective of closing the poverty gap, or raising living standards, may not be working.

PRINCIPLES OF THE TRADING SYSTEM

The WTO establishes a framework for trade policies; it does not define or specify outcomes. That is, it is concerned with setting the rules of "trade policy." Five principles are of particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO:

1. Non-discrimination. It has two major components: the most favored nation (MFN) rule and the national treatment policy. Both are embedded in the main WTO rules on goods, services, and intellectual property, but their precise scope and nature differ across these areas. The MFN rule requires that a WTO member must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members, i.e., a WTO member has to grant the most favorable conditions under which it allows trade in a certain product type to all other WTO members. "Grant someone a special favor and you have to do the same for all other WTO members." National treatment means that imported goods should be treated no less favorably than domestically produced goods (at least after the foreign goods have entered the market) and was introduced to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade (e.g. technical standards, security standards et al. discriminating against imported goods).

2. Reciprocity. It reflects both a desire to limit the scope of free-riding that may arise because of the MFN rule and a desire to obtain better access to foreign markets. A related point is that for a nation to negotiate, it is necessary that the gain from doing so be greater than the gain available from unilateral liberalization; reciprocal concessions intend to ensure that such gains will materialize.

3. Binding and enforceable commitments. The tariff commitments made by WTO members in multilateral trade negotiation and on accession are enumerated in a legal instrument known as a schedule (list) of concessions. These schedules establish "ceiling bindings": a country can change its bindings, but only after negotiating with its trading partners, which could mean compensating them for loss of trade. If satisfaction is not obtained, the complaining country may invoke the WTO dispute settlement procedures.

4. Transparency. The WTO members are required to publish their trade regulations, to maintain institutions allowing for the review of administrative decisions affecting trade, to respond to requests for information by other members, and to notify changes in trade policies to the WTO. These internal transparency requirements are supplemented and facilitated by periodic country-specific reports (trade policy reviews) through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). The WTO system tries also to improve predictability and stability, discouraging the use of quotas and other measures used to set limits on quantities of imports.

5. Safety values. In specific circumstances, governments are able to restrict trade. The WTO's agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the environment but also public health, animal health and plant health.

There are three types of provision in this direction:

A. articles allowing for the use of trade measures to attain non-economic objectives;

B. articles aimed at ensuring "fair competition"; members must not use environmental protection measures as a means of disguising protectionist policies.

C. provisions permitting intervention in trade for economic reasons.

Exceptions to the MFN principle also allow for preferential treatment of developing countries, regional free trade areas and customs unions.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the seventh Director-General of the WTO. She took office on 1 March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to serve as Director-General. Her term of office will expire on 31 August 2025.

CONTACT WTO

World Trade Organization

Centre William Rappard
Rue de Lausanne, 154
Case postale
1211 Genève 2
Switzerland

General enquiries: For all general enquiries, please include your full name and contact details - postal address, email address and daytime telephone number. They will not reply to anonymous correspondence.

+41 (0)22 739 51 11     enquiries@wto.org

Media enquiries: Media enquiries should be addressed to the Press Unit of the Information and External Relations Division:
+41 (0)22 739 50 07    enquiries@wto.org

Publications enquiries: Publications enquiries should be addressed to the Publications Unit
+41 (0)22 739 52 08 / 739 53 08     publications@wto.org

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://www.wto.org/

https://theyesmen.org/movie/yes-men-2004

PROFITEERING

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POVERTY

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FINANCIAL SLAVERY

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