GLOBAL MARKETING

Assignment-1 To understand the formation & function of trade blocks

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

Submitted to

Mrs. Priti Gadhvi

Submitted by

Priyanka Banoriya Rakesh Kumar Smriti Gari

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY FASHION MANAGEMENT STUDIES (FMS) MASTER OF FASHION MANAGEMENT

World Trade Organization

INTRODUCTION
The World Trade Organization the WTO is the international organization whose primary purpose is to open trade for the benefit of all. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is 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 worlds trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. Over the past 60 years, the WTO, which was established in 1995, and its predecessor organization the GATT have helped to create a strong and prosperous international trading system, thereby contributing to unprecedented global economic growth. The WTO currently has 153 members, of which 117 are developing countries or separate customs territories. WTO activities are supported by a Secretariat of some 700 staff, led by the WTO Director-General. The Secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and has an annual budget of approximately CHF 200 million ($180 million, 130 million). The three official languages of the WTO are English, French and Spanish. The WTO's founding and guiding principles remain the pursuit of open borders, the guarantee of most-favored-nation principle and non-discriminatory treatment by and among members, and a commitment to transparency in the conduct of its activities. The opening of national markets to international trade, with justifiable exceptions or with adequate flexibilities, will encourage and contribute to sustainable development, raise people's welfare, reduce poverty, and foster peace and stability. At the same time, such market opening must be accompanied by sound domestic and international policies that contribute to economic growth and development according to each member's needs and aspirations.

GOAL
The goal is to improve the welfare of the peoples of the member countries.

MISSION STATEMENT
y Negotiating the reduction or elimination of obstacles to trade (import tariffs, other barriers to trade) and agreeing on rules governing the conduct of international trade (e.g. antidumping, subsidies, product standards, etc.) y Administering and monitoring the application of the WTO's agreed rules for trade in goods, trade in services, and trade-related intellectual property rights y Monitoring and reviewing the trade policies of our members, as well as ensuring transparency of regional and bilateral trade agreements y Settling disputes among our members regarding the interpretation and application of the agreements y Building capacity of developing country government officials in international trade matters y Assisting the process of accession of some 30 countries who are not yet members of the organization y Conducting economic research and collecting and disseminating trade data in support of the WTO's other main activities y Explaining to and educating the public about the WTO, its mission and its activities.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
All WTO members may participate in all councils, committees, etc, except Appellate Body, Dispute Settlement panels, and plurilateral committees.

Ministerial Conferences The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions. The Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. The WTO General Council The General Council is the WTOs highest-level decision-making body in Geneva, meeting regularly to carry out the functions of the WTO. It has representatives (usually ambassadors or equivalent) from all member governments and has the authority to act on behalf of the ministerial conference which only meets about every two years. The current chairman is H.E. Mr. Yonov Frederick AGAH (Nigeria).

PROCESS OF WTO
At the heart of the system known as the multilateral trading system are the WTOs agreements, negotiated and signed by a large majority of the worlds trading nations, and ratified in their parliaments. These agreements are the legal ground-rules for international commerce. Essentially, they are contracts, guaranteeing member countries important trade rights. They also bind governments to keep their trade policies within agreed limits to everybodys benefit. The agreements were negotiated and signed by governments. But their purpose is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

SECRETARIAT
Overview of the WTO Secretariat The responsibility of the WTO Secretariat is to provide top-quality, independent support to WTO member governments on all of the activities that are carried out by the Organization, and to serve the WTO with professionalism, impartiality and integrity. The Secretariat is a multicultural team of highly-qualified individuals who possess the wide range of skills, knowledge and experience required to handle the Secretariat's responsibilities and to work together as an efficient and diligent international civil service. WTO Secretariat budget Miscellaneous income is earned from rental fees and sales of WTO print and electronic publications. The WTO also manages a number of trust funds, which have been contributed by Members. These are used in support of special activities for technical cooperation and training meant to enable least-developed and developing countries to make better use of the WTO and draw greater benefit from the multilateral trading system. WTO DIRECTOR-GENERAL: PASCAL LAMY Pascal Lamy is the fifth Director-General of the WTO. His appointment took effect on 1 September 2005 for a four-year term. In April 2009 WTO members reappointed Mr Lamy for a second four-year term, starting on 1 September 2009.

UNDERSTANDING THE WTO What is WTO?

There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization. It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them

to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.
The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The bulk of the WTOs current work comes from the 198694 negotiations called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the Doha Development Agenda launched in 2001. Where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them lowered, the negotiations have helped to open markets for trade. But the WTO is not just about opening markets, and in some circumstances its rules support maintaining trade barriers for example, to protect consumers or prevent the spread of disease. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the worlds trading nations. These documents provide the legal ground rules for international commerce. They are essentially contracts, binding governments to keep their trade policies within agreed limits. The systems overriding purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible so long as there are no undesirable side effects because this is important for economic development and well-being. That partly means removing obstacles. It also means ensuring that individuals, companies and governments know what the trade rules are around the world, and giving them the confidence that there will be no sudden changes of policy. In other words, the rules have to be transparent and predictable.

What WTO does?

The WTO is run by its member governments. 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).
While the WTO is driven by its member states, it could not function without its Secretariat to coordinate the activities. The Secretariat employs over 600 staff and its experts lawyers, economists, statisticians and communications experts assist WTO members on a daily basis to ensure, among other things, that negotiations progress smoothly, and that the rules of international trade are correctly applied and enforced.

Trade negotiations The WTO agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property. They spell out the principles of liberalization, and the permitted exceptions. They include individual countries commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open services markets. They set procedures for settling disputes. Implementation and monitoring WTO agreements require governments to make their trade policies transparent by notifying the WTO about laws in force and measures adopted. Various WTO councils and committees seek to ensure that these requirements are being followed and that WTO agreements are being properly implemented. Dispute settlement The WTOs procedure for resolving trade quarrels under the Dispute Settlement Understanding is vital for enforcing the rules and therefore for ensuring that trade flows smoothly. Countries bring disputes to the WTO if they think their rights under the agreements are being infringed. Judgements by specially appointed independent experts are based on interpretations of the agreements and individual countries commitments. Building trade capacity WTO agreements contain special provision for developing countries, including longer time periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase their trading opportunities, and support to help them build their trade capacity, to handle disputes and to implement technical standards. Outreach The WTO maintains regular dialogue with non-governmental organizations, parliamentarians, other international organizations, the media and the general public on various aspects of the WTO and the ongoing Doha negotiations, with the aim of enhancing cooperation and increasing awareness of WTO activities.

What WTO stands for

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. Non-discrimination
A country should not discriminate between its trading partners and it should not discriminate between its own and foreign products, services or nationals.

More open
Lowering trade barriers is one of the most obvious ways of encouraging trade, these barriers include customs duties (or tariffs) and measures such as import bans or quotas that restrict quantities selectively.

Predictable and transparent

Foreign companies, investors and governments should be confident that trade barriers should not be raised arbitrarily. With stability and predictability, investment is encouraged, jobs are created and consumers can fully enjoy the benefits of competition choice and lower prices.

More competitive
Discouraging unfair practices, such as export subsidies and dumping products at below cost 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.

More beneficial for less developed countries

Giving them more time to adjust, greater flexibility and special privileges; over three-quarters of WTO members are developing countries and countries in transition to market economies.

Protect the environment

The WTOs agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the environment but also public health, animal health and plant health. In other words, members must not use environmental protection measures as a means of disguising protectionist policies.

MEMBERSHIP, ALLIANCES AND BUREAUCRACY

All members have joined the system as a result of negotiation and therefore membership means a balance of rights and obligations. They enjoy the privileges that other member-countries give to them and the security that the trading rules provide. In return, they had to make commitments to open their markets and to abide by the rules those commitments were the result of the membership (or accession) negotiations. Countries negotiating membership are WTO observers.

BENEFITS OF WTO
1. The system helps promote peace 2. Disputes are handled constructively 3. Rules make life easier for all 4. Freer trade cuts the costs of living 5. It provides more choice of products and qualities 6. Trade raises incomes 7. Trade stimulates economic growth 8. The basic principles make life more efficient 9. Governments are shielded from lobbying 10. The system encourages good government

MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT WTO

1. The WTO dictates policy 2. The WTO is for free trade at any cost 3. Commercial interests take priority over development 4. In the WTO, commercial interests do NOT take priority over environmental protection 5. The WTO does NOT dictate to governments on issues such as food safety, and human health and safety. Again commercial interests do NOT override 6. The WTO destroys jobs, worsens poverty 7. Small countries are powerless in the WTO 8. The WTO is the tool of powerful lobbies 9. Weaker countries are forced to join the WTO 10. The WTO is undemocratic

THE WTO ROUND

y y y Seattle (1999) Doha (2001) Cancun (2003)

SEATTLE (1999) Most of the world citizens first heard about the WTO at the Seattle Millennium Round (popularly known as the Battle of Seattle), when talks ended in failure amid massive street demonstrations. The agenda for Seattle was ambitious: agriculture, services, intellectual property rights, government procurement (contracts), and competition rules, to name a few.

DOHA (2001) The attempts to expand the coverage of the WTO agreements became more apparent with the launching of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) at the WTOs 4th Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in 2001. y y y y y Agricultural subsidies Conflicts between trade liberalization and environmental protection. Competition policy Foreign investment protection Trade remedy laws (subsidies and dumping)

CANCUN (2003) y Based on a draft ministerial declaration that was submitted by the WTO director general to ministers last Aug. 31, 2003, moves by industrialized countries to include other non-trade issues at the Cancun Conference are facing stiff opposition from selected underdeveloped countries. y The call of third world governments to the monopoly-capitalist governments, especially those of the United States and the European Union, to made good their promise to remove domestic and export subsidies enjoyed by their homeland agriculture; and the drive of the monopoly-capitalist powers to push for even further liberalization in areas such as foreign investment