About the WTO
Understanding the 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 the global system of trade rules. It helps developing countries build their trade capacity. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.
Appellate Body
The Appellate Body’s workload remained intense in 2012, although the number of new appeals levelled off. The Appellate Body circulated reports in nine disputes during 2012, four of which concerned appeals filed in 2011. New appeals were filed in five disputes, all of which were concluded in 2012. One Article 21.3(c) arbitration proceeding concerning the reasonable period of time for implementation was carried out in 2012. In June, a new member was appointed to the Appellate Body.
Home of the WTO
The home of the World Trade Organization is the Centre William Rappard in Geneva, Switzerland. Named after William Rappard, a Swiss diplomat who played a leading role in bringing the League of Nations to Geneva, the building is endowed with a diverse range of artworks, donated by WTO members and members of the International Labour Organization, the previous occupant of the building.
Foreword by the Director-General
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is the world’s first general multilateral trade agreement. It was signed in 1947 and came into force on 1 January 1948. As the contracting parties began to implement what is more widely known as the GATT 1947, it is unlikely they would have foreseen the full magnitude of the political and economic importance of their accord and its enduring impact as a fundamental framework for multilateral trade right up to the present day.
The jurisprudence of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance of the European Communities
In his chapter ‘The European Court of Justice: sources of law and methods of interpretation’, Judge Rosas describes the interpretative techniques applied by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). I will add to his contribution a few remarks related to the case-law of both the ECJ and the Court of First Instance (CFI) of the European Communities.
Contacts avec les parlementaires
La Conférence parlementaire sur l’OMC de 2016 avait pour thème «Quel avenir pour l’OMC?». Les participants se sont félicités des résultats positifs de la Conférence ministérielle de Nairobi et ont souligné que les méga accords commerciaux régionaux devaient fonctionner de concert avec les accords multilatéraux. Les parlementaires ont salué la Décision ministérielle sur la concurrence à l’exportation comme étant la mesure la plus importante adoptée par l’OMC dans le secteur de l’agriculture. Pendant l’année, l’OMC a organisé plusieurs ateliers régionaux avec les parlementaires pour leur permettre de mieux comprendre le système commercial multilatéral.
Organe d'appel
En 2010, il a été fait appel de trois rapports de groupes spéciaux auprès de l'Organe d'appel, sur un total de six rapports pour lesquels le délai de 60 jours prévu pour l'adoption ou l'engagement d'une procédure d'appel expirait pendant l'année. Ces trois appels concernaient des procédures de groupes spéciaux initiaux. Il n'y a eu aucun appel concernant la mise en conformité avec des décisions et recommandations antérieures.
Fonds pour l'application des normes et le développement du commerce
Les contributions au FANDC se sont élevées à 4,3 millions de dollars EU en 2010 alors que le financement de départ apporté par la Banque mondiale et l'OMC en 2003 était de 300 000 dollars EU. Dix-neuf donateurs contribuent aujourd'hui au Fonds d'affectation spéciale. Outre les principaux partenaires, les organisations qui y participent sont notamment le Centre du commerce international (ITC), l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour le développement industriel (ONUDI) et la Conférence des Nations Unies sur le commerce et le développement (CNUCED); des donateurs et des pays en développement participent également au Fonds.
Secretariat and budget
The WTO Secretariat has 627 regular staff representing 69 nationalities. Renovation work began in mid-2008 on the renovation and extension of the WTO building. Work is expected to be completed by end-2012. The WTO derives most of the income for its annual budget, which totalled CHF 189,257,600 in 2008, from contributions by its 153 members.
Current TRIPS issues
This chapter provides a general overview of the ongoing work in the TRIPS Council and other WTO bodies on other aspects of TRIPS and public policy as of the time of writing, focusing on the issues, which have been the most prominent
Contactos con los medios de comunicación
En 2014, se celebraron en Ginebra más reuniones de información para periodistas que el año anterior, lo cual demuestra el continuo interés que muestran los medios de comunicación por los esfuerzos de los Miembros para aplicar las Decisiones adoptadas en la Conferencia Ministerial de Bali celebrada en 2013, incluida la relativa a la facilitación del comercio. El número de periodistas inscritos para acceder a la sala de prensa del sitio Web de la OMC ascendió a 2.347, lo que supone un incremento del 6%. Además, la OMC organizó diversas actividades de formación para periodistas.
Government Procurement Agreement
Ukraine and Moldova joined the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) in 2016. Good progress was made on the accessions of Australia, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan while discussions continued on China’s accession. Russia applied to join the GPA. Phase II of the e-GPA web portal was completed, providing a single entry point for market access information. The WTO Secretariat continued to provide technical assistance to developing countries and strengthened its partnerships with other international organizations.
The founding of the Appellate Body
The Appellate Body is a unique institution in the world today. Uruguay Round negotiators did not intend to create a court. Indeed, if they had, they could have negotiated a statute creating a court like the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or the International Criminal Court. But they did not; they included only one, sparse provision – Article 17 – in the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) relating to the Appellate Body, as compared with several provisions and an appendix dealing with the panel process. Why? Because they were concerned that there might be an occasional case in which a panel might render a ‘bad report’ that, under the new system they were negotiating, would be automatically adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). The idea of creating an Appellate Body was the quid pro quo for parties losing the political right to block adoption of panel reports. Negotiators thought that panel reports would be appealed very rarely. At the same time, they intended that the Appellate Body should be separate and independent from the WTO Secretariat that served the panels.
Acuerdo sobre Contratación Pública
En octubre de 2014 concluyeron las negociaciones sobre la adhesión de Montenegro y Nueva Zelandia al Acuerdo sobre Contratación Pública (ACP), que proporciona a esos países acceso a un mercado cuyo valor es de 1,7 billones de dólares EE.UU. Se registraron importantes novedades con respecto a la adhesión al ACP de otros Miembros de la OMC, entre ellos China, Moldova y Ucrania. Entró en vigor el Acuerdo revisado, adoptado por las Partes en el ACP en 2012 (véase la página 43). Se hizo pública una nueva herramienta automatizada de información sobre el acceso a los mercados, el “sistema e-ACP”. La Secretaría de la OMC prestó asistencia técnica de alto nivel y estrechó su colaboración con otras organizaciones internacionales.