About the WTO
The first ten years of the wto
This book was commissioned by the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a factual account of the first decade of its existence. It aims to cover the principal activities of the WTO as the successor to GATT and the steps taken to establish a global trading system.
Legal Counsel to the Administration
The WTO and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which preceded it are known for their strong tradition of pragmatism and results-oriented management. These are concepts that trade diplomats do not automatically associate with law and lawyers. As a matter of fact, there are few domains where lawyers have traditionally been less welcome than in the housekeeping of the WTO. This is why, in order to promote the rule of law in the management of the Secretariat, the Legal Adviser to the WTO Administration has had to avoid talking, acting and even thinking like a lawyer.
Comercio y medio ambiente
En 2013, el Comité de Comercio y Medio Ambiente recibió y examinó información sobre la evolución de distintos aspectos de la política ambiental, desde los sistemas de cálculo de la huella ambiental y de etiquetado, con inclusión de la huella de carbono, hasta las iniciativas de política en favor de una economía verde y los acuerdos multilaterales sobre el medio ambiente que contienen disposiciones relacionadas con el comercio. La Secretaría de la OMC publicó las Bases de Datos sobre Medio Ambiente de 2010 y 2011, y actualizó la “Matriz de las medidas relacionadas con el comercio adoptadas en el marco de determinados Acuerdos Multilaterales sobre el Medio Ambiente”.
Trade and development
In 2011, the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) agreed a number of ways to implement transparency requirements for preferential trade agreements (PTAs), under which three notifications of new PTAs were received. Other issues discussed by the CTD and its Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) included capacitybuilding initiatives, market access for LDCs, the Aid for Trade initiative and the WTO’s technical assistance activities.
Public Forum 2016
The 2016 Public Forum – the WTO’s major event for public engagement – focused on how trade can be made more inclusive so that the benefits of trade are spread more widely. Participants looked at how the WTO could help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) gain better access to the global market, and shared ideas on the role of new technologies, digital innovation and e-commerce. The Forum also discussed how women can participate more fully in international trade and better reap the benefits of global trade. The WTO’s World Trade Report and three other publications were launched during the three-day meeting.
Secretaría y presupuesto
La Secretaría de la OMC cuenta con una plantilla de 627 funcionarios, que representan a 69 nacionalidades. Las obras de renovación y ampliación comenzaron a mediados de 2008, y se espera que concluyan antes del final de 2012. La OMC obtiene la mayoría de los ingresos para su presupuesto anual, que en 2008 ascendió a FS 189.257.600, de las contribuciones señaladas a sus 153 Miembros.
Appellate Body
Three appeals of panel reports were filed with the Appellate Body in 2009, out of a total of five reports that could have been appealed. One of these appeals related to original panel proceedings. Two appeals related to panel proceedings under Article 21.5 (Surveillance of Implementation of Recommendations and Rulings) of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), involving cases where the parties disagreed whether the panel’s original ruling had been properly implemented.
Doha Development Agenda
At the WTO’s Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, WTO members agreed to launch a new round of trade negotiations. They also agreed to work on other issues, in particular the implementation of the current WTO agreements. The entire package is called the Doha Development Agenda. The negotiations take place in the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) and its subsidiaries, which are regular councils and committees meeting in special session or specially created negotiating bodies. The negotiating bodies report to the TNC, which supervises the overall conduct of their work.
Relaciones con las organizaciones no gubernamentales
En 2016, las organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG) recibieron periódicamente información actualizada sobre las actividades de la OMC, incluida información sobre las negociaciones comerciales y otras cuestiones. Intervinieron activamente en el Foro Público, la principal actividad de proyección exterior en la que participan ONG.
Contact with the media
Some 350 journalists attended the Tenth Ministerial Conference, including 12 journalists from least-developed countries (LDCs) whose attendance was supported by the WTO. The WTO held several training activities for journalists, including seminars in Geneva, and WTO press officers participated in a number of national and regional outreach activities. The number of WTO press briefings and press conferences rose to 53, compared with 42 the previous year, reflecting media interest in the WTO’s 20th anniversary and the run-up to the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi.
A brief history
The WTO began life on 1 January 1995, succeeding the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade which had regulated world trade since 1948. Over the past 20 years, the WTO has made a major contribution to the strength and stability of the global economy, helping to boost trade growth, resolve numerous trade disputes and support the integration of developing countries into the trading system.
Trade negotiations: Government Procurement Agreement
On 3 December 2013, ministers of the parties to the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), meeting in Bali during the WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference, expressed satisfaction at the progress achieved towards bringing into force the revised GPA. Following ratification by 10 of the parties, the agreement finally came into force on 6 April 2014.
Trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS)
The TRIPS Council carried out its regular work on promoting transparency and reviewing WTO members’ implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. It gave least-developed country (LDC) members another eight years to comply with the Agreement. The Council continued discussions on access to medicines for the poorest countries, biotechnology and technical cooperation, among other topics. The Council also exchanged information on, and debated, a number of issues raised by individual countries, such as innovation policies for small and medium-sized enterprises, climate change and, for the first time, sports.
Developments in trade policy, 1998-99
Two years ago the “Asian financial crisis” erupted in Thailand, spread rapidly to other countries in the region, and affected general investor sentiment in those and other developing countries and transition economies, notably Russia in mid-1998 and later Brazil. Output and employment contracted sharply in the countries most directly affected, in turn adversely affecting trade of their partners and, together with steep commodity price declines, trade of many other developing countries. In the past, such events could have been invoked as a justification for raising import barriers, in an attempt to contain the domestic consequences and shift the burden onto trading partners, possibly provoking countermeasures, and thereby exacerbating the downturn. However, this very serious crisis unfolded in the framework of the WTO, the strengthened multilateral trading system created by the Uruguay Round Agreements. The system, and the good sense of governments, helped to keep markets open, facilitating adjustment and providing a critical element for recovery from the Asian crisis.
Conferencia Ministerial de Nairobi
En la Décima Conferencia Ministerial de la OMC, celebrada en Nairobi del 15 al 19 de diciembre de 2015, se adoptaron varias decisiones sobre la agricultura, el algodón y las cuestiones relacionadas con los países menos adelantados. Esas decisiones incluyen un compromiso de eliminar las subvenciones a la exportación de productos agropecuarios, que el Director General, Roberto Azevêdo, aclamó como el “resultado más relevante en el ámbito de la agricultura” en los 20 años de historia de la Organización. En la Declaración de Nairobi, los Ministros reconocieron que los Miembros de la OMC “tienen opiniones diferentes” sobre la forma de abordar el futuro de las negociaciones de la Ronda de Doha. En la Conferencia también se aprobó la adhesión de Liberia y el Afganistán y se concluyó un acuerdo histórico sobre tecnología de la información.
Entender la OMC
La Organización Mundial del Comercio puede verse desde distintas perspectivas. Es una Organización para la apertura del comercio. Es un foro para que los gobiernos negocien acuerdos comerciales. Es un lugar en el que pueden resolver sus diferencias comerciales. Aplica un sistema de normas comerciales. Ayuda a los países en desarrollo a crear capacidad comercial. Fundamentalmente, la OMC es un lugar al que los gobiernos Miembros acuden para tratar de resolver los problemas comerciales que tienen unos con otros.