About the WTO
Accueil des nouveaux Membres
En 2013, la neuvième Conférence ministérielle de l’OMC a approuvé l’ensemble de textes relatifs à l’accession du Yémen. L’accession officielle est désormais soumise à la ratification du Protocole d’accession par le Parlement du Yémen et à la notification et au dépôt ultérieurs de l’instrument d’acceptation du Protocole auprès du Directeur général de l’OMC. Les modalités et les conditions négociées contiennent des engagements couvrant toutes les règles de l’OMC.
Activités de l’OMC
Le présent chapitre donne un aperçu des principales activités menées par l’OMC en 2003.
Introduction
There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization: as an organization for trade-opening, a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements, and a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates the global system of trade rules and helps developing countries to 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.
Technical cooperation and training
The Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) strengthened the content and quality of WTO technical assistance programmes and reinforced key aspects by providing, for example, stronger results management and implementing a progressive learning strategy. The WTO undertook 281 technical assistance activities in 2013. Although the total was down on 2012, the number of participants rose due to the growing use of e-learning tools, with an increasing focus on least-developed countries (LDCs) and Africa.
Note on the WTO Chairs Programme
The WTO Chairs Programme (WCP) was launched in 2010 as a capacity-building project. It aims to enhance knowledge and understanding of the trading system among academics and policy makers in developing countries through curriculum development, research and outreach activities by universities and research institutions.
Foreword by WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo
In the 20 years since the birth of the World Trade Organization, the world has seen huge changes. New centres of economic growth have emerged. New technologies have proliferated. Communication has been revolutionised. In 1995, less than 0.8 per cent of the world’s population used the internet, while in 2015 it was around 44 per cent.
Una organización universal
El Yemen, país menos adelantado (PMA), se adhirió a la OMC en junio de 2014 y pasó a ser el 160º Miembro de la Organización. El conjunto de documentos de adhesión de Seychelles fue aprobado en diciembre, con lo que se despejó el camino para que Seychelles se convierta en el Miembro más reciente de la OMC en abril de 2015 (véase las páginas 24-25). Actualmente, la parte del comercio mundial que abarca la OMC es del 98%, frente al 91% en 1995, año en que fue establecida la Organización.
Troisième conférence ministérielle (CM3)
La troisième Conférence ministérielle de l’OMC s’est tenue à Seattle (États-Unis) du 30 novembre au 3 décembre 1999 et a été présidée par Mme Charlene Barshefsky (États-Unis).
Undisclosed information, unfair competition and anti-competitive practices
This chapter deals with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement that set out standards for protection of undisclosed information, including test data (Article 39 of Section 7 in Part II of the Agreement) and measures for the control of anti-competitive practices in licences (Article 40 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement). It also deals with the suppression of unfair competition, a matter which is specifically referred to in Articles 22 (relating to protection of geographical indications) and 39 (relating to protection of undisclosed information), and also arises through the reference in Article 2 of the TRIPS Agreement to the Paris Convention: Article 10bis of that convention sets out general standards for the suppression of unfair competition. As for all sections of Part II, these sections have to be read together with the relevant provisions of pre-existing treaties in the area of international IP law, which are incorporated by reference into the TRIPS Agreement. Reference will be made to these treaties in the sections below. This chapter will also have to be read in conjunction with other relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement explained in other chapters (such as concerning non-discrimination, enforcement of IP rights and the administration of IP). Wherever appropriate, cross-references are made to other chapters.
Comercio de servicios
Las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC) ocuparon un lugar destacado en la labor del Consejo del Comercio de Servicios en 2011. Los debates se centraron en el comercio electrónico y los servicios de telefonía móvil en itinerancia internacional. El Consejo concluyó el tercer examen de las exenciones del trato de nación más favorecida (NMF), y prosiguió el examen de sectores de servicios y modos de suministro específicos, sobre la base de notas de antecedentes elaboradas por la Secretaría de la OMC.
Industrial designs and layout-designs of integrated circuits
This chapter deals with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement that set out standards for protection of industrial designs (Articles 25 and 26 in Section 4 of Part II of the Agreement) and protection of layout-designs or topographies of integrated circuits (Articles 35 to 38 in Section 6 of Part II). As for all sections of Part II, these sections have to be read together with the relevant provisions of pre-existing treaties in the area of international IP law, which are incorporated by reference into the TRIPS Agreement. Reference will be made to these treaties in the sections below. This chapter will also have to be read in conjunction with other relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement that are explained in other chapters (such as those concerning non-discrimination, enforcement of IP rights, and the administration of IP). Wherever appropriate, cross-references are made to other chapters.
Building a trade organization – strengthening the institutional foundations for global trade cooperation
The WTO was created in 1995 in part to place a newly expanded multilateral trading system – the result of the far-reaching Uruguay Round of trade negotiations – on a more secure and permanent institutional foundation. In certain ways, the new institution did not differ dramatically from the GATT that it replaced. The WTO occupied the same headquarters in Geneva, the size of the Secretariat grew only modestly and the Director- General of the GATT became the Director-General of the WTO. The day-to-day work of the WTO – like the GATT – was carried out by member delegations in Geneva, trade officials in national capitals and the WTO Secretariat itself. More fundamentally, the WTO remained an intergovernmental, "memberdriven" organization whose core function was to oversee and administer trade agreements negotiated among sovereign members.
Regional trade agreements
In 2009, 37 new notifications on regional trade agreements (RTAs) (which include bilateral and inter-regional free trade agreements) were received by the WTO. This is the largest number of RTA notifications in any single year since the WTO’s establishment in 1995. Of the 457 RTAs notified to the WTO as of 31 December 2009, 266 were in force.