About the WTO

Agriculture is important, but trade is distorted by subsidies and protectionism — hurting producers (and some consumers) who are not supported or protected. The 1994 agreement is a first step in the effort to reduce the distortion.

Contributions to the STD F reached US$ 4.3 million in 2010, from US$ 300,000 of seed finance from the World Bank and the WTO in 2003. There are now 19 donors to the trust fund and, in addition to the core partners, other organizations participating in the STD F include the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as well as donors and developing countries.

As noted in the preceding Chapter, several WTO agreements are relevant to health policy. Generally, the positive growth and income effects of more open and predictable trade regimes can provide the resources, as well as goods, services and information, for effective health systems. The WTO agreements explicitly allow governments, in pursuing national health and other policy objectives, to take measures to restrict trade in order to protect health. This is legitimate as a matter of principle. The emphasis in WTO rules is on how policies are pursued without questioning the underlying objective. For example, is a measure applied or enforced in a way that discriminates between trading partners or between imported products and products produced domestically? Are there ways of implementing policy that would be less restrictive on trade? Thus, it is the manner in which government pursue specific health policies in practice which might have trade-related implications, which are examined in this Chapter.

This chapter examines the operation and accomplishments of two understudied aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system – the consultation process and the implementation results. After a brief summary of the operation of the WTO dispute settlement system – focusing on consultations and the implementation process – it examines in detail the results of consultations and the record on implementation. As part of that examination, it looks at proposals on consultations and implementation that have been made over the years in the ongoing dispute settlement reform negotiations.

The Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) reviewed the trade policies and practices of 24 WTO members in 20 meetings in 2015. By the end of 2015, the TPRB had carried out 429 reviews involving 151 of the 162 WTO members.

Un renforcement de la production mondiale en 1999 a inversé la tendance à la baisse du commerce mondial au premier semestre de 1999 et a entraîné une forte expansion des échanges pendant le second semestre. Pour l’ensemble de l’année, la croissance réelle du commerce mondial est restée inchangée par rapport à l’année précédente et a été inférieure au taux moyen enregistré tout au long des années 90. Bien que la croissance du commerce soit demeurée plus rapide que celle de la production mondiale de produits de base et celle du PIB mondial, l’écart entre les taux de croissance est resté en 1999 inférieur à celui qui a été observé pendant la période 1990-1997.

When the ILO decided to move to its new headquarters, one important question was which works of art should move with it, and which should be left behind. There would be costs involved in moving the works and repairing any damage, and some of the works might not suit the new building.

The Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) reinforced the design and delivery of WTO technical assistance programmes and strengthened key aspects of these programmes. The WTO undertook 324 technical assistance activities in 2014, higher than the 279 in 2013 but below the 343 activities in 2012. Although the overall total of activities was down on two years ago, the number of participants benefiting from technical assistance continues to rise due to the growing use of e-learning, with an increasing focus on least-developed countries (LDCs) and Africa.

En 2014, l’OMC a coopéré avec diverses organisations intergouvernementales, dont l’Organisation des Nations Unies, l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE), le Fonds monétaire international (FMI) et la Banque mondiale. L’OMC a aussi publié, en collaboration avec la Conférence des Nations Unies sur le commerce et le développement (CNUCED) et l’OCDE, des rapports sur l’évolution du commerce et de l’investissement dans les pays du Groupe des 20 (G-20), composé des principaux pays développés et en développement.