World Trade Organisation UPSC (WTO) explains the basics for Prelims and mains.

It is the only intergovernmental organisation which regulates international trade. The WTO officially commenced under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It is the largest international economic organisation in the world.

• The WTO deals with regulation of trade in goods, services and intellectual property between participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants’ adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments.
• The WTO deals with regulation of trade between participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process.
  • These agreements are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. 
• The WTO Members
  • 164 members
  • 22 observer governments with Afghanistan the latest to join. 
• WTO members do not have to be fully independent states; they need only be a customs territory with full autonomy in the conduct of their external commercial relations.
• The highest decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. 
• Five principles which WTO follows are
  • Non-discrimination
  • Reciprocity
  • Binding and enforceable commitments
  • Transparency
  • Safety values. 
• The operation of the WTO dispute settlement process involves case-specific panels appointed by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), the Appellate Body, The Director-General and the WTO Secretariat, arbitrators, and advisory experts. 
• The 11th biennial ministerial conference was recently held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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