World Trade Organization

Abstract

This article discusses the World Trade Organization, formed in 1994 as an outgrowth of earlier arrangements set up by the governments of 23 countries under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947. The GATT as it evolved after 1947 and became permanent in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994 embodied three key elements which now continue in the WTO. The first is a series of mutually agreed limits (or rules) on the use of trade-restricting measures by national governments. The second is progressive liberalization, to be achieved through negotiations on trade barriers and reductions in trade barriers. The third element is an institutional presence maintained through the operation of its Secretariat, and dispute settlement.