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Established
1995
Headquarters
Geneva
Organization
Biennial ministers’ conference, the main decision-making body
Director-General
Pascal Lamy (F)
Staff
625 (2009)
Financing
Member contributions; Budget 2009: CHF 189 million
Link
www.wto.org
World Trade Organisation WTO
The World Trade Organization WTO was founded in 1995 and besides the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is one of the main organizations for world economic order. The WTO aims to do away with all barriers to world trade. In July 2008, the WTO had 153 members, three-quarters of them from the developing world.
| The main tasks of the WTO |
The WTO aims to achieve the freest trade possible by doing away with trade barriers on the basis of the following principles:
- Reciprocity: If one country lifts restrictions on trade with a partner country, the partner country must reciprocate equally.
- Most-favoured nation: In general the trade benefits granted to one country must apply to all the other WTO members. There are exceptions through free trade agreements or tariff preferences for developing countries.
- National treatment: Foreign goods should not be discriminated against in favour of locally produced goods. Import products must be subject to the same conditions as those applying to locally made products.
The WTO also aims to reduce duties and eliminate non-tariff trade barriers such as import limitations or bans based on amount.
These and other principles are contained in more than 30 multilateral agreements. For example the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT, was
absorbed and integrated into the WTO. Since its foundation in 1948, GATT has provided rules for the international trading system. But WTO rules have a much broader application than GATT regulations.
Now there are principles governing the General Agreement on Trade in Services, GATS, and for Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights,
TRIPS.
| The WTO and Switzerland |
With its many international ties, Switzerland relies greatly on stable international regulations governing cross-border economic transactions. Therefore an
important component of Swiss foreign economic policy is active participation in the WTO. In addition, the SDC works to ensure that the interests of developing countries are considered in the Swiss
negotiating position.
The WTO has 153 members who meet every two years at the ministers’ conference to make fundamental decisions and reach agreements. Conferences have
been held in Singapore in 1996, Geneva in 1998, Seattle in 1999, Doha in 2001, Cancún in 2003, Hongkong in 2005 and Geneva in 2006 and 2008. As much as possible, the decision-making process in the
bodies of the WTO adheres to the "Single undertaking" principle: "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed". Should there still be no agreement, the simple majority principle
applies on the basis of one country, one vote. Changes in the fundamental WTO regulations can be made only if all members agree.