Structure of World Trade Organization

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The WTO consists of the following components

Ministerial Conference

A Ministerial Conference is the highest authority in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Ministerial Conference has to be held once in two years. Six Ministerial Conferences were held since its commencement in 1995

• Singapore 1996
• Geneva 1998
• Seattle 1999
• Doha 2001
• Cancun 2003
• Hong Kong 2005

The General Council is the highest decision-making body of the WTO with its headquarters in Geneva. It has representatives (usually ambassadors or equivalent) from all member governments. The General Council acts on behalf of the Ministerial Conference on all WTO affairs including settling of disputes between members and analyses trade policies.

Dispute Settlement Body

The Dispute Settlement Body consists of various panels to deal with different issues. The dispute settlement procedure of the WTO is based on well-defined rules and regulations. There are specific time frames for completing each case, which are handled by different panels.

The WTO General Council also has the Trade Policy Review Body to undertake trade policy reviews of members

Apart from the above organs, there are various councils and committees to deal with various issues.

There are three councils under General Council

• Council for Trade in Goods
• Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
• Council for Trade in Services

Committees (General)

• Trade and Environment
• Trade and Development (Subcommittee on Least-Developed Countries)
• Regional Trade Agreements
• Balance of Payment Restrictions
• Budget, Finance, and Administration

Committes on Trade in Goods

• Market Access
• Agriculture
• Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
• Technical Barriers to Trade
• Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
• Anti-dumping Practices
• Customs Valuation
• Rules of Origin
• Import Licensing
• Trade-Related Investment Measures
• Safeguards

There are sub-committies for TRIPS and Trade in Services

Last updated on: 21-12-2007