Evolution of GATT as trading institution and transition of GATT to WTO
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as […]
Decision Making in the WTO
Beetham acknowledges that democratic institutions to a large extent exemplify democratic principles that require practical institutional form for their realisation. In order to determine whether the WTO is a democratic […]
Marrakesh Agreement, Origin of WTO, Mandate of WTO, Membership of WTO, Institutional structure of the WTO
The Marrakesh Agreement, manifested by the Marrakesh Declaration, was an agreement signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, marking the culmination of the 8-year-long Uruguay Round […]
Other issues-status of WTO
The Uruguay Round (1986-94) saw a shift in North-South politics in the GATT-WTO system. Previously, developed and developing countries had tended to be in opposite groups, although even then there […]
Budget of WTO
The WTO Secretariat is located in Geneva. It has around 450 staff and is headed by its Director-General, Mr. Renato Ruggiero, and four deputy directors-general. Its responsibilities include the servicing […]
Principles of WTO Settlement
Agreements and National Policy Since the various agreements that constitute the WTO cover such a wide range of topics, dispute settlement panelists find that a number of subjects come under […]
Main challenges to the WTO dispute settlement system
An Overloaded System Over the past two decades, the WTO dispute settlement system, including the Appellate Body, has been remarkably active. Since its inception, 551 disputes have been initiated by […]
Principles of Non-Discrimination-Most favored nation treatment, National Treatment obligation
There are two main principles of non-discrimination in WTO law: the most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment obligation and the national treatment obligation. In simple terms, the MFN treatment obligation prohibits a country […]
Dumping, Anti-dumping Measures
Dumping is, in general, a situation of international price discrimination, where the price of a product when sold in the importing country is less than the price of that product […]
