BOX 1
Timeline of GATT and the WTO
1944: At the Bretton Woods Conference, which created the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), there is talk of a third organization, the International Trade Organization (ITO).
1947: As support for another international organization wanes in the U.S. Congress, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is created. The GATT treaty creates a set of rules to govern trade among 23 member countries rather than a formal institution.
1950: Formal U.S. withdrawal from the ITO concept as the U.S. administration abandons efforts to seek congressional ratification of the ITO.
1951–86: Periodic negotiating rounds occur, with occasional discussions of reforms of GATT. In the 1980s, serious problems with dispute resolutions arise.
1986–94: The Uruguay Round, a new round of trade negotiations, is launched. This culminates in a 1994 treaty that establishes the World Trade Organization (WTO).
1995: The WTO is created at the end of the Uruguay Round, replacing GATT.
2003: The WTO consists of 146 members, accounting for approximately 97 percent of world trade.