The Legal Texts” is a daunting list of about 60 agreements, annexes, decisions
and understandings. In fact, the agreements fall into a simple structure with six
main parts: an umbrella agreement (the Agreement Establishing the WTO); agreements
for each of the three broad areas of trade that the WTO covers (goods, services and intellectual
property); dispute settlement; and reviews of governments’ trade policies.
The agreements for the two largest areas — goods and services — share a common
three-part outline, even though the detail is sometimes quite different.