International trade is the exchange of goods and services between different countries such as shipping, imports and exports. This unit provides the knowledge and activities in reading passage, graphs, and tables. The abbreviation of some important international trade organizations such as WTO, EU, APEC, and ASEAN are introduced. Grammar practice provides you exercises using future tense.
1.Talking about World Trade Organization (WTO)
Understanding WTO
The World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Established on 1st January 1995
As a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-1994)
Located in Geneva, Switzerland
Members: 159 members (as of 2 March 2013)
At it simplest:
“A global organization dealing with rules of trade between nations”
Evolution of the WTO
Predecessor of the WTO- The GATT ‘47
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1947 –the first major effort to establish international rules governing trade in goods. Though initially conceived as a provisional legal instrument, it endured for almost 50 years.
It functioned without a formal organizational framework to oversee its implementation as the proposed International Trade Organization (ITO) never came into being and the ITO Charter (aka the Havana Charter) of which GATT was only to be a part, never came into effect.
GATT’s primary focus was the reciprocal reduction of tariffs which later expanded to other trade related areas. In the years leading up to the Uruguay Round, GATT expanded its competence through several rounds of trade negotiations which witnessed the formulation of complex legal instruments on specific aspects of trade, particularly disciplines on the use of non tariff barriers.
The Uruguay Round (1986-1994)
The results of the Uruguay Round (UR) were signed in Marrakech, Morocco on 15 April 1994. The WTO came into being on 1 January 1995 by virtue of the Agreement establishing the WTO.
The scope of the multilateral trading system was broadened from trade in goods (GATT) to encompass trade in services (GATS) and trade related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS). It was a rule-based global trading system complete with its own dispute resolution procedures.
The “Single Undertaking” concept
The multilateral trade agreements under the WTO system are treated as a single undertaking which means that every member state of the WTO is a party to every on of these agreements and must implement them accordingly.
Principles of the world trading system under the WTO
Non discrimination-Most Favoured Nation (MFN) and National Treatment obligations
Free trade-negotiations aimed at lowering trade barriers.
Predictability and transparency-binding commitments, restrictions on the use of barriers to trade and transparent trade policies and regulatory frameworks (e.g. transparency obligations in the major trade agreements and the Trade Policy Review Mechanism)
The promotion of fair competition-MFN, national treatment and rules against unfair trade practices (e.g. anti dumping)