WTO / World Trade Organization

The WTO is the only global economic institution dealing with world trade.

The World Trade Organization is one of the three largest international economic organizations, along with the IMF and the World Bank. The WTO was established in 1995 by the states that joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which contains the principles and rules of the game for international trade.

The hundreds of pages of the treaty are also referred to as the Marrakesh Agreement. In addition to the rules on the establishment of the WTO, all agreements on multilateral trade in goods previously established under the auspices of the GATT are part of this. It is among them 

• the customs value agreement, 
• the anti-dumping convention, 
• the Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS), 
• agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), 
• the newly created GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services)
• the TRIPS (Convention on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). 

The organization currently has 164 members and manages about two dozen multilateral conventions. Their acceptance is a prerequisite for WTO membership. Several multilateral (plurilateral) conventions have been established, the acceptance of which is not a prerequisite for membership. Examples include the Agreement on Government on government procurement (GPS) or the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

The WTO is an organization officially recognized by international law. The organization's secretariat operates in Geneva, and its main decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference, which meets every two years. Each member has one vote, be it the USA, Burundi, Japan or Mauritius, for example. WTO members make decisions by consensus. All EU member states are members of the WTO in their own right, but due to the union's common trade policy, the EU also represents its member states. 

The operation of the WTO is based on the observance of basic principles. These: 

• most favoured nation principle: members treat foreigner with foreigner in their own country, especially when applying import duties; 
• principle of reciprocity: members treat each other in the same way; 
• the principle of national treatment: legal entities operating in member countries and individuals living in these countries enjoy the same rights and obligations as nationals in the specified areas; 
• principle of publicity and transparency: the national trade policy rules are clear, transparent and public; 
• the principle of the liabilities to consult: members resolve their trade-related disputes between themselves through negotiations within the framework of the WTO 's dispute settlement mechanism.

The scope of the WTO 's activities covers decisions on trade liberalization. These: 

• breaking down trade barriers for goods, services, and intellectual products, 
• organization and continuation of international trade negotiations, 
• periodic monitoring of national trade policies, 
• settlement of international trade disputes between members, 
• cooperation with other international organizations. (In addition to the UN, the cooperation includes many worldwide professional organizations and regional economic organizations.)

The decisions of the organization are binding on its members. Violators of the rules can also be sanctioned by the WTO. The organization does not operate on the basis of a closed contract, but with constantly variable rules. These members are adopted by consensus during so-called "round negotiations", also known as rounds.