Currently, the composition includes: World Trade Organization (WTO, World Trade Organization)

Worldwide trade organization(eng. World Trade Organization - WTO)- international economic organization, creating certain conditions of trade on the territory of the participating countries.

History of the creation of the WTO

The WTO was created on January 1, 1995 with the aim of regulating trade and political relations between member countries. It was formed on the basis of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), concluded in 1947. The very historical fact of the creation of the World Trade Organization occurred in the city of Marrakesh ( country - Morocco) in April 1994. As a result, the agreement between the countries on the creation of common trade rules is called the “Marrakesh Agreement”. However, the date of commencement of operation of the organization is January 1, 1995, therefore this date is recognized as the date of creation. At the start of its operation, the WTO included 76 countries.

The main purpose of creating a world trade organization was to introduce uniform principles of trade on the world stage for all participating countries. However, each of the participants in this association has the right to introduce additional control measures for goods entering their markets.

The application of additional conditions for goods is introduced in to a greater extent, if there is a crisis situation in the country in any area of production. This principle also applies in case of violation of the WTO partnership principles themselves.

Despite more than twenty years of experience, the WTO has not found favor in a number of countries. The main reason for this was the complexity of the system and structure of the world trade organization itself.

Many enterprises do not see all the possible benefits, and also cannot fully assess the global position of the system as a whole. At the same time, for participating countries this system provides not only a single market for general rules, but also a considerable list of rights for each participant in trading relations.

Today, the headquarters of the WTO is located in Geneva (country – Switzerland). The Director General of the WTO is Roberto Azevedo (Brazilian economist).

Principles of the World Trade Organization

No matter how complicated the WTO rules may seem, in fact they have three basic principles on which the entire single trade system is built - the most favored nation principle (MFN). This principle states that there cannot be any discrimination between participating countries.

For example, if the goods are imported from Gambia (sequence number 125 in unified register WTO member countries) and France (serial number 69 in the unified register of WTO member countries) to the territory of Poland (serial number 99 in the unified register of WTO member countries), then the conditions for the import and registration of these goods will be absolutely the same;

The principle of national treatment. The most controversial principle. It assumes that the conditions for foreign goods, provided that they are imported by WTO members, will be the same as for goods produced in the host country. However, the conditions for participation in the WTO do not prohibit the introduction of procedures that simplify the systems for selling national goods. But such rules, most often, apply only to their own manufacturing enterprises. Thus confirming that this principle of the world trade organization is not perfect;
The principle of transparency. This principle is the basis of all legal agreements between WTO participants. It says that each participating country must ensure that other participants have full access to its regulatory and legislative framework in terms of trade on its territory. Participating countries are required to create information centers, where in an accessible form each interested party could explain for themselves all the aspects of legislative regulation of trade relations that interest them.

In order to join the WTO, the country's leadership needs to go through a very long and scrupulous procedure, on average it lasts about five years. The main requirement for potential participating countries is to bring international trade to the standards set out in the agreement signed at the Uruguay Round.

At the first stage, the economy and trade policy of the country as a whole are assessed, after which lengthy negotiations take place on the potential benefits of the parties from joining the new market to common system trade.

Finally, if the parties have reached a mutual agreement, the new participating country signs an agreement to the proposed terms of trade, and is also assigned an individual, unchangeable number. Also, the new participating country is required to pay for membership in this organization in accordance with current tariffs.

In order to leave the WTO, you must send a written notice to the Director General of the World Trade Organization, which must indicate your desire to leave this association. After six months, membership will be considered complete. It is worth noting that in the history of the WTO there has not been a single statement with such a petition.

Functions and tasks of the WTO

The main functions of the WTO are as follows:

monitoring the commercial policies of participating states;
monitoring compliance with all contractual terms and relations concluded under the auspices of the WTO;
organization of negotiations between WTO member countries;
providing participating countries with information aids within the framework of the WTO program;
maintaining diplomatic ties with other countries and commonwealths to develop trade relations;
resolution of controversial issues.

Based on the listed functions of the WTO, we can safely say that the main task of the World Trade Organization is to organize the interaction of member countries among themselves, as a result of which – controversial issues that may arise at the stage of interaction between several parties.

The legal basis of all documents issued by the WTO consists of sixty agreements that prescribe the three basic principles of the WTO in various forms and cuts.

WTO structure

Since already in 2015 there were 162 participating countries, while the countries are united by one single criterion - trade, and these are countries with different national language, religion, economic level, etc.

Therefore, it is so important that all decisions are made purely in order to achieve material well-being, without using any targeting.

In order to make this or that decision, large meetings are held in which all participants try to reach a common denominator. The method of open (or closed) voting is also permitted, by means of determining the majority. But this method has never been used in the history of the WTO.

Members of the Ministerial Conference have the greatest number of rights in the World Trade Organization, while members of this structural unit are required to convene meetings at least once every two years.

This conference was first held in 1996 in Singapore (country: Singapore). The agenda of the meeting was the approval of the intended goals and objectives, as well as confirmation of the basic principles of the WTO.
The second time the conference was held in 1998 in Geneva and was dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of the GATT (the community on the basis of which the World Trade Organization was organized).
The third conference took place in 1999 in Seattle (country - USA) and was called upon to formulate new goals to determine a new direction for trade, but these negotiations remained fruitless.

The next link in the WTO structure, after the Ministerial Conference, is the General Council, which deals with the daily work of preparing standard documents and solving current problems.

The General Council is composed of ambassadors and heads of delegations of the participating countries, and the frequency of meetings of this structural unit is several times a year. In turn, the General Council is subordinate to several substructures, between which the main functions of the WTO are divided:

Commodity Trading Council. Its main function is to ensure that WTO principles are respected at every level of trade among member countries. The described principles must also be observed in all documents concluded under the auspices of the WTO;
Council for Trade in Services. This control unit monitors compliance with the GATS rules that were prescribed in the relevant agreement. The Council for Trade in Services is divided into two main departments: the Committee on Trade in Financial Services and the Working Group on Professional Services. The staff of this council is expanding every year, and the requirements for WTO member countries are becoming more stringent;
Council on Trade Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. In this WTO Council, the greatest number of disputes and conflicts arise, since it is intellectual property that becomes the most controversial object. As throughout the world, in the WTO rules the issue of intellectual property rights is not fully disclosed, and new disputes arise every time.

If we talk about which division of the World Trade Organization works directly with all statements from member countries and the population, then this is the WTO Secretariat. This division employs several hundred people. The director general is appointed as the head of the secretariat

The responsibility of the secretariat is that it organizes all the technical aspects that accompany important meetings and conferences, as well as the Ministerial Conference.

Also technical support turns out to countries at the development stage. In addition, specialists from this department analyze the global economy, as well as hold conferences with the media.

Russia in the WTO

In 1995, the authorities of the Russian Federation made an official demand for the right to join the World Trade Organization.

The most difficult stage was the negotiations with the United States, China and the EU countries. However, after Russia supported European countries in defending the positions of the Kyoto Protocol, the United States remained the only dissenting WTO member.

Negotiations with this country continued for six years. However, after numerous meetings and reforms carried out in the agricultural sector of the Russian economy, a protocol on Russia’s accession to the WTO was signed on November 20, 2006.

The signing took place within the framework of a session of the Asia-Pacific Forum in Hanoi (country: Vietnam).

But despite all the work done since 1995, the official entry of the Russian Federation into the WTO was constantly postponed for various reasons, the main one of which was the unstable economic situation of the participating countries, which could become even worse after the accession of the Russian market, the assessment of which was extremely low and not stable.

In June 2009, the Russian Federation made a very unusual decision. In the person of Prime Minister V.V. Putin. A statement was announced that negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO had been terminated. The initiator of stopping the consideration of the issue of accession of the Russian Federation was the Russian authorities. However, they also decided to begin negotiations on Russia’s accession to the WTO as part of a single Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

By that time, the Georgian authorities had become anti-supporters of Russia.

In October 2011, with the assistance of the Swiss authorities, an agreement was formulated between Russia and Georgia to resolve controversial issues, which ensured the support of the Russian Federation even from this opponent. The official date of accession of the Russian Federation to the World Trade Organization is August 22, 2012, with the assignment of a permanent serial number - 156.

This was not the case simple story Russia's accession to the WTO.

However, one cannot help but notice that WTO membership did not help in resolving trade sanctions against the Russian Federation.

World Trade Organization (WTO; English World Trade Organization (WTO), fr. Organization mondiale du commerce(OMC), Spanish Organización Mundial del Comercio ) is an international organization created on January 1, 1995 with the aim of liberalizing international trade and regulating trade and political relations of member states. The WTO was formed on the basis of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), concluded in 1947 and for almost 50 years actually performed the functions of an international organization, but was not, however, an international organization in the legal sense.

The WTO is responsible for the development and implementation of new trade agreements, and also monitors compliance by members of the organization with all agreements signed by most countries of the world and ratified by their parliaments. The WTO builds its activities based on decisions made in 1986-1994 within the framework of the Uruguay Round and earlier GATT agreements. Discussions and decision-making on global liberalization issues and prospects further development world trade take place within the framework of multilateral trade negotiations (rounds). To date, 8 rounds of such negotiations have been held, including Uruguay, and in 2001 the ninth started in Doha, Qatar. The organization is trying to complete negotiations on the Doha Round of negotiations, which were launched with a clear focus on meeting the needs of developing countries. As of December 2012, the future of the Doha Round remains uncertain: the work program consists of 21 parts, and the original deadline of January 1, 2005 has long been missed. During the negotiations, a conflict arose between the desire for free trade and the desire of many countries for protectionism, especially in terms of agricultural subsidies. Until now, these obstacles remain the main ones and hinder any progress towards launching new negotiations within the framework of the Doha Round. As of July 2012, there are various negotiating groups in the WTO system to resolve current issues in terms of agriculture, which leads to stagnation in the negotiations themselves.

The headquarters of the WTO are located in Geneva, Switzerland. The head of the WTO (director general) is Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo, and the organization itself has about 600 staff.

WTO rules provide a number of benefits for developing countries. Currently, developing countries - members of the WTO have (on average) a higher relative level of customs and tariff protection of their markets compared to developed ones. However, in absolute terms, the total amount of customs and tariff sanctions in developed countries is much higher, as a result of which access to markets for high-value products from developing countries is seriously limited.

WTO rules regulate only trade and economic issues. Attempts by the US and others European countries start a discussion about working conditions (which would allow us to consider insufficient legislative protection for workers competitive advantage) were rejected due to protests from developing countries, which argued that such measures would only worsen the welfare of workers due to fewer jobs, lower incomes and lower levels of competitiveness.

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History of the WTO

The growing role of world trade forced industrial countries already in the 19th century to support international level limited cooperation on customs duties issues. The global outbreak that broke out in 1929 economic crisis and attempts to overcome it in certain developed countries by directly protecting the domestic market with high customs duties from foreign imports have shown that with increasing volumes of foreign trade, its institutionalization and supranational regulation within a recognized international legal framework is necessary.

The economic foundation of the requirements for liberalization of foreign trade is the economic theory of comparative advantage, developed in early XIX century by David Ricardo.

The idea of creating an international organization designed to regulate international trade arose even before the end of World War II. It was mainly through the efforts of the United States and Great Britain that the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development were founded at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. The third pillar of the new economic order Along with the mentioned organizations, it was planned to create an International Trade Organization (ITO). For this purpose, in 1946, a meeting was convened in Havana international conference on trade and employment, which was supposed to develop the substantive legal framework international agreement on reducing tariffs, offer interested countries the charter of this organization, take on a coordinating role in matters of simplifying foreign trade and reducing the customs burden on the way of goods from country to country. Already in October 1947, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed, which was initially considered only as part of a comprehensive agreement within the framework of a new international trade organization. This agreement, considered temporary, came into force on January 1, 1948.

The USSR was not invited to participate in the Havana Conference, as it refused to be a participant in the IMF and the World Bank. The Soviet government feared that the great influence that the United States had in these organizations and the outbreak of confrontation between ideological blocs (the Cold War) would not allow the interests of the USSR to be adequately taken into account within these organizations.

The US Congress, however, unexpectedly refused to ratify the ITO Charter, despite the fact that the United States was the main driving force WTO organization, and GATT, originally a temporary agreement, continued to operate without any organizational structure, which MTO was supposed to become.

In subsequent years, the GATT, although reduced from its original form, turned out to be a fairly effective system, within which the average customs duty decreased from 40% at the time the agreement was signed in the mid-forties to 4% in the mid-nineties. In order to reduce direct customs duties and hidden, so-called non-tariff, restrictions on the import of products from abroad, rounds of negotiations were regularly held within the GATT framework between the participating countries.

The so-called Uruguay Round of negotiations, which lasted from 1986 to 1994, was the most successful. As a result of long negotiations, an agreement on the creation of the WTO was signed in Marrakesh in 1994, which entered into force on January 1, 1995. The participating countries reached an agreement that within the framework of this organization not only trade in goods will be regulated (which has been the subject of GATT since 1948), but also in connection with the increasing role of services in post-industrial society and their growing share in world trade (at the beginning of the 21st century - about 20%), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) was adopted, regulating this area of foreign trade. Also within the framework of the Marrakesh Agreement, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) was adopted, regulating trade issues rights to the results of intellectual activity and is an integral part of the legal foundation of the WTO.

Thus, almost 50 years after unsuccessful attempts the creation of an international organization and the existence of a temporary GATT structure regulating foreign trade issues, the WTO began work on January 1, 1995.

In the fall of 2001, the Doha Round of WTO negotiations on further liberalization of world trade was launched in the capital of Qatar. Among the issues included in it are the liberalization of global trade in agricultural products, including tariff reductions and the elimination of subsidies, financial services and intellectual property protection. However, negotiations are dragging on, largely due to the problem of access to non-agricultural markets. Developed countries want to gain more access to the industrial sector of developing countries, the latter, in turn, fear that this could lead to a slowdown in economic growth. Russia joined the World Trade Organization and became its 156th member on August 22, 2012.

Purposes and principles of the WTO

The purpose of the WTO is not to achieve any goals or results, but to establish general principles international trade. According to the declaration, the work of the WTO, like the GATT before it, is based on basic principles, including:

There are three types of activities in this direction:

Articles allowing the use of trade measures to achieve non-economic objectives; - Articles aimed at ensuring “fair competition”;. Members should not use environmental protection measures as a means of masking protectionist policies - Provisions allowing interference with trade for economic reasons. Exceptions to the MFN principle also include developing and least developed countries that have preferential treatment in the WTO, regional free trade areas and customs unions.

Organizational structure of the WTO

The official supreme body of the organization is the WTO Ministerial Conference, which meets at least once every two years. During the existence of the WTO, ten such conferences were held, almost each of which was accompanied by active protests from opponents of globalization.

The organization is headed by the General Director with a corresponding council subordinate to him. Subordinate to the Council is a special commission on trade policy of the participating countries, designed to monitor the implementation of their obligations within the WTO. In addition to general executive functions, the General Council manages several more commissions created on the basis of agreements concluded within the WTO. The most important of them are: the Council on Trade in Goods (the so-called GATT Council), the Council on Trade in Services and the Council on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. In addition, under the General Council there are many other committees and working groups designed to provide the highest bodies of the WTO with information on developing countries, fiscal policy, fiscal issues, etc.

Dispute Resolution Authority

In accordance with the adopted “Agreement on the Rules and Procedures Governing the Resolution of Disputes” arising between WTO member states, the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) is responsible for resolving disagreements. This quasi-judicial institution is designed to impartially and effectively resolve disputes between the parties. De facto, its functions are performed by the WTO General Council, which makes decisions based on reports of arbitration panels dealing with a particular dispute. In the years since the founding of the WTO, the OPC has been forced many times to resolve complex, often quite politicized, trade problems between influential WTO member states. Many decisions of the DSB over the past years are perceived ambiguously.

Individual solutions

Some decisions of the Dispute Settlement Commission of the World Trade Organization that caused great public outcry:

1992 GATT decision regarding US law governing tuna imports. American law The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibited the import of fish caught using a certain type of net that has been known to kill dolphins. The law applied to both U.S. and foreign fish sellers and was considered by the U.S. government to have a “legitimate goal” of protecting the environment. Mexico, as a tuna fishing country, filed a complaint against the law, arguing that it violated free trade agreements and constituted a prohibited non-tariff restriction under GATT. The Commission's predecessor indeed recognized this law as inconsistent with free trade standards and pointed out that although the American government pursued the legitimate goal of protecting dolphins with the contested ban, this goal could have been achieved by other methods that would not infringe on other countries. Tuna/Dolphin Case I (English)
A similar dispute over a law that prohibited the import into the United States of shrimp caught in a manner harmful to sea turtles, was submitted to the Commission for consideration within the WTO in 2000. Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand) who used this fishing method were of the opinion that such import restrictions in the United States were nothing more than “green protectionism”, which in fact was based on the desire of developed countries to limit the entry of cheap imports , and environmental justifications are just a pretext. Considering this case, although the Commission recognized in the reasoning part of its decision the possibility that measures to protect the environment could theoretically be a legitimate reason for restricting the import of certain goods, however, in a particular case, the law banning the import of shrimp, in its opinion, does not comply with the norms WTO, and the US is ordered to abolish it. Shrimp/Turtle Case
The bulk of trade disputes within the WTO are disputes between the largest subjects of international trade - the European Union and the United States. For example, the conflict regarding the high import duties on European steel introduced by the United States in March 2002 in order to support the American steel industry received wide publicity. European Union regarded this as discrimination prohibited by WTO rules and challenged these measures with a complaint to the Commission, which recognized measures to protect the American market as violating WTO rules. The US was forced to abolish discriminatory tariffs.

Accession and membership in the WTO

The WTO has 162 members, including: 158 internationally recognized UN member states, partially recognized Taiwan, 2 dependent territories (Hong Kong and Macau) and the European Union. To join the WTO, a state must submit a memorandum through which the WTO reviews the trade and economic policies of the organization concerned.

Post-Soviet countries joined the WTO in this way:

Four post-Soviet countries remain outside the WTO: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In 2013, Turkmenistan launched an initiative to join the WTO. In 2016, Belarus began active negotiations on accession to the WTO.

Negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO

Negotiations on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization lasted 18 years, from 1993 to 2011.

Based on the results of the negotiations, the Report of the Working Group on the Accession of the Russian Federation to the World Trade Organization dated November 16, 2011 No. WT/ACC/ RUS/70, WT/MIN(11)/2 was prepared.

Act on Russia's accession to the WTO

December 16, 2011 - the Protocol “On the accession of the Russian Federation to the Marrakech Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization of April 15, 1994” was signed in Geneva.

June 7, 2012 - registered in the State Duma of the Russian Federation Bill No. 89689-6 “On the ratification of the Protocol on the accession of the Russian Federation to the Marrakech Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization of April 15, 1994”

July 23, 2012 - Federal law dated July 21, 2012 No. 126-FZ “On the ratification of the Protocol on the accession of the Russian Federation to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization of April 15, 1994” published in " Rossiyskaya newspaper» N 166, on the “Official Internet portal of legal information” (www.pravo.gov.ru), in the Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation N 30 art. 4177.

August 3, 2012- Federal Law of July 21, 2012 No. 126-FZ “On the ratification of the Protocol on the accession of the Russian Federation to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization of April 15, 1994” came into force (after 10 days after the day of its official publication).

August 22, 2012- according to a message from Pascal Lamy - Director General of the WTO, Russia with serial number 156 included in the official list of WTO member countries.

Official reports on the results of Russia's accession to the WTO

Critics also believe that small countries have very little influence on the WTO, and despite its stated goal of helping developing countries, developed countries focus primarily on their commercial interests. They also claim that health, safety and environmental issues are constantly being ignored in favor of additional benefits for business, which, however, directly contradicts the purposes and charter of the WTO. [ ]

In particular, the activities of the WTO are often criticized and condemned by anti-globalists.

Contrary to its stated goals, WTO membership does not protect member countries from the imposition of politically motivated unilateral economic sanctions.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization created with the aim of liberalizing international trade and regulating trade and political relations of member states. The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which has been in force since 1947.

The goals of the WTO are the liberalization of world trade by regulating it primarily by tariff methods with a consistent reduction in the level of import duties, as well as the elimination of various non-tariff barriers and quantitative restrictions.

The functions of the WTO are monitoring the implementation of trade agreements concluded between WTO members, organizing and ensuring trade negotiations among WTO members, monitoring the trade policies of WTO members, resolving trade disputes between members of the organization.

The fundamental principles and rules of the WTO are:

Reciprocal provision of most favored nation (MFN) treatment in trade;

Reciprocal provision of national treatment (NR) to goods and services of foreign origin;

Regulation of trade primarily by tariff methods;

Refusal to use quantitative and other restrictions;

Trade policy transparency;

Resolution of trade disputes through consultations and negotiations, etc.

As of May 2012, 155 states are members of the WTO. In 2007, Vietnam, the Kingdom of Tonga and Cape Verde joined the organization; in 2008 - Ukraine. In April and May 2012, Montenegro and Samoa became WTO members, respectively.

More than 30 states and more than 60 international organizations, including the UN, IMF and World Bank.

Among the observer countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.

The vast majority of observer countries are at various stages of accession to the WTO.

The WTO accession procedure consists of several stages. This process takes on average 5-7 years.

At the first stage, within the framework of special Working Groups, a detailed consideration at the multilateral level of the economic mechanism and trade and political regime of the acceding country takes place for their compliance with the norms and rules of the WTO. After this, consultations and negotiations begin on the terms of membership of the applicant country in this organization. These consultations and negotiations are usually carried out at the bilateral level with all interested member countries of the Working Group.

First of all, the negotiations concern the “commercially significant” concessions that the acceding country will be willing to provide to WTO members on access to its markets.

In turn, the acceding country, as a rule, receives the rights that all other WTO members have, which will practically mean the end of its discrimination in foreign markets.

In accordance with the established procedure, the results of all negotiations on liberalization of market access and accession conditions are formalized in the following official documents:

The report of the Working Group, which sets out the entire package of rights and obligations that the applicant country will assume as a result of the negotiations;

List of commitments on tariff concessions in the field of goods and on the level of support for agriculture;

List of specific obligations for services and List of exceptions from the MFN (most favored nation treatment);

Protocol of Accession, legally formalizing the agreements reached at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

One of the main conditions for new countries to join the WTO is to bring their national legislation and practice of regulating foreign economic activity in accordance with the provisions of the package of agreements of the Uruguay Round.

At the final stage of accession, the national legislative body of the candidate country ratifies the entire package of documents agreed upon within the Working Group and approved by the General Council. After this, these obligations become part of the legal package of WTO documents and national legislation, and the candidate country itself receives the status of a WTO member.

The highest governing body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference. It is convened at least once every two years, usually at the level of the ministers of trade or foreign affairs. The conference elects the head of the WTO.

Ongoing management of the organization and monitoring of implementation accepted agreements carried out by the General Council. Its functions also include resolving trade disputes between WTO member countries and monitoring their trade policies. The General Council controls the activities of the Council for Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade in Services, and the Council for Intellectual Property.

Members of the General Council are ambassadors or heads of missions of WTO member countries.

The executive body of the organization is the WTO Secretariat.

The WTO includes working and expert groups and specialized committees, whose functions include establishing and monitoring compliance with competition rules, monitoring the operation of regional trade agreements and the investment climate in member countries, and admitting new members.

The WTO practices decision-making by consensus, although de jure voting is provided. The interpretation of the provisions of agreements on goods and services, as well as exemptions from accepted obligations, are adopted by 3/4 votes. Amendments that do not affect the rights and obligations of members, as well as the admission of new members, require a 2/3 vote (in practice, usually by consensus).

The working languages of the WTO are English, French and Spanish.

The Director General of the WTO since September 1, 2005 is Pascal Lamy.

The organization's headquarters is located in Geneva.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)(World Trade Organization - WTO) - international economic organization governing the rules international trade according to the principles of liberalism.

The WTO has been operating since January 1, 1995, the decision to create it was made at the end of many years of negotiations within the framework of the Uruguay Round of GATT, which ended in December 1993. The WTO was officially formed at a conference in Marrakech in April 1994, therefore the Agreement establishing the WTO is also called the Marrakesh Agreement.

While the GATT was concerned with regulating only trade in goods, the scope of the WTO is broader: in addition to trade in goods, it also regulates trade in services and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. The WTO has the legal status of a specialized agency of the UN system.

Initially, 77 countries joined the WTO, but by mid-2003, 146 countries – developed, developing and post-socialist – were already members. The “variegated” composition of the WTO member states is reflected in the very emblem of this organization.

Some ex-Soviet countries also joined the WTO: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan. An important event was accession to the WTO in December 2001 China, considered one of the most promising participants in world trade. The WTO member countries account for approximately 95% of world trade turnover - in essence, almost the entire world market without Russia. A number of other countries have officially expressed their desire to join this organization and have the status of observer states. In 2003 there were 29 such countries, including the Russian Federation and some other post-Soviet states ( Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan).

WTO tasks.

The main task of the WTO is to promote smooth international trade. Developed countries, on whose initiative the WTO was created, believe that it is economic freedom in international trade that contributes to economic growth and improving people's economic well-being.

It is currently believed that the world trading system should comply with the following five principles.

1). No discrimination in trade.

No state should disadvantage any other country by imposing restrictions on the export and import of goods. Ideally, in the domestic market of any country there should be no differences in the terms of sale between foreign products and national ones.

2). Reducing trade (protectionist) barriers.

Trade barriers are factors that reduce the possibility of foreign goods entering the domestic market of a country. These include, first of all, customs duties and import quotas (quantitative restrictions on imports). International trade is also affected by administrative barriers and foreign exchange rate policies.

3). Stability and predictability of trading conditions.

Foreign companies, investors and governments must be confident that trade conditions (tariff and non-tariff barriers) will not be changed suddenly and arbitrarily.

4). Stimulating competition in international trade.

For equal competition between firms from different countries, it is necessary to stop “unfair” methods of competition - such as export subsidies (state assistance to exporting firms), the use of dumping (deliberately low) prices to capture new markets.

5). Benefits in international trade for less developed countries.

This principle partly contradicts the previous ones, but it is necessary for drawing into the world economy the underdeveloped countries of the periphery, which obviously cannot compete with developed countries on equal terms at first. Therefore, it is considered “fair” to give special privileges to underdeveloped countries.

In general, the WTO promotes the ideas of free trade, fighting for the elimination of protectionist barriers.

Each of us regularly hears about the WTO in the news. Information about this organization can also be found in textbooks on geography and economics. Its activities are very important for European countries, but our compatriots know little about it. IN lately The topic “Russia and the WTO” is very actively discussed. And in the wake of increased interest, let's try to understand this complex economic and political issue.

Structure and organization

So, WTO - what is it? as a "world trade organization". It was founded in 1995 to expand freedom of trade relations throughout the world, as well as between countries that have joined the WTO. The basis was the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, created in 1947.

The headquarters of the organization is located in Switzerland (Geneva). Currently, the general director of the structure is Pascal Lamy, and as of mid-2013 it included 159 countries. General Director subordinate to the General Council or Secretariat, which in turn manages several commissions.

The main official body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference. It meets at least once every two years. Over the entire history of the structure’s existence, six such conferences were organized, and almost each of them was accompanied by a number of protest actions by enemies of globalization. We think we have answered the question: “WTO, what is it?” Now let's move on to consider the goals of this organization.

Three main goals

1. Unimpeded facilitation of international trade and the removal of barriers that impede this. The WTO does not allow negative consequences and various abuses. For individual entrepreneurs, enterprises and departmental organizations, international trade standards do not change without warning. Their meaning is clear and understandable, and their application is consistent.

2. Since many countries are involved in signing the texts of agreements, debates constantly arise between them. The WTO acts as a mediator in negotiations, introducing a number of regulatory restrictions and creating reliability that helps avoid conflicts.

3. The third important aspect of the organization's work is dispute resolution. After all, the parties involved in negotiations usually have different goals. Contracts and agreements brokered by the WTO often require further interpretation. It is better to resolve all controversial issues in the manner established by the organization, based on mutually agreed upon legal aspects that provide the parties with equal opportunities and rights. That is why all agreements signed within the organization include a clause on the terms of dispute resolution.

Five principles

Currently, there are five principles that the world trading system must comply with.

1. No discrimination

No state has the right to infringe on another by imposing restrictions on goods. IN ideal National and foreign products must be sold on the domestic market of the country under the same conditions.

2. Reducing protectionist (trade) barriers

Trade barriers are factors that prevent the entry of foreign goods into the domestic market of a country. First of all, these include customs duties. Also influenced by the policy of establishing exchange rates and administrative obstacles.

3. Predictability and stability of trading conditions

Governments, investors and foreign companies must have confidence that trade conditions (tariff and non-tariff barriers) will not change in a sudden and arbitrary manner.

4. Stimulating the competitive component

So that competition between firms different countries was equal, it is necessary to stop unfair methods of struggle - export subsidies ( government support exporting firms) and the use of dumping (specially reduced) prices to enter new export markets.

5. Benefits for countries with low levels of development

As a rule, WTO countries have strong economies, but there are also underdeveloped countries to which the organization provides special privileges. This principle conflicts with others, but it is needed to draw countries with a low level of development into international trade.

Functions

monitoring compliance with the terms of the basic WTO agreements;
settlement of disputes on foreign trade issues;
assistance to both developing and underdeveloped countries;
cooperation with various ;
Creation favorable conditions for negotiations between WTO members;
control of countries' policies in the field of international trade.

Joining procedure

We have practically solved the question “WTO - what is it?” It remains to consider its most important part - the joining procedure, worked out over for many years existence of the organization. Judging by the experience of applicant countries, the process takes approximately 5-7 years.

At the first stage, special working groups conduct a multilateral analysis of the trade and political regime and economic mechanism of the acceding state for their compliance with the rules and regulations of the WTO. Then negotiations begin on the terms of entry into the organization of the candidate country. Moreover, interested states included in the working groups can also participate in them.

The main topic of the negotiations is “commercially significant” concessions that WTO countries will receive on access to its markets after the candidate state officially joins the organization. An equally important issue for discussion is the timing of accepting obligations arising from membership.

In turn, the acceding state will receive the rights that other WTO members have. This will stop its discrimination in foreign markets. If any member of the organization commits illegal acts, any country can file a complaint with the DSB (Dispute Resolution Authority). At the national level, each WTO participant is obliged to implement its decisions.

The final stage consists of ratification by the legislative body of the candidate state of all documents agreed upon by the Working Group and approved by the General Council. After this procedure, the candidate country receives the appropriate status.

Russia and the WTO

Since the economy of our country (ever since the collapse of the USSR) has become increasingly integrated into international trade, the need began to arise to enter world stage. For the first time, accession to the WTO was discussed by the Russian leadership back in 1995, and negotiations were held at the same time. There will be many benefits for a country to join this organization. And given the pace of globalization, obtaining them becomes a strategic priority. Bonuses that Russia will receive after joining the WTO:

In 2012, the 16-year negotiation process on Russia’s accession to the WTO ended. IN Constitutional Court was sent international treaty to check its compliance Russian legislation. In July 2012, the court recognized the terms of the WTO agreement spelled out in the agreement as legal, as well as the entire agreement. After 11 days, President Putin V.V. signed a corresponding decree on Russia's entry into this organization.

Criticism

We hope that we have described this organization in sufficient detail, and you will no longer have the question: “WTO - what is it?” In conclusion, a few words about criticism.

Many people disagree with the WTO's principles; they believe that rather than creating a more prosperous life for the majority of citizens, these principles only lead to the enrichment of already wealthy countries (and individuals). WTO treaties have also been accused of unfairly favoring wealthy states and multinational corporations.

Critics believe that small WTO member countries have no influence in the organization, while developed ones concentrate solely on their own commercial interests. Also, according to experts, environmental protection and health issues are always relegated to the background in favor of additional benefits for business.