Transcript WTO - regulatory systems

WTO
regulatory
system
1. History & Purpose
1947 Conclusion of GATT-negotiations
 Agreement to promote and manage
global economic development
1948 – 1994
Eight negotiation rounds to further
develop the international trade
regime
Uruguay Round ended with the
upgrading of GATT to the WTO
01.01.1995
By the Marrakech Agreement
the WTO – World Trade
Organization – came into
force and replaced the
GATT Secretariat.
Functions:
• control the implementation of its
agreements
• provide a negotiation platform
• offer a dispute settlement mechanism
Aim:
increase international trade by
promoting lower trade barriers and
decreasing other handicaps to trade
Two main principles:
• principle of national treatment
• most-favoured nation principle
2. Organization Structure
Today the WTO has 150 members.
Every member state has is represented in
every body and has one vote.
All decisions are made by consensus, but
in practice, nearly all of them are negotiated in informal groups, so-called Green
Room Meetings, to which most members
are not invited.
3. Main Agreements
GATT:
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GATS:
General Agreement on Trade in Services
TRIPS:
Agreement on Trade-Related aspects on
Intellectual Property rightS
Others
GATT
• nearly no changes since 1947
• trade and economic partnerships shall
improve the living standard of everybody
and increase the economic production
• allows for „... the optimal use of the
world‘s resources in accordance with
[...] sustainable development
• criticism: the liberalized world market
cannot achieve the described goals but
the measures reach the opposite
GATS
• Liberalization of public services
(selective)
• for liberalized services count the rules of
free access to the market
• binding framework for intrastate regulations of the service-market
• criticism: bad experiences with former
liberalizations are unconsidered during
further negotiations (e.g. private water
distribution is critical for human health)
TRIPS
• sets minimum standards for national law
concerning IPR
• patents on intellectual property (e.g. the
indigenous knowledge about biodiversity)
• increasing criticism by developing countries, scientists and NGOs
no benefit-sharing
barrier for innovations
patents on GMOs destroy biodiversity
Others
• The Agreement on Technical Barriers to
Trade (TBT)
 control of technical standards (e.g. energy efficiency) that could be barriers to trade
• The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
 sets standard to protect humans, animals and
plants against diseases and toxic contamination