World Trade Organization (WTO)
http://www.wto.org
Basic facts
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organisation and an UN specialised agency with the primary aim to liberalise the world trade by removing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers. It deals with the rules of trade between member states at a global level. It was established in 1995 in Geneva. The WTO serves as a forum for member countries to negotiate multilateral trade agreements and to settle trade disputes.
The WTO came into being as a result of the Uruguay Round of negotiations within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The GATT worked since 1948 as a temporary contractual arrangement and organisation with the main aim to adjust rules for the trade in goods between the contractual member countries. The WTO has taken over the GATT agenda and added also the setting rules for the trade in services and the intellectual property.
The rules of trade in services are defined by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and rules of trade in intellectual property are defined by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
The WTO currently has 153 members covering more than 97% of the global trade. Currently about 30 countries negotiate their membership.
The WTO bodies
The Ministerial Conference is the highest WTO body. It meets at least every two years. It has the exclusive right to make decisions on all questions related to the multilateral trade system and to agreements which are binding for members of this organisation. Results of ministerial conferences are formulated in final ministerial declarations. 14 ministerial conferences have taken place so far (8 of them within the GATT and 6 of them within the WTO).
The General Council is responsible for the operation of the WTO in the time between two ministerial conferences. Its headquarters are in Geneva and it meets several times a year. Ambassadors of WTO member countries usually participate in these meetings. Within the General Council there are 3 independent bodies: the General Council, the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) and the Dispute Settlement Body. The General Council manages the work of various councils and committees which deal with specific trade areas.
Based on the Doha declaration from November 2001, the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) was created. It is responsible for negotiations within a new negotiation round, the so-called Doha Development Agenda. The TNC operates under the authority of the General Council. Its chairman is the General Director.
The WTO secretariat is in Geneva. His task is providing technical help to WTO committees and councils, technical assistance to developing countries, monitoring the development of world trade, providing information to the public and organising ministerial conferences. The WTO secretariat is headed by the Director-General who is elected for a 4-year period. Since 1 September 2005, the Director-General has been Pascal Lamy.
WTO working languages are English, French and Spanish.
WTO Membership of Slovakia
The Slovak Republic became a GATT contractual party on 1 January 1993 based on the Protocol on the Accession of Slovakia to the GATT. Hereby Slovakia accepted all rights and liabilities towards GATT contractual parties since 1948, i.e. the accession of the former Czechoslovakia. Based on the Agreement establishing the WTO, Slovakia became its original member on the day when the WTO was established (1 January 1995). Based on the WTO membership, Slovakia is obliged to comply with principles, procedures and commitments stated in agreements and protocols valid within the WTO.
Through the accession of Slovakia to the EU, a common EU trade policy is being implemented in Slovakia. The legislative basis of the common EU trade policy are Articles 131 and 133 of the Treaty establishing the European Community. The European Commission (EC) was granted exclusive powers to formulate and implement the common EU trade policy. In this context, the powers of EC include also the implementation of trade agreements within the WTO, agreements with regional organisations and countries outside the EU. At WTO negotiations, the permanent representative of the EC represents the European Union, and the EU member states are only observers.
The EU member states present their opinions on particular WTO problems at the 133 Committee of the Council of the EU. The 133 Committee is an advisory body of the Council of the EU responsible for multilateral trade matters. It regularly meets at the level of Titularies, Full Members, the Deputies and experts (e.g. for the sector of textile, services and steel). All materials related to the common trade policy must be first negotiated in the 133 Committee, they are afterwards submitted to the COREPER II (Committee of Permanent Representatives) and are finally discussed in the Council of the EU.
The Slovak Ministry of Economy is in charge of the cooperation between Slovakia and the WTO, and its representatives present positions of Slovakia in the 133 Committee of the Council of the EU. The Slovak Republic is represented in the WTO by the Permanent Mission of the Slovak Republic at the UN Office and other international organisations in Geneva where there is a WTO section.
Activities of the Národná banka Slovenska (NBS) in relation to the WTO
In connection to the tasks, position and the powers of the NBS, the important bodies for the NBS are the Council for Trade in Services and its Committee for Trade in Financial Services.
The NBS actively participates in the negotiations on the liberalisation of financial services which was already dealt with at the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations (1986-1994). A list of specific commitments and exemptions of each country from treatment according to the most favoured nation clause is part of the final documents.
The GATS imposes the obligation on member states to liberalise the trade in services progressively and in connection with the Article XIX GATS they must begin a new negotiation round within 5 years after the WTO Agreement enters into force (in 2000 at the latest). Therefore new negotiations on a further comprehensive liberalisation of services, including the financial services, have started on 1 January 2000. During the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in 2001, the negotiations on services were included in the new round of WTO negotiations - the Doha Development Agenda.
Updated: December 2008