b. World Trade Organization (WTO):
The World Trade Organization was created in 1995, as an extension of the GATT. According to the WTO website, the organization’s main goal is to improve the welfare of the people of its member countries, especially by lowering trade barriers and providing a platform for negotiation of trade. WTO oversees implementation, administration and operation of the covered agreements. WTO has established a set of principles as a framework for trade policies that all members have to follow. Among those principles, the two core ones involve the non-discrimination and national treatment. The Non-discrimination rule requires that all WTO members must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members. The national treatment means that imported and locally-produced goods should be treated equally. It was introduced primarily to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade.
Moreover, it is the WTO’s duty to review the national trade policies and to ensure the coherence and transparency of trade policies through surveillance in global economic policy making. The WTO is also a center of economic research and analysis; regular assessments of the global trade picture in its annual publications and research reports on specific topics are produced by the organizations. Finally, the WTO cooperates closely with the two other components of the Bretton Woods systems, the IMF and the World Bank.
The process of becoming a WTO member is unique to each applicant country, and the terms of accession are dependent upon the country’s stage of economic development and current trade regime. On average, the process takes about five years, but it can last longer if the country is less than fully committed to the process or if ...