Annual Report 2010
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World Trade Organization Trade World Annual Report 2010 World Trade Organization Centre William Rappard Rue de Lausanne 154 Report2010 Annual CH-1211 Geneva 21 Switzerland Tel. switchboard: +41 (0)22 739 51 11 Fax: +41 (0)22 731 42 06 email: [email protected] Website: www.wto.org Who we are The World Trade Organization Further information The WTO website contains a wealth of information about the organization and its activities: www.wto.org deals with the global rules of General information about the WTO is available in the following publications, which may all be downloaded free of charge from the website: trade between nations. Its main WTO in Brief WTO in Brief provides a starting point for essential information about the WTO. Concise and practical, this short function is to ensure that trade brochure is an ideal introduction to the WTO. Understanding the WTO An introduction to the WTO, what it is, why it was created, how it works, and what it does, Understanding the flows as smoothly, predictably WTO has been written specifically for non-specialists. More comprehensive thanWTO in Brief, this publication details WTO agreements, the dispute settlement process, the Doha Round of negotiations and many other issues. and freely as possible. 10 Benefits of the WTO Trading System From the money in our pockets and the goods and services that we use, to a more peaceful world – the WTO and the trading system offer a range of benefits, some well known, others not so obvious.Ten Benefits of the WTO Trading System tries to reflect the complex and dynamic nature of trade. 10 Common Misunderstandings about the WTO Using this report Is it a dictatorial tool of the rich and powerful? Does it destroy jobs? Does it ignore the concerns of health, The 2010 Annual Report is the environment and development? Emphatically no. Criticisms of the WTO are often based on fundamental misunderstandings of the way the WTO works. This booklet attempts to clear up 10 common misunderstandings. split into two main sections. Online bookshop Printed publications can be purchased through the WTO’s online bookshop: http://onlinebookshop.wto.org The first is a brief summary Many publications may be downloaded free of charge from the WTO website: www.wto.org of the organization and a You may register to receive free alerts when new titles become available. Photo credits Cover photos: bottom right Reuters, all other photos Getty. review of 2009. The second Pages 9, 10, 13, 30, 109, 112, 115, 121, 122, 125, 127, 130: Jay Louvion. Pages 16-18, 31, 32, 53, 103, 125: WTO/Annette Walls-Lynch. Pages 20, 22, 25, 26, 50, 59-72: Getty. section provides more Page 103: WTO/Kristian Skeie Page 126: CPA (Commonwealth Parliamentary Association). in‑depth information. Page 127: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras. Page 136: WTO/Nadia Rocha. Find out more Website: www.wto.org General enquiries: [email protected] Tel: +41 (0)22 739 51 11 ISBN 978-92-870-3711-4 Printed by the WTO Secretariat. Report designed by Likemind. © World Trade Organization 2010 The Report is also available in French and Spanish. World Trade Organization WTO website Annual Report 2010 www.wto.org TdRa E ImplEmEnTaTIon Dip s UTE BId U l Ing TRadE s ECRETaRIaT REVIEW nEgoTIaTIons and monIToRIng sETTlEmEnT CapaCITy o HUTREaC and BUdgET 01 0 2 8 52 38 04 4 18 0 8 inside back cover back inside 1 1 1 1 1 2 WTO website www.wto.org inisterial Conference 2009 Conference inisterial year in review in year global membership global message from WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy Pascal Director-General WTO from message M A A A E o W T o o How it all comes together comes all it How What we do we What Abbreviations information Further Secretariat and budget and Secretariat the activitiesof the coordinates staff and 600regular over has Secretariat WTO The members. 153 its by contributions of consists budget annual WTO’s the of Most WTO. Outreach organizations, non-governmental with dialogue regular maintains WTO The general the and media the organizations, international parliamentarians,other issues. trade of awareness raise and cooperation enhance to public The WTO aims to help developing countries build their trade capacity and allows allows capacity and trade their build countries developing help to aims WTO The courses training of Hundreds agreements. trade implement to time longer a them countries. developing from officials for year each organized are Building trade capacity trade Building Dispute settlement Dispute trade under rights their think they if WTO the to disputes bring members WTO the of responsibility the is disputes Settling infringed. being are agreements Body. Settlement Dispute Various WTO councils and committees seek to ensure that WTO agreements are are agreements WTO that ensure to committees seek and councils WTO Various their of scrutiny periodic undergo members WTO All implemented. properly being practices. and policies trade Implementation and monitoring and Implementation Trade negotiations negotiations Trade members, WTO all of agreement the require trade of rules the to Changes recent most The negotiations. of rounds through consensus reach must who 2001. in began round What we standfor we What Secti n Who we are we Who Secti WTO the Understanding on n World Trade Organization Annual Report 2010 Understanding the WTO Who we are There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade organization. It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTo is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other. The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The bulk of the WTO’s current work comes from the 1986–94 negotiations called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the ‘Doha Development Agenda’ launched in 2001. Virtually all decisions Where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them lowered, the negotiations in the WTO are taken have helped to open markets for trade. But the WTO is not just about opening markets, and in some circumstances its rules support maintaining trade barriers – for example, by consensus among to protect consumers or prevent the spread of disease. all member countries. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations. These documents provide the legal ground rules for international commerce. They are essentially contracts, binding governments to keep their trade policies within agreed limits. Although negotiated and signed by governments, the goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business, while allowing governments to meet social and environmental objectives. The system’s overriding purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible – so long as there are no undesirable side effects – because this is important for economic development and well-being. That partly means removing obstacles. It also means ensuring that individuals, companies and governments know what the trade rules are around the world, and giving them the confidence that there will be no sudden changes of policy. In other words, the rules have to be ‘transparent’ and predictable. Trade relations often involve conflicting interests. Agreements, including those painstakingly negotiated in the WTO system, often need interpreting. The most harmonious way to settle these differences is through some neutral procedure based on an agreed legal foundation. That is the purpose behind the dispute settlement process written into the WTO agreements. A brief history 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 The WTO began life on 1 January 1995 but its trading system is half a century older. Since 1948, the General WTO Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established had provided the rules for the system. Whereas GATT had mainly dealt with a pril January February december may september January trade in goods, the WTO and its In April the The WTO WTO 70 WTO Second Mike Moore Negotiations agreements now cover trade in services, Marrakesh is born on General members Ministerial (New begin on Agreement 1 January. Council reach a Conference Zealand) services. and in traded inventions, creations and establishing creates the multilateral takes place becomes designs (intellectual property). the WTO may Regional agreement in Geneva. WTO march is signed. Renato Trade to open their Director- Negotiations Ruggiero Agreements financial General. begin on GATT 1994 is (Italy) takes Committee. services agriculture. incorporated office sector. november in the WTO’s as WTO december Third umbrella Director- First Ministerial treaty for General. Ministerial Conference trade in Conference takes place in goods. takes place Seattle, US. in Singapore. What is the WTO? World Trade Organization 02 www.wto.org/whatiswto Annual Report 2010 REVIEW What we stand for Understanding the WTO The WTo agreements are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities. But a number of simple, fundamental principles run throughout all of these documents. These principles are the foundation of the multilateral trading system. non-discrimination A country should not discriminate between its trading partners and it should not discriminate between its own and foreign products, services or nationals. more open Lowering trade barriers is one of the most obvious ways of encouraging trade; these barriers include customs duties (or tariffs) and measures such as import bans or quotas that restrict quantities selectively. Equal treatment is one of the basic principles predictable and transparent Foreign companies, investors and governments should be confident that trade barriers should of the multilateral not be raised arbitrarily.