The negotiations have helped to liberalize trade where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them to be lowered. But the WTO is not just about liberalizing trade, and in some cases, its rules are such that trade barriers get support— for example, to protect consumers.
While GATT mostly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and its agreements could not only cover goods but also trade in services and other intellectual properties like trade creations, designs, and inventions.
The WTO has 164 members and 23 observer governments. Afghanistan became the 164th member in July 2016. In addition to states, the European Union, and each EU country in its own right is a member.
Ministerial Conferences | Place | Year | Description |
MC1 | Singapore | 1996 | Ministers of finance, trade, foreign, and agriculture from more than 120 countries participated and the following issues were in discussion.
These are known as the Singapore Issues. |
MC2 | Geneva, Switzerland | 1998 | Discussions on the implementation of Singapore Issues. Further discussions for the next round related to Export subsidies, market access, etc. |
MC3 | Seattle, USA | 1999 | The Uruguay Round was discussed. Further discussions on agricultural and services mandated at the last Ministerial. The Ministerial Conference ended without a conclusion though. |
MC4 | Doha, Qatar | 2001 | The Doha Round was discussed. |
MC5 | Cancún, Mexico | 2003 | Discussions on the progress of the Doha Development Agenda and other negotiations from the last Ministerial. |
MC6 | Hong Kong | 2005 | Discussions on aiming to conclude the Doha Round by 2006. Adoption of the ‘Swiss Formula’ to cut down tariffs on non-agricultural goods (NAMA) by both developed and developing countries with different coefficients. |
MC7 | Geneva, Switzerland | 2009 | This meeting didn’t revolve around the Doha Round. Ministers discussed various other ideas for further development. The theme of MC7 was ‘The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic Environment’ |
MC8 | Geneva, Switzerland | 2011 | Discussions on multiple topics for least developed nations and trade policy reviews. WTO approved Montenegro, Russian Federation, and Samoa accessions. Doha Round was discussed to make the mandate more effective, operational, and precise. |
MC9 | Bali, Indonesia | 2013 | The ‘Bali Package’ was adopted by the WTO that aimed at the following points:
The Bali Package is a selection of issues from the broader Doha Round negotiations. Yemen became a part of WTO. |
MC10 | Nairobi, Kenya | 2015 | Discussion on agriculture, cotton, and issues of LDCs. The Nairobi Package was adopted by WTO that delivered beneficial commitments to WTO’s poorest members. |
MC11 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 2017 | Discussions on e-commerce duties, fisheries subsidies, and other commitments to negotiations in all sectors. |
MC12 | Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan | 2021 | Postponed due to pandemic situation. |
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What is the WTO and what are its functions?
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