On April 15th 1994, a ministerial meeting of GATT Uruguay Round held in Marrakech, Morocco agreed on setting up the World Trade Organization (WTO) which is more universal to replace the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
World Trade Organization is a permanent international organization independent of the United Nations.It officially started to operate on January 1st, 1995. It is aimed to manage the order of world economy and trade, with its headquarter along the Lac Lemon in Geneva.On January 1st, 1996, it officially replaced the provisional institution GATT .WTO is an international organization with legal status and has higher authority in resolving disputes among its members.It grew out of the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade.Compared with its predecessor, it covers trade of cargo, service, and intellectual property rights, while the later was limited to commodity and cargo trade.
Achievements and contributions of WTO
The idea of setting up WTO emerged on the Britton Woods Conference, when it was conceived an international trace organization could be set up the time Word Bank and International Monetary Fund, thus forming a three-in-one institution of “currency – finance – trade” controlling the world economy after the Second Word War.In 1947, Havana Charter subscribed on the UN trade and employment conference agreed to set up World Trade Organization, which later failed due to America’s objection.In the same year, America initiated the establishment of GATT as a provisional agreement to promote trade liberalization.After the launch of GATT Uruguay Round, the European Community and Canada officially and respectively submitted a bill of setting up Word Trade Organization, and not until the ministerial meeting of GATT was held in Marrakech, Morocco was the formal decision made.