World Trade Organization

Specialized, rules-based, member-driven agency of the United Nations, world trade monitoring body established in January 1995, on approval of the Final Act of the Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Under the Final Act, the WTO, a permanent trading body with a status comparable with that of the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, effectively replaced GATT. The WTO oversees and administers agreements to reduce barriers to trade, such as tariffs, subsidies, quotas, and regulations which discriminate against imported products. Other functions of the WTO include: handling trade disputes, offering a forum for trade negotiations, technical assistance and training for developing countries, and monitoring national trade policies.

All members of GATT automatically became members of the WTO on their parliaments' ratification of the Uruguay round; new members, without exception, would have to meet the criteria established by the Uruguay round. Decision-making in the WTO is by agreement, although majority voting is possible. The top-level decision-making body is called the Ministerial Conference and meets at least once every two years. WTO headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, and its director-general is Pascal Lamy, of France. The organization had 129 members in 1999, when China was admitted entry in exchange for allowing foreign firms access to China's markets, which would open a market of 1.3 billion consumers. By July 2001 membership of the WTO had reached 142 countries. Its budget for 2000 was 127 million Swiss francs.

The opening of the 1999 WTO summit in Seattle, Washington, was delayed after the presence of thousands of peaceful antiglobalization protesters was overshadowed by a small number of violent protesters. A curfew and a state of civil emergency was declared by the mayor of Seattle, and the USA's handling of the conference was condemned by delegates attending it, creating a mood which limited the effectiveness of the meeting in reaching any substantial agreement. In January 2001 the WTO announced its decision to hold the next Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November. The meeting place was condemned by antiglobalization activists, who said that the WTO's choice of an authoritarian state with rigid visa requirements hampered the right to legitimate protest.