The WTO in Geneva is an international/ intergovernmentl organisation that regulates international trade. Basically it is a system under public international law that is either lmultilateral or plurilateral
Name the 4 general multilateral conventions by the WTO(Main agreements)?
GATT (general agreement of tarifs and trade)
GATS (general agreement on trade in services)
TRIPS (agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)
DSU (Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes)
What are the 2 main barriers that the WTO tries to reduce?
It oversees the implementation and operation of the WTO agreements
It provides a forum for negotiations and the settlement of disputes.
Explain the GATT!
Goods:
Agreement which sets out the rules on international trade in goods
in particular the reduction of trade barriers
Explain the GATS!
Services:
Agreement which sets out the (less strict) rules on international trade in services, e.g. telecommunication, banking, insurance, tourism, transport, excluding services in exercise of governmental functions and labour, exemptions for the film industry, financial services, shipping.
Explain the TRIPS!
IP Rights:
Agreement which creates a comprehensive set of rights and obligations governing the international trade in intellectual property,
in particular imposing an obligation on member states to grant a protection of IP rights including the enforcement of such rights.
e.g. patents, trade marks, copyrights, knowhow,
What are the principles of the WTO (very important)
Non discrimination
most favored nation: any advantage must be granted immidatley and uncondionally to all other member states for example costums tarrifs or taxes that are granted for one meber state
excluded are developing countires costums unions and free trade areas
national treatment: imported goods must be treated no less favourable than domestically produced goods for example in respect of costums(Zölle) (no protectionism) and national marketing rules —> equality of competitive conditions
Trade liberalisation
Reduction of tariffs: Bound tariffs (maximum tariffs) for certain groups of products.
Tariffs only: Member states may protect their domestic industries only through the use of tariffs. Quantitative restrictions, technical norms, vexatious (lästig) customs (zölle) procedures etc. are forbidden.
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