What is the GATT-WTO?
The World Trade Organization (WTO) describes itself as “the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade fl ows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.”
The WTO came into being in 1995 and is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Although the WTO is one of the youngest of the international organizations, the multilateral trading system that was originally set up under GATT is well over 50 years old. The GATT was established in 1948 shortly after the Second World War.
The GATT is a multilateral agreement among countries that provides for a system for the conduct of international trade. The said multilateral trading system was developed through a series, or rounds, of trade negotiations held under the GATT. The first rounds dealt mainly with tariff reductions but later negotiations included other areas such as anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The last round-the 1986-94 Uruguay Round (which was launched in Punta del Este, a sea resort in Uruguay, in end 1986 and was finally concluded in the middle of 1994 with a Ministerial Meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco)-led to the creation of the WTO.
