The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20050404082609/http://www.wto.org:80/english/thewto_e/thewto_e.htm
Click here to return to homepage
../../../175pxls.gif (78 bytes)
 ON THIS PAGE:    What is the WTO?    Decision-making    Members    WTO Secretariat    Assistance    Annual reports    Jobs    Glossary
home > the wto

150pxls.gif (76 bytes)
Information about the organization

The WTO

Information about the institution. The WTO is a rules-based, member-driven organization — all decisions are made by the member governments, and the rules are the outcome of negotiations among members.

150pxls.gif (76 bytes)
WTO 10th Anniversary
> WTO 10th Anniversary


What is the WTO?   back to top
Read and download explanations of what the WTO is and does.
 

Decision-making   back to top

  • Organization chart
    All WTO members may participate in all councils, committees, etc, except Appellate Body, Dispute Settlement panels, Textiles Monitoring Body, and plurilateral committees.
  • General Council
    Top day-to-day decision-making body. Meets regularly, normally in Geneva.
     
  • Coherence
    Cooperation between multilateral institutions on global economic policy-making.
     

Membership   back to top

  • Accessions  
    How countries apply to join the WTO, and the current situation.
     
  • Before 1995: GATT signatories before the WTO came into being
    The countries that had signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade by the end of 1994 when the WTO replaced GATT as the organization overseeing the multilateral trading system.
     

WTO Secretariat  back to top

Assistance for developing countries   back to top

 
Annual publications
   back to top

Jobs in the WTO   back to top

  
Glossary
   back to top

 
How to contact the WTO   back to top
General enquiries, publications, the website. Also copyright and trademark statements.

WATCH THIS SPACE ...
  FACT FILE
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Established: 1 January 1995
Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-94)  
Membership: 148 countries (on 13 October 2004)
Budget: 169 million Swiss francs for 2005
Secretariat staff: 630
Head: Supachai Panitchpakdi (director-general)

Functions:
• Administering WTO trade agreements
• Forum for trade negotiations
• Handling trade disputes
• Monitoring national trade policies
• Technical assistance and training for developing countries
• Cooperation with other international organizations 

WATCH THIS SPACE ...

contact us : World Trade Organization, rue de Lausanne 154, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland