World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a large international group to regulate trade that was established in 1995. As of the 15th of December, 2005, there were 153 member countries. In the WTO, agreements are made on trade between countries. The “GATT” agreement means that countries have to lower barriers to international trade, such as tax on goods crossing borders. This means that businesses can operate in many different countries.
Member countries sign agreements [change]
There are about 30 such agreements. Based on these agreements, the member countries trade with each other. They sell items to each other and follow a set of rules. They have to give a special job to the other country. The phrase used (for such and many alike items) is to give the other country a special job – this is known as to give the other country a most favored country job. From 2004, if a member sells any item to another member country, the same type of item should be offered to all other member countries.
While it is highly regarded, from its beginning the WTO has also received criticism.
