GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

URUGUAY ROUND - Features

 Liberalization of trade in manufacture - ( Reduction in tariff rates/ Expansion of duty free
access for imports)
 Non tariff barriers
 Liberalization of agricultural trade - (Tariffication/ Tariff binding/ Tariff cuts/ Reduction in
subsidies)
 Non- agricultural export subsidies
 GATS – General Agreement On Trade In Service
 TRIPS – Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
 TRIMS – Trade Related Investment Measures
 Anti-dumping measures
 Safeguard actions
GATT was conferred with a legal status through the creation of WTO
WTO
• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization designed by its founders to supervise and
liberalize international trade.

• The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which commenced in 1947.

• 76 Governments became members of the WTO on its first day. As of September 1999, there are 134 members of
the WTO. There is a waiting list of 31 members.

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

OBJECTIVES OF WTO

To improve standard of living of people in the member countries.

To ensure full employment and broad increase in effective demand.

To enlarge production and trade of goods.

Realizing these aims consistently with sustainable development and

environmental protection\

Ensuring that developing countries, especially the least developed countries

(LDCs), secure a proper share in the growth of international trade.
FEATURES OF WTO
• It is an international organization to promote multilateral trade.

• It has replaced GATT.

• It promotes free trade by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers in international trade.

• It has fixed set of rules and regulations and it has a legal status. Its rules and regulations are mutually
designed and agreed upon by member nations.

• Agreements agreed by member-countries are binding on all members of WTO and if any member does not
follow such agreements, then its complaint can be lodged with the Dispute Settlement Body of WTO.

• It includes trade in goods, trade in services, protection of intellectual property rights, foreign investment,
etc.

• Unlike International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, WTO is not an agent of United Nations.

• Unlike IMF and World Bank, there is no weighted voting (on the basis of capital). Rather all the WTO
members have equal voting rights (One Country, One-Vote).

• WTO has a large Secretariat and huge organizational set up.

FUNCTIONS OF WTO:

• Helping developing and transition economies

• Specialized help for export

• WTO in global economic policy- making

• Taking information

• Giving information to public

• Encouraging development and economic reform

DIFFERENCE B/W GATT & WTO
S.no GATT
1 The main focus of GATT was on trade
in goods. Although trade in services
was included in Uruguay round, but
no agreement with regard to services
was arrived at.
2 GATT was less powerful and its dispute
settlement system was slow and
inefficient.
3 In GATT, there was no pre-decided
regular time of holding sessions.
4 GATT had small secretariat a
managed by a Director General.
WTO
The focus of WTO was on trade in goods
and services.
WTO is more powerful and its dispute
settlement system is fast, strong and
efficient.
In WTO, meet is held after every two
years.
WTO has a large secretariat and huge
organizational set up.
 TRIPS and TRIMS were not given much emphasis in WTO laid special emphasis on
5
GATT. TRIP’s and TRIM’s

The discussions of GATT were not time bound. There WTO is a rule-based
used to be long discussions among the member organization in which
6 nations which took many years to complete; like discussion is held in a time
eighth round of GATT was spread over a period of bound manner. Like sixth-
eight years for discussion ministerial meet was held in
the year 2005 for six days.
 EPZ
Export Processing Zone, or EPZ, is a specific type of
economic zone designated by the government to promote export-
oriented businesses. These zones offer a number of incentives to
companies that set up operations within them, including tax breaks
and exemption from certain labour laws.