International Trade Law Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Trade Law Assignment - Essay Example At the apex is the Ministerial Conference, with many types of councils, committees and specialized working groups working toward the goal of helping producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. The WTO manages its primary objective of helping trade between nations by: administering trade agreements, acting as a forum for trade negotiations, settling trade disputes, reviewing national trade policies, and by assisting developing countries in trade policy issues through technical assistance and training programs and cooperating with other international organizations. With over 150 members, each representing diverse economic and cultural background, the desire is not to create a trading system. The WTO manages to do this through consensus. Trade agreements are a result of negotiations between member nations must be ratified by members parliaments. These agreements clearly outline the rights and obligations and ensure a smooth and fair trading system. Through these agreements, the WTO helps decrease trade barriers. The general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT) was formed after the secound world war in 1947. It was singed by 23 countries. This purpose of GATT was to dismantle the high protectionist barriers that were then in existence and had incresed since the war (Gillingham 2002). The main objectives of GATT included the elimination of quotas, the gradual reduction of tariffs, the elimination of non-tariff trade barriers and equality between member countries. GATT was mostly numerous series of negotiations rounds. These mainly focused on the reduction of tariffs. Here the GATT was very successful, in only eight negotiation rounds it was able to reduce tariffs from 40% to below 4%. The later negotiations focused also on anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The negotiations round in Punta del Este in Uruguay 1986 was to become the starting block for The World Trade Organisation (WTO), it later became known