DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

FINAL PROJECT- 2011

ECONOMICS-3 Project Topic: WTO AND DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Submitted to: Prof. (Dr.) Madhuri Srivastava Lecturer in Economics

Compiled by: Tanushree B.A.LL.B.(Hons) 3rd Semester Roll No. 141

CONTENT LIST
y y y y y y y y y y Acknowledgement Objectives Introduction World Trade Organisation United States and WTO Australia and WTO Netherlands and WTO Barbados and WTO Conclusion Bibliography

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project is very informative for those who want to know more about World Trade Organisation and its working with worlds developed countries. It was a difficult task for me to collect necessary information and material for completing this project, but through the valuable help of my Economics teacher Dr Madhuri Shrivastava without whose help this project would have been incomplete. I would also like to thank my friends and my seniors who have helped me a lot in completing this project. Lastly I would like to thank all those authors whose books and sites I have used for completing this project.

OBJECTIVES
The main objective behind making this project is to basically analyze some of the questions related to World Trade Organisation. Through this project I have just tried to bring up several ongoing agendas which are relevant to World Trade Organisation into consideration. In this project I am discussing some of the major issues of the World Trade Organisation in light with its working with developed countries of world . I have specifically focused on the functioning of the World Trade Organisation and how it deals with developed countries and the world. The project briefly looks at future position of the World Trade Organisation in the eyes of worlds powerful and fully grown economies.

INTRODUCTION
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise andliberalize 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 1948. The organization deals with regulation of trade between participating countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to WTO agreements which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments.[4][5] Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (19861994). The WTO has 153 members, representing more than 97% of the world's population, and 30 observers, most seeking membership. The WTO is governed by a ministerial conference, meeting every two years; a general council, which implements the conference's policy decisions and is responsible for day-to-day administration; and a director-general, who is appointed by the ministerial conference. The WTO's headquarters is at the Centre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland. There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization. It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other. The WTO is run by its member governments. All major decisions are made by the membership as a whole, either by ministers (who usually meet at least once every two years) or by their ambassadors or delegates (who meet regularly in Geneva). The WTO agreements are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities. But a number of simple, fundamental principles run throughout all of these documents. These principles are the foundation of the multilateral trading system.

Australia's profile as a trading nation means that it has strong interest in ensuring that the international trading regime of the WTO is open, equitable and enforceable. The WTO's dispute settlement system, which came into being in 1995, is central to that goal. It is one of the cornerstones of the WTO, and gives member countries confidence that the commitments and obligations contained in the WTO agreements will be respected. There have been over 360 disputes initiated in the WTO since 1995 (although many have not proceeded past the consultations stage) and an important body of international law has developed as a result. The system provides a binding and enforceable mechanism through which member countries can enforce their trade rights. Working through the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United States is a world leader in securing the reduction of trade barriers in order to expand global economic opportunity, to raise standards of living, and to reduce poverty. The WTO Agreements also provide the foundation for high-standard U.S. bilateral and regional agreements that contribute to a dynamic and open global trading system based on the rule of law. On a day-to-day basis, the WTO provides opportunities for U.S. interests to be advanced through more than 20 standing Committees (not including numerous additional Working Groups, Working Parties, and Negotiating Bodies). These groups meet regularly to allow Members to exchange views, to work to resolve questions of compliance with commitments, and to work to improve our global trading system.

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. The WTO was established on January 1, 1995 and its current Director General is Mr. Pascal Lamy.
Barbados is a founding member of the WTO. The Organisation has a membership of 150 countries, a budget of 175 million Swiss francs (Sfr.) and a Secretariat staff of 635. The main functions of the WTO are to administer WTO trade agreements; to serve as a forum for trade negotiations; a legal framework for the settlement of trade disputes; monitoring of national and international trade policies; and the provision of training, technical assistance and capacity building to developing countries. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the worlds trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The bulk of the WTOs current work comes from the 198694 negotiations called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the Doha Development Agenda launched in 2001.
Where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them lowered, the negotiations have helped to open markets for trade. But the WTO is not just about opening markets, and in some circumstances its rules support maintaining trade barriers for example, to protect consumers or prevent the spread of disease.

WTO and working

The WTO is run by its member governments. All major decisions are made by the membership as a whole, either by ministers (who usually meet at least once every two years) or by their ambassadors or delegates (who meet regularly in Geneva).
While the WTO is driven by its member states, it could not function without its Secretariat to coordinate the activities. The Secretariat employs over 600 staff, and its experts lawyers, economists, statisticians and communications experts assist WTO members on a daily basis to ensure, among other things, that negotiations progress smoothly, and that the rules of international trade are correctly applied and enforced.

Trade negotiations The WTO agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property. They spell out the principles of liberalization, and the permitted exceptions. They include individual countries commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open services markets. They set
procedures for settling disputes. These agreements are not static; they are renegotiated from time to time and new agreements can be added to the package. Many are now being negotiated under the Doha Development Agenda, launched by WTO trade ministers in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.

Implementation and monitoring WTO agreements require governments to make their trade policies transparent by notifying the WTO about laws in force and measures adopted. Various WTO councils and committees seek to ensure that these requirements are being followed and that WTO agreements are being properly implemented. All WTO members must undergo periodic scrutiny of
their trade policies and practices, each review containing reports by the country concerned and the WTO Secretariat.

Dispute settlement The WTOs procedure for resolving trade quarrels under the Dispute Settlement Understanding is vital for enforcing the rules and therefore for ensuring that trade flows smoothly. Countries bring disputes to the WTO if they
think their rights under the agreements are being infringed. Judgements by specially appointed independent experts are based on interpretations of the agreements and individual countries commitments.

Building trade capacity WTO agreements contain special provision for developing countries, including longer time periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase their trading opportunities, and support to help them build their trade capacity, to handle disputes and to implement technical standards. The WTO organizes hundreds of technical cooperation
missions to developing countries annually. It also holds numerous courses each year in Geneva for government officials. Aid for Trade aims to help developing countries develop the skills and infrastructure needed to expand their trade. Outreach The WTO maintains regular dialogue with non-governmental organizations, parliamentarians, other international organizations, the media and the general public on various aspects of the WTO and the ongoing Doha negotiations, with the aim of enhancing cooperation and increasing awareness of WTO activities.

Principles
Non-discrimination
A country should not discriminate between its trading partners and it should not discriminate between its own and foreign products, services or nationals.

More open
Lowering trade barriers is one of the most obvious ways of encouraging trade; these barriers include customs duties (or tariffs) and measures such as import bans or quotas that restrict quantities selectively.

Predictable and transparent

Foreign companies, investors and governments should be confident that trade barriers should not be raised arbitrarily. With stability and predictability, investment is encouraged, jobs are created and consumers can fully enjoy the benefits of competition choice and lower prices.

More competitive
Discouraging unfair practices, such as export subsidies and dumping products at below cost to gain market share; the issues are complex, and the rules try to establish what is fair or unfair, and

how governments can respond, in particular by charging additional import duties calculated to compensate for damage caused by unfair trade.

More beneficial for less developed countries

Giving them more time to adjust, greater flexibility and special privileges; over three-quarters of WTO members are developing countries and countries in transition to market economies. The WTO agreements give them transition periods to adjust to the more unfamiliar and, perhaps, difficult WTO provisions.

Protect the environment

The WTOs agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the environment but also public health, animal health and plant health. However, these measures must be applied in the same way to both national and foreign businesses. In other words, members must not use environmental protection measures as a means of disguising protectionist policies.

Members and observers

The WTO has 153 members and 31 observers. In addition to states, the European Union is also a member. WTO members do not have to be full sovereign nation-members. Instead, they must be a customs territory with full autonomy in the conduct of their external commercial relations. Thus Hong Kong (as "Hong Kong, China" since 1997) became a GATT contracting party, and the Republic of China (Taiwan) acceded to the WTO in 2002 as "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" (Chinese Taipei) despite its disputed status. The WTO Secretariat omits the official titles (such as Counselor, First Secretary, Second Secretary and Third Secretary) of the members of Chinese Taipei's Permanent Mission to the WTO, except for the titles of the Permanent Representative and the Deputy Permanent Representative. Russia is the biggest economy outside WTO and after the completion of Russia's accession, Iran would be the biggest economy outside the WTO. With the exception of the Holy See, observers must start accession negotiations within five years of becoming observers. Some international intergovernmental organizations are also granted observer status to WTO bodies. 14 states and 2 territories so far have no official interaction with the WTO.

UNITED STATES

The United States of America has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995.The United States likes to think of itself as a nation that abides by its treaties and commitments. Successive U.S. administrations have taken the obligations implied by international agreements seriously: They have opted out of parts of many agreements for fear that compliance would be contrary to U.S. interests, and have refused outright to sign some treaties on the grounds of potential legal exposure. But U.S. behavior
toward the World Trade Organization is different; in this case, the United States has been quite willing to accept binding multilateral rules. Yet, the United States has also

been repeatedly judged to be in violation of its WTO commitments by the organizations dispute settlement panels, and although some violations could be ascribed to uncertainties about the meaning of the rules, the United States is also guilty of disregarding the rules deliberately. Opinion in Congress sometimes encourages this behavior; legislators are

less likely to question the legitimacy of U.S. conduct than to question the WTOs authority to pass judgment over the United States. Moreover, these tensions are likely to escalate if the Doha Round of global trade negotiations breaks down. If the diplomatic route to market access is blocked, trading partners will seek access to U.S. consumers by bringing more cases before the WTOs tribunals. A surge in such cases could increase resentment of the WTO in the United States, weakening Americas commitment to its traditional postwar role as the bulwark of the international trading system. This would be unfortunate, because even without changes in the behavior of its trading partners, the rules of the WTO improve the performance of the U.S. economy.

U.S. ambivalence toward the WTO starts with an ambivalence toward trade, and particularly with a misunderstanding of the sources of trades benefits.
The American public is quick to grasp the importance of exports, but the gains from trade go well beyond that. Exporting raises the prices producers can charge for their products and allows for economies of scale. Importing reduces product prices and increases the choices available to consumers. Trade also intensifies competition, thereby encouraging firms to be more productive and innovative. So despite the recent fracturing of the political

consensus in favor of trade, the substantive case for it is accepted by just about every 4 mainstream economist. According to one recent estimate, U.S. incomes

are

some 10 percent higher than they would be if the economy were self-sufficient. But trade cannot deliver prosperity in a vacuum. In a world of nationstates, moving goods and services across borders may require dealing with a host of institutional, regulatory, linguistic, legal, cultural, informational, and political factors. International commerce is therefore more risky and associated with higher transaction costs than domestic commerce. The existence of rules, and a mechanism for enforcing them, is crucial to reducing these transaction costs. Firms sinking large
investments in distribution and production need to be sure about the conditions that govern market access and the regulatory and competitive environments in which they will operate. Absent that certainty, the full potential of global engagement will not be realized. Paradoxically, enforceable trade rules are important for the same reason that they are unpopular. Because trade creates winners and losers, there is always political pressure to disrupt trade even though its effect on the economy as a whole is positive. Under competitive conditions, imports provide consumers with benefits in excess of the costs to domestic producers, but producers often have more political influence. Similarly, international competition pits firms and workers from different nations against one another and leads to pressures for national political leaders to assist local producers at the expense of foreigners. National producers pleas for help will be particularly

hard to resist if they can argue that their foreign competitors receive help from their governments. Under these circumstances, trade rules play a crucial role, both in
restraining protective measures that may directly reduce consumer welfare and in helping
to reassure investors and workers that the system is equitable.

At a time when the Doha Round of trade negotiations has stalled and public opinion polls register skepticism about trade, it is worth emphasizing the contribution ofenforceable rules to the trading systems legitimacy. Policymakers in Washington often suggest that support for trade can be bolstered by the use of antidumping suits and other trade-restricting measures that supposedly punish foreigners who cheat in order to win

U.S. markets. In this view,

the WTOs dispute settlement tribunals damage

political support for trade, since the panels have frequently ruled against the use of U.S. trade remedies. But this safety valve argument is shortsighted. The use of antidumping suits
is a game that more than one nation can play: In the absence of the WTOs dispute settlement tribunals, U.S. trading partners would obstruct U.S. exports by resorting to their own fair-trade measures, and U.S. resentment of the trading system would be heightened. Enforceable rules offer the best hope of forestalling a tit-for-tat use of protective barriers that would further contribute to the deterioration of support for trade. In sum, and contrary to what many policymakers suppose, vigorous dispute settlement
tribunals make the revival of the Doha Round more likely.

The WTO provides more benefits to the United States than GATT did. Its provisions cover more issues that are of interest to the United States: The WTO includes rules on standards and technical barriers to trade; it protects intellectual property; it covers agriculture and services. But the biggest advantage of the WTO is that it includes a mechanism to enforce these rules: the dispute settlement system. This
has reduced the need for the United States to resort to unilateral retaliatory measures, limiting an important source of tension between the United States and its partners and so generating a significant foreign-policy dividend. It helps the United States itself keep protectionist impulses at bay. It is also

particularly useful for dealing with disputes with Americas largest trading partners, such as the European Union, Japan, China, India, and Brazil, with which the United States has not signed free trade agreements.
According to the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), the agreement establishing the dispute settlement system that was negotiated as part of the Uruguay Round of 1995, WTO members may seek to resolve conflicts through the good offices of the organizations director-general or by agreeing to arbitration; they may also invoke the formal dispute settlement mechanism. To pursue this last option, the parties in the dispute are first required to engage in consultation. If these consultations are unsatisfactory, a complainant can, within sixty days, request the establishment of a panel of three members

to hear the case. The panel issues an interim report and then a final one. If it finds that a member has failed to comply, and that member does not appeal, the body can make a recommendation as to how the member could come into compliance. If it is impractical to comply immediately, the member is given a reasonable period of time in which to do so.6 The finding can also be appealed to a second panel of three members of a permanent seven-person Appellate Body (AB), which operates like the supreme court of the organization. If the member loses the appeal and fails to act within a reasonable period of time, the rules call for the parties to negotiate compensation, pending full implementation.7 Compensation is generally understood to require the defendant to provide additional concessions, typically in the form of reducing other trade barriers of interest to the plaintiff. Compensation is, however, voluntaryand rare.8 If after twenty days, compensation cannot be agreed upon, the complainant may request authorization to suspend equivalent concessions. In particular, the level of the suspension of concession
shall be equivalent to the level of nullification and impairment.

AUSTRALIA
Australia has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995.The WTO is the
primary vehicle for Australia to advance its trade and market access interests.The WTO is vital to the Australian Governments international efforts to push for substantial reductions in the trade distorting subsidies, tariffs and tariff quota protection used by other countries. A key objective of DAFF is to contribute to these efforts and secure improved export opportunities for Australias primary producers. The WTO was established in 1995 as a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. There are currently 153 countries that are members of the WTO, with developing countries accounting for more than two-thirds of the membership. Around 30 countries are negotiating to join the WTO.The WTO sets global rules for trade and provides a forum for trade negotiations and resolving trade disputes between member countries. Its members as a whole make all major decisions, usually by consensus.Its rules cover trade in all goods and many services as well as a very broad range of trade issues, from quarantine and technical trade barriers to taxation, subsidies and intellectual property. These rules help international trade flow as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. WTO rules can provide secure trading conditions and reduce some of the risks associated with doing business overseas. Australia, like all other members, is required to abide by the rules.

Dispute Settlement and the WTO

WTO rules apply equally to all Members and are backed by an effective dispute settlement process.

Where government support to industry is inconsistent with WTO obligations, or if a Member is not playing by the rules, Australia has the right to challenge such actions through the WTO dispute system. Australia can also be subject to the same dispute processes.
DAFF plays a key role, in conjunction with other Australian Government agencies, in relevant disputes involving agricultural, food, fisheries or forest products.

WTO Rules
At the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference, held in Doha in November 2001, WTO Members agreed to negotiations dealing with WTO rules on four specific issues: anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures, fisheries subsidies, and regional trade agreements.

Australia and WTO dispute settlement

Australia's profile as a trading nation means that it has strong interest in ensuring that the international trading regime of the WTO is open, equitable and enforceable. The WTO's dispute settlement system, which came into being in 1995, is central to that goal. It is one of the cornerstones of the WTO, and gives member countries confidence that the commitments and obligations contained in the WTO agreements will be respected. There have been over 360 disputes initiated in the WTO since 1995 (although many have not proceeded past the consultations stage) and an important body of international law has developed as a result. The system provides a binding and enforceable mechanism through which member countries can enforce their trade rights.

How can the WTO help Australian businesses and exporters?

Australian exporters or companies who consider their competitive position is affected by the trade-restrictive actions of WTO member governments are encouraged to advise the Department using the WTO disputes enquiry point. When submitting enquiries, firms/companies (or their nominated legal representative) are required to provide details of the problem and the adverse impact on exports or imports. The Departments WTO Trade Law Branch will

(i) examine the details of the case (ii) determine the nature of the barrier

and in particular whether or not it could be a breach of WTO rules and (iii) develop possible options for action.
Such options could include bilateral discussions with the government of the trading partner in question aimed at settling the matter. This approach is often a more efficient and cost-effective way to settle disputes than going to full-blown formal WTO proceedings. Australia's right to take formal dispute action in the WTO creates valuable leverage which can assist in moving disputes toward a resolution. In cases where there are clear issues of inconsistency with WTO rules and where bilateral consultations have not been successful, there is the option of initiating a formal WTO complaint under WTO dispute procedures. The Minister for Trade would take the final decision on initiating dispute settlement action. When a panel is established, the WTO provides for set timeframes for the completion of the process which shows the timeframes for dealing with disputes in the WTO.

Australia's involvement in WTO Disputes

Since 1995 Australia has been involved a number of disputes as a complainant, a respondent and as a third party and results achieved to date have delivered real economic benefits to Australia. For example, Australia mounted successful challenges to Korean and United States meat import restrictions which have ensured significant benefits for Australian farmers and the Australian economy more widely.
Negotiations on the review of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), which are not part of the single Doha Round undertaking, are continuing. A wide range of proposals have been put forward, but progress towards consensus has been slow. This may reflect the fact that most WTO Members consider the WTO dispute system is working well.

NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995. It is a member State of the European Union. All EU member States are WTO members, as is the EU (until 30 November 2009 known officially in the WTO as the European Communities for legal reasons) in its own right.

Economy of the Netherlands

The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy, which depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, fairly low unemployment and inflation, a sizable current account surplus, and an important role as a European transportation hub. Industrial activity is predominantly in food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery. A highly mechanised agricultural
sector employs no more than 2% of the labour force but provides large surpluses for the foodprocessing industry and for exports. The Netherlands, along with 11 of its EU partners, began circulating the euro currency on 1 January 2002. The country is one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment.

World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization deals with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by most of the worlds trading nations. Many of the WTO rules are designed to ensure that conditions of fair trade prevail between trading partners; big or small, rich or poor. A dispute settlement mechanism is a safeguard of full compliance with WTO rules. The underlying goals of the WTO are still the same as fifty years ago: promoting openness, fairness and predictability in international trade. A more open world trading system can be to the benefit of all trading countries.

Trade and labour standards

In the globalizing world economy of today, there is a growing controversy about the benefits of globalization. Increasing competition does not always work out positively, be it in terms of its economic or social effects. One of the issues with regard to the social side of international trade is the ongoing debate about the relationship between trade and (core)labour standards. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the competent body to set and enforce these standards. In the declarations of the WTO ministerial meetings in Singapore and Doha the importance of cooperation between the secretariats of the WTO and ILO was underlined. The Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment responsible for ILO matters in the Netherlands actively participates in these discussions on trade and labour standards, both as regards the process of policy setting within the government and in terms of discussions with our social partners and NGOs.

Liberalization of services
Another important issue under the responsibility of the WTO is the liberalization of services. The free movement of service suppliers is one of the elements in the negotiations concerning a further liberalization of the so-called General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Given the existing laws and regulations in the EU member states concerning the entrance of citizens from non-member countries for work purposes, this issue falls also at our national level

under the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Given the links with the broader debate about migration and the changing demographic situation, this also implies coordination with and between the other ministries involved: Economic Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation and Justice.

The Netherlands Government had pledged, a contribution of 1.4 million euro (1.8 million Swiss francs) to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund. The donation by the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation was to be used for negotiating capacity building and trade capacity building. The Netherlands again contributed 4 million dutch guilders to WTO's trust fund for technical cooperation.

BARBADOS
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the only global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the majority of the worlds trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business in a fair and transparent manner.

The Role of the Mission in the WTO

The remit of the Permanent Mission of Barbados inGeneva is a wide and varied one. The trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation and the debates in the various United Nations bodies in Geneva are the two main pillars of the Missions work. In the World Trade Organisation, Barbados has been actively involved in the Work Programme

on Small, Vulnerable Economies (SVEs). For the past three years, Ambassador C.
Trevor Clarke and his team at the Permanent Mission have presided over this SVEs work programme which has as its aim to enhance and increase the participation of these small economies in the multilateral trading system. The SVEs group includes representatives from Central America, South America, the Caribbean, the Pacific and Africa which all have similar characteristics that necessitate specific treatment in the trade rules.

The Small Vulnerable Economies Work Programme

A wide array of issues are covered under this Small Economies Work Programme including agriculture market access and Non-Agriculture Market Access negotiations; services; fisheries subsidies; export subsidies; trade facilitation; technical barriers to trade; sanitary and phyto sanitary measures and trade related aspects of intellectual property rights. In addition, the small economies group has become an influential component of the
political architecture of the WTO and is often included in many of the major political consultations regarding the status and future work of the WTO.

Key Areas of Negotiation within the WTO

Outside of the Small Economies Work Programme, theMission also participates actively in discussions on Trade and Development; Trade and the Environment; Regional Trade Agreements; the Dispute Settlement System; Trade and Transfer of Technology and Aid for Trade.

Within the WTO context, Barbados, through Ambassador Clarke has held the Chairmanship of the Committee on Trade and Development in Dedicated Session; the Chairmanship of the TRIPS Council and membership on the Aid for Trade Task Force. In addition, Barbados has held the Chairmanship of the Import Licensing Committee and Vice Chairmanship of the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. Ambassador Clarke was recently appointed the 2007 Chair of the Council for Trade in Services.

Agriculture negotiations
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture represented a significant effort to institute some comprehensive, multilateral disciplines within agriculture. Article 20 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture contained an inbuilt mechanism for the continuation of negotiations in agriculture. These agriculture negotiations were incorporated into the single undertaking at the Doha Ministerial Conference in 2001. For the past seven years, countries have been engaged in negotiations on the types of disciplines to be imposed in market access, domestic support and export subsidies, as well as the flexibilities to be extended to developing countries, least developed countries and, more recently, small,

vulnerable economies. Additionally, specific developing country issues, such as preference erosion, cotton and Special Products (SPs) have featured in the ongoing negotiations.

Non - Agriculture Market Access Negotiations

Non-agricultural market access (NAMA) was incorporated in 2001 as one of the major issues for negotiation under the Doha Development Agenda, which is set forth in the Doha Ministerial Declaration. NAMA refers broadly to market access for industrial goods, which covers everything not falling within the ambit of agriculture and services. With the impetus for launching WTO negotiations specific to industrial tariffs coming particularly from developed countries, there was explicit commitment at Doha that NAMA would take into account developing countries interests. The mandate in this context is to reduce or as appropriate eliminate tariffs, including the reduction or elimination of tariff peaks, high tariffs, and tariff escalations, as well as non-tariff barriers, in particular on goods of export interest to developing countries. Discussions in the NAMA Negotiating Group centre around six principle areas: (1) tariff reduction through a formula and non-formula means; (2) flexibilities and other special and differential treatment for developing countries, including Small Vulnerable Economies such as Barbados, Least Developed Countries and countries with very low tariff bindings; (3) treatment of unbound tariff lines; (4) non-reciprocal preferences; (5) non-tariff barriers; and (6) sectoral initiatives. The framework for NAMA negotiations is included in the Doha Work Programme, Annex B (Decision adopted by the WTOs General Council on August 1, 2004).

Services Negotiations
The General Agreement on Trade in Services provides for the progressive liberalisation of trade in services by WTO Members, through successive rounds of negotiations. Launched in 2000, the Services negotiations follow two broad tracks - Market access, where negotiations take place not only at the multilateral level, but also on the basis of a bilateral and plurilateral request/offer approach, and Rules Negotiations where rules on the establishment of an emergency safeguard mechanism are being considered, in addition to rules on subsidies and government procurement. The development of disciplines on domestic regulation is also under consideration within the rule making agenda.

Rules Negotiations

The Doha Declaration mandated the WTO to examine a number of issues related to subsidies and countervailing measures including fisheries subsidies, anti-dumping and regional trade agreements (RTAs) under the responsibility of the Negotiating Group on Rules. Barbados has been particularly involved in the discussions on Fisheries and RTAs.

Trade Facilitation Negotiations

Modalities for the negotiations on Trade Facilitation in the WTO were accepted by explicit consensus in July 2004 as part of the July Package The primary aim of these negotiations is to clarify and improve relevant aspects of Articles V, VIII and X of the GATT 1994 with a view to further expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It is also agreed that the results of the negotiations shall fully take in to account the principle of special and differential treatment for developing and least-developed countries and that the negotiations shall further aim at enhancing technical assistance and support for capacity building. Article V of the GATT 1994 contains obligations relating to Freedom of Transit, Article VIII to Fees and Formalities connected with importation and exportation and Article X to Publication and Administration of Trade Regulations. The negotiations on trade facilitation are unique in the WTO in that the statement in footnote 4 of the Modalities states that the negotiations are without prejudice to the possible format of the final result of the negotiations and would allow consideration of various forms of outcomesand the final result might, therefore, take the form of a non-binding agreement or a plurilateral agreement to which individual countries would be free to commit. The footnote therefore provides developing countries with a degree of ownership in the pace and nature of the discussions.

CONCLUSION
The growing role of developing countries in the WTO negotiations suggests that while the role of the largest countries remains central, they cannot impose outcomes against the will of all other counties, and differences among them offer further opportunities to affect the outcome. The question of when and how to participate in international negotiations is
therefore a real one for countries to face. If they identify and determine their own priorities, and their strengths and weaknesses, they can include the costs and benefits of participation in international negotiations as part of their economic strategy. Long-term commitment to participation is required.

Awareness of other countries interests and an ability to identify common interests is important. The present structure of the WTO and the present lack of support for international trade within countries may restrain further expansion. The pressure for limited duration Rounds may not be in the
interests of developing countries, or of any countries in the new areas. Apart from all these issues the International opposition to the WTO is growing which is important to take care of.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research has basically been done on the functioning and working of World Trade Organisation and how it deals with different countries and the world as a whole. For this project I visited many websites as well as books, mentioned in bibliography, from where I could get the understanding of the working of World Trade Organisation with most developed countries of world. I went through different editorials also to find out the position of the World Trade Organisation in the eyes of developed countries and also the whole world. I also went through some online essays and blogs which indeed helped me in the making of my project.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
y WWW.WIKEPEDIA.COM y WWW.BRITANICA.COM y Grady, Patrick, and Kathleen Macmillan. Seattle and Beyond: The WTO Millennium Round. Global Economics Ltd., 1999. y Kahn, Joseph. Global Trade Forum Reflects a Burst of Conflict and Hope. New York Times, 28 November 1999. y Krueger, Anne O. The WTO as an International Organization. University of Chicago Press, 1998. y Lal Das, Bhagirathi. The World Trade Organization: A Guide to the Frameworks for International Trade. Zed Books, 2000.