WTO:Resurfacing the Negotiation Rounds

Amidst mayhem of prevalent global crisis, nations whether developed or developing everyone
has been suffering from slowdown. International trades have been largely impacted. In hurry
many nations across globe took rescue measures to save their individual economies. Some
announced bailout packages and some went protectionism way. Global slowdown has shattered
nations so hard that everyone trying individual way to deal with their crisis. The U.S. is planning
retaliatory tariffs on Italian water and French cheese to punish the EU for restricting imports of
U.S. chicken and beef. India is proposing to increase tariffs on foreign steel at the request of its
steel industry. Egypt has imposed duties on sugar, and the U.S. has levied new tariffs on Chinese
goods it contends are being dumped on the market. If international trade is kept un-regulated, it
may deepen the ill effects of global crisis and the situation may go worst. There has been always
a need of regulator for international trades.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been established to supervise and liberalize
international trade. The WTO has 153 members, which represents more than 95% of total world
trade. The WTO is governed by a Ministerial Conference, which meets every two years; a
General Council, which implements the conference's policy decisions and is responsible for dayto- day administration. Dispute settlement is the central pillar of the multilateral trading system, and the WTO’s unique contribution to the stability of the global economy. Without a means of settling disputes, the rules-based system would be less effective because the rules could not be enforced. The WTO’s procedure underscores the rule of law, and it makes the trading system more secure and predictable.
Though WTO had been set up with the aim to control international trade, it has not been able to
get tantamount of success as it was expected from it.WTO has yet to play more strong role in
keeping global trade smooth. Cooperation from nations and consensus have been sought the key
drivers for WTO. Looking at the current global slowdown, although the WTO cannot provide
anything immediate to help solve the current crisis, it can provide medium- and long-term
solutions. A WTO deal could help soften the impact of high prices by tackling the systemic
distortions in the international market for food and commodities.WTO has to revive the
international trades across all the industries and once trade has been stabilized, it would in turn
help nations to come out of grave situation in due course.