Definition of World Trade Organization (WTO):
World Trade Organization (WTO) – An international organization established by the Uruguay Round trade agreement to replace the institution created by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, known as the GATT. The Uruguay Round trade agreement modified the code and the framework and established the WTO on January 1, 1995. The WTO provides a code of conduct for international commerce and a framework for periodic multilateral negotiations on trade liberalization and expansion.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
At the heart of the system – known as the multilateral trading system – are the WTO’s agreements, negotiated and signed by a large majority of the world’s trading nations, and ratified in their parliaments. These agreements are the legal ground-rules for international commerce. Essentially, they are contracts, guaranteeing member countries important trade rights. They also bind governments to keep their trade policies within agreed limits to everybody’s benefit.
The agreements were negotiated and signed by governments. But their purpose is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
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