WTO
The Developing World and the World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established as an international organization in 1995 as a successor of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) ("World Trade Organization" 2009). The negotiations that extended for seven years, also known as Uruguay Round gave birth to WTO with vastly stretched out responsibilities for handling and running the economic affairs on an international level. Since then, the WTO has unquestionably played a major role in the field of global governance. The WTO rules and processes have affected the economic standards and political orientation the member countries (Sampson 2001).
If compared with GATT, the World Trade Organization has been working much powerfully as owing to the fact that it has a strong institutional foundation and a proficient dispute settlement system (Kwa 1998). GATT rules had their main influence on the imports and exports of a country whereas the WTO agreements greatly emphasize on a country's economy (Das). The member countries who do not obey the WTO trade rules and regulations have to eventually face the consequences in the court rooms. The WTO system allows the member developing countries to satisfactorily address their logical concerns. The organization also does not ask for investment or installation opportunities in the developing countries in awkward and irrational measures (Skinner 2010). However, there are several charges, criticisms and accusations that the WTO has been facing since a very long time (Kwa 1998). Some of them are:
The WTO memo, the process of agreements implementation, and the highly-esteemed dispute settlement system are criticized by the accusations that they all serve to move forward and fulfill the interests of developed countries; marginalizing the interests and concerns of the member developing countries (Kwa 1998).
The least developed countries (LDCs) are sidelined when it comes to trade on a global basis. The products produced in the LDCs also face continuous tariff escalations (Kwa 1998).
As each member country has economic circumstances that vary greatly so the uniformly applied WTO rules have instigated inequality (Kwa 1998). Free trade is not an option for majority of the countries.
Poor countries have been penalized and local development has been undermined by the WTO. Under its rules, the policies that are pursued by the developed countries cannot be followed by the developing countries ("Top Reasons to Oppose the WTO" 2011).
WTO definition of Developing Countries
There are no definitions provided by the WTO of developed and developing countries. It is the countries themselves who announce whether they are 'developed' or 'developing'. There are certain rights that are given to the members with developing country status. For instance, they are provided longer transition periods following provisions in few WTO agreements. They are also provided with the required technical assistance ("Who are the developing countries in the WTO?" 2011). It can be concluded that "the WTO may not be the most protective organization of non-trade values, but it is the optimal system to integrate competing concerns and advocate on behalf of sustainable development" (Skinner 2010).
The Role of Developing Countries in the WTO
Developing countries have several priorities that make them join international organizations. These priorities include the relief attainment from many economic difficulties, making industrialized countries open their markets to their products and persuading WTO to be more sensitive about the development in these countries. They are also concerned about the ever-expanding creepy mandate of the WTO that favors developed countries (Bradlow 2001). They also demand exceptional and differential conduct from WTO to look after their manufacturing sectors (Sugathan 2010). It is also important to mention that developed countries seek for textiles and clothing. On the other hand, the main items that developing countries acquire through their membership in WTO are copper, fuels, cotton, vegetable and oil seeds, wood products and minerals ("Poorest Countries Must Improve" 2008).
Despite the fact that developing countries occupy ae of the WTO membership, The WTO framework doesn't allow them to have same power as developed countries. The domestic policy making deficits are the main factors that portray a weak participation in the WTO (Sally 2001).
Though the developing countries have the power to influence the agenda and trade-discussions results by their votes. However, there are no occasions on record where the developing countries have used this power to their advantage. The economies of several developing countries are either dependent on the U.S., the European Union, or Japan. The security and interests of rebellious developing countries might be threatened if they fail to comply with any WTO agreement.
Negotiations and trade-offs happen between...
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