World Trade Organization (hereinafter referred to as WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB).
The WTO is a permanent international organization independent of the United Nations. It officially started operations on January 1, 1995 and is responsible for managing the world economic and trade order. It is headquartered on the shores of Lake Leman in Geneva, Switzerland. On January 1, 1996, it officially replaced the GATT Provisional Institutions. The WTO is an international organization with legal person status and has higher authority in mediating member disputes. Its predecessor was the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade established in 1947. Compared with the GATT, the WTO covers trade in goods, services and intellectual property rights, while the GATT only applies to trade in goods. The current Director-General is Pascal Lamy, the former EU Trade Commissioner, who took office in September 2005.
WTO members are divided into four categories: developed members, developing members, members with economies in transition and least developed members. In December 2005, the WTO General Council formally approved the accession of the Pacific island country Tonga in Hong Kong, and its formal membership took effect one month later. In this way, the number of official members of the WTO will increase to 150.
The World Trade Organization Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland
The idea of ??establishing the WTO was proposed at the Bretton Woods Conference held in July 1944. At that time, it was envisaged that after the establishment of the World Bank and the International At the same time as the IMF, an international trade organization was established, thus making them the "monetary-financial-trade" trinity that influenced the world economy after World War II. The Havana Charter signed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment in 1947 agreed to establish the WTO. Later, due to the opposition of the United States, the WTO failed to be established. In the same year, the United States initiated the formulation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade as a temporary contract to promote trade liberalization. After the launch of the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations in 1986, the European Union and Canada formally proposed the establishment of the WTO in 1990. The GATT Ministerial Conference was held in Marrakech, Morocco in April 1994. decided to establish the WTO.
The purpose of the WTO is: to expand the production and trade of goods and services on the premise of improving living standards and ensuring full employment, and to achieve the optimal allocation of global resources in accordance with the principles of sustainable development; to strive to ensure The share of developing countries, especially the least developed countries, in the growth of international trade is commensurate with their economic needs; and the environment is protected and maintained. The goal of the World Trade Organization is to establish a complete, more dynamic and permanent multilateral trading system. Compared with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the scope of jurisdiction of the World Trade Organization includes, in addition to the traditional trade in goods determined by the Uruguay Round, intellectual property rights, investment measures and non-goods trade (trade in services) that have long been outside the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. and other fields. The World Trade Organization has legal person status and has higher authority and effectiveness in mediating member disputes. The basic principles of the World Trade Organization are non-discriminatory trade principles, including most-favored-nation treatment and national treatment clauses; foreseeable and expanding market access, mainly the provisions on tariffs; promoting fair competition and committing to an open, fair and non-discriminatory trade A "free trade" environment and rules that distort competition; encourage development and economic reform. The basic functions of the WTO are: to manage and implement the multilateral and plurilateral trade agreements that collectively constitute the WTO; to serve as a forum for multilateral trade negotiations; to seek to resolve trade disputes; to supervise the trade policies of each member, and to formulate global economic cooperation with other parties. Cooperate with policy-related international institutions. The goal of the WTO is to establish a complete, more dynamic and permanent multilateral trading system. Compared with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the scope of the WTO's jurisdiction includes, in addition to the traditional trade in goods determined by the Uruguay Round, it also includes intellectual property rights, investment measures, and non-goods trade (trade in services) that have long been outside the GATT. field. The WTO has legal person status and has higher authority and effectiveness in mediating member disputes.
The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making authority of the WTO. It usually meets once every two years to discuss and decide on all important issues related to the functions of the WTO and take action. The main functions of the Ministerial Conference are: to appoint the Director-General of the WTO and formulate relevant rules; to determine the powers, responsibilities, terms and terms of office of the Director-General and the responsibilities and terms of office of the Secretariat staff; to make decisions on WTO agreements and multilateral trade agreements. issue an explanation; exempt a member from its obligations to the WTO Agreement and other multilateral trade agreements; review members’ motions to amend the WTO Agreement or multilateral trade agreements; decide whether to admit a country or region applying to join the WTO as a member of the WTO Members; determine the date of entry into force of WTO agreements and multilateral trade agreements, etc. It has a General Council and a Secretariat, which are responsible for the daily meetings and work of the WTO. WTO membership is divided into founding members and new members. Founding members must be parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and new members must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote of its decision-making body, the Council of Ministers, before they can join.
On July 11, 1995, the WTO General Council meeting decided to admit China as an observer to the organization. Since China applied to return to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1986, it has been working hard for 15 years to resume customs and join the World Trade Organization.
On October 9, 1997, the WTO launched a new logo. The logo consists of six upward-curving arcs, with the upper and lower three in red, blue and green respectively. The logo means that a dynamic WTO will play a key role in the sustained and orderly expansion of world trade. The sphere composed of six arcs indicates that the WTO is an international institution composed of different members. The logo looks dynamic for a long time, symbolizing the vitality of the WTO. The designer of the logo is Ms. Yang Shu from Singapore. Her design adopts the strokes of traditional Chinese calligraphy. The six arcs have the charm of the beginning and ending of brush calligraphy.
On August 30, 2003, the WTO General Council unanimously approved the final document on the implementation of the compulsory licensing system for patented drugs. According to the provisions of this document, when developing members and least developed members encounter public health crises due to AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other epidemic diseases, they may use their own products without the permission of the patent owner. Through the implementation of the patent compulsory licensing system, we can produce, use and sell patented medicines related to the treatment of diseases that cause public health crises. This will not only greatly reduce the market price of relevant patented drugs, but will also help control and alleviate the public health crisis more quickly and effectively, ensuring that the basic rights to life and health are respected and protected. The WTO amended the core agreement for the first time
On December 15, 2005, the General Council of the World Trade Organization officially approved the Pacific island country Tonga to join the WTO. In this way, the number of official members of the WTO will increase to 150.
From December 13 to 18 of the same year, the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the WTO was held in Hong Kong, China. The meeting adopted the "Ministerial Declaration", stipulating that developed members and some developing members will submit to the most advanced countries before 2008. All products from underdeveloped countries are provided with tariff-free and quota-free market access; developed members canceled export subsidies for cotton in 2006 and all forms of agricultural export subsidies by the end of 2013
The International Monetary Fund (the International Monetary Fund) Monetary Fund (IMF) is an intergovernmental international financial organization. It was established based on the Agreement of the International Monetary Fund adopted at the International Monetary and Financial Conference of the United Nations and Alliance Countries held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA in July 1944. It was formally established on December 27, 1945, and started business on March 1, 1947. On November 15 of the same year, it became a specialized agency of the United Nations, but it has its own operational independence. To date, the IMF has 182 member countries.
The IMF has 5 regional departments (Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere) and 12 functional departments (administration, central banking operations, exchange and trade relations, external relations, fiscal affairs, international Monetary Fund Institute, Legal Affairs, Research, Secretary, Treasurer, Statistics, Language Services Bureau). Its purpose is to serve as a permanent institution to negotiate and collaborate on international financial issues, promote international monetary cooperation; promote the expansion and balanced development of international trade; promote and maintain employment, the development of productive resources and high levels of real income in member countries. ; Promote the stability of international exchange, maintain orderly exchange arrangements among member states, and prevent competitive currency devaluation; assist member states in establishing multilateral payment arrangements in current account transactions, eliminate obstacles to member states' temporary provision of general funds, and enable them to correct imbalances in the balance of payments without taking measures that endanger national or international prosperity, shorten the duration of imbalances in the balance of payments of member countries, and reduce the degree of imbalances.
The main business activities of the IMF include: providing loans to member countries, promoting international cooperation on currency issues, studying issues related to the reform of the international monetary system, studying expanding the role of the Fund, providing technical assistance and strengthening cooperation with other countries. Contacts with international agencies.
World Bank, international organization, United Nations, international organization, World War II, 1944, July 1, July 22, 1945, December 27, the World Bank is the International Renaissance Development Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, abbreviated IBRD, French abbreviation BIRD) is an international organization whose original mission was to help rebuild countries destroyed in World War II. Today its mission is to help countries overcome poverty, financed by funds paid by member countries and World Bank bonds.