Discuss the world trading system

Answer 1

Here is some primer information regarding the World Trade Organization and the world trade system taken from econ.iastate.edu that might help you start your research:

The Principles of the Trading SystemThe WTO agreement contains some 29 individual legal texts - covering everything from agriculture to textiles and clothing, and from services to government procurement, rules of origin and intellectual property. Added to these are more than 25 additional Ministerial declarations, decisions and understandings which spell out further obligations and commitments for WTO members. However, a number of simple and fundamental principles run throughout all of these instruments which, together, make up the multilateral trading system. Trade without discriminationFor almost fifty years, key provisions of GATT outlawed discrimination among members and between imported and domestically-produced merchandise. According to Article I, the famous "most-favoured-nation" (MFN) clause, members are bound to grant to the products of other members treatment no less favourable than that accorded to the products of any other country. Thus, no country is to give special trading advantages to another or to discriminate against it: all are on an equal basis and all share the benefits of any moves towards lower trade barriers.

There are a number of exceptions to Article I - notably that covering customs unions and free-trade areas. However, most-favoured-nation treatment generally ensures that developing countries and others with little economic leverage are able to benefit freely from the best trading conditions wherever and whenever they are negotiated.

A second form of non-discrimination known as "national treatment", requires that once goods have entered a market, they must be treated no less favourably than the equivalent domestically-produced goods. This is Article III of the GATT.

Apart from the revised GATT (known as "GATT 1994"), several other WTO agreements contain important provisions relating to MFN and national treatment. That on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) contains, with some exceptions, MFN and national treatment requirements relating to the provision of intellectual property protection by WTO members. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) requires members to offer MFN treatment to services and service suppliers of other members. However, it permits listed exemptions to the MFN obligation covering specific measures for which WTO members are unable to offer such treatment initially. Where such exemptions are taken, they are to be reviewed after five years and should not be maintained for more than ten years. On the other hand, national treatment is only an obligation in the GATS where members explicitly undertake to accord it for particular services or service activities. This means that national treatment is often the result of negotiations among members.

Other WTO agreements with non-discrimination provisions include those on rules of origin; preshipment inspection; trade-related investment measures ; and the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures.