Legal Operations in International Business

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The response address the queries posted in 1602 words with references.
//The given discussion paper is based on one of the global business issues faced by the business organizations, which creates disputes between the different nations. The role of the World Trade Organization is also explained in this discussion. In this series, in the first section of the discussion paper, the 'History of the WTO' is explained in detail.//

History of World Trade Organization

The world trade organization (WTO) is the successor of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade-GATT which was established in 1948. WTO came into existence on 1 January 1995 and it is the only international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. WTO had made many agreements which are negotiated and signed by the bulk of world's trading nations. The major goal of WTO is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers in conducting their business (What is the WTO, 2008).

WTO was originated from UR Agreement. Uruguay Round is the name by which is the eighth and the latest round of the multilateral trade negotiation held under the auspices of the GATT.

//In the next section of the discussion paper, the three basic subjects used by 'Uruguay Round' in relation to resolve the disputes between the different nations is made clear in all senses. The measures made by GATT are also discussed in detail in the same section of the discussion paper. //

The Uruguay Round took up three basic subjects for discussion which are as follows:

Reducing particular trade barriers and improving market access.

Intensification of GATT disciplines.

Problems of liberalization of trade in services, trade related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs) and trade related investment measures (TRIMs).

Following the UR Agreement, GATT was converted from a provisional agreement into a formal international organization called World Trade Organization with effect from 1st January 1995. WTO serves as a single institutional framework encompassing GATT and all the results of the Uruguay Round. It is directed by a Ministerial Conference that meets at least once in every two years and its regular business is overseen by a General Council. Secretariat of WTO is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The membership of WTO is increasing as the number of member nations were 128 in July, 1995 and it increased to 144 by January, 2002. Many nations are negotiating for the membership of WTO. Peoples Republic of China, which was one of the original signatories of the GATT, quit it in the late 1940s by following the assumption of power by the communist party but they got admitted to the WTO after prolonged negotiations, ...