The essence of the GATT and the WTO

The idea of ​​establishing an international organization designed to regulate international trade, was made before the end of World War II. Mainly by the U.S. and the UK in 1944 at a conference in Bretton Woods were based International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The third pillar of the new economic order, along with the aforementioned organizations suggested the creation of an International Trade Organization (ITO). To do this, in 1946, was convened in Havana International Conference on Trade and Employment, which was to develop a substantive framework of an international agreement to reduce tariffs, invite interested countries to the charter of the organization.

Already in October 1947, was signed by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was originally considered only as part of a comprehensive agreement in the framework of the new international trade organization. This agreement is regarded as temporary, came into force on 1 January 1948.

The Soviet Union was not invited to participate in the Havana Conference, so he refused to be a party to the IMF and the World Bank. The Soviet government feared that the great influence that the United States had in these organizations, and the beginning of the confrontation between ideological blocs (cold war) did not allow a proper degree to take into account the interests of the Soviet Union in the framework of these organizations.

The main purpose of the GATT - the reduction of barriers to international trade. This was achieved by reduction of tariff barriers, quantitative restrictions (import quotas) and trade subsidies through various additional agreements.

In order to reduce the direct duties and hidden, so-called non-tariff restrictions on imports of products from abroad under the GATT rounds of negotiations were held regularly between the participating countries.

The so-called Uruguay Round of negotiations, which lasted from 1986 to 1994, was the most successful. After long negotiations in 1994 in Marrakesh agreement was signed on the establishment of the WTO, which came into force on 1 January 1995.

Participating countries agreed that within this organization will not only be regulated trade in goods (which was the subject of GATT since 1948), but also due to the increasing role of services in the post-industrial society and their growing share in world trade ( at the beginning of the XXI century - about 20%) accepted the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which regulates this area of ​​foreign trade. Also under the Marrakech Agreement, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which regulates trade issues rights to results of intellectual activity and an integral part of the legal foundations of the WTO.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) - an international organization founded January 1, 1995 for the purpose of international trade liberalization and regulation of trade and political relations between the Member States.

WTO is responsible for the development and implementation of new trade agreements, and monitors compliance with the members of the organization of all the agreements signed by most countries and ratified by their parliaments. WTO bases its activities on the basis of the decisions taken in the years 1986-1994 in the framework of the Uruguay Round and earlier GATT agreements. Discuss issues and make decisions on global issues and the prospects for further liberalization of world trade are held in the framework of multilateral trade negotiations (rounds). To date, eight rounds of negotiations, including Uruguay, and in 2001 he started ninth in Doha, Qatar.

On November 2011 the WTO consisted of 153 countries, the share of which in total accounted for over 95% of world trade.

WTO rules provide a number of benefits for developing countries. At present, developing countries - WTO members have (on average) a higher relative level of customs and tariffs to protect their markets compared to developed. However, in absolute terms, the total size of the customs tariff of sanctions in developed countries is much higher, resulting in market access vysokoperedelnoy products from developing countries are seriously limited.

WTO rules regulate only trade and economic issues. Attempts by the U.S. and several European countries to start a discussion about working conditions (which would be considered a lack of legal protection for workers as "illegitimate" competitive advantage) were rejected because of the protests in developing countries, since such measures, in the end, will further exacerbate the situation of workers due to the reduction of jobs, reduced income and the level of competitiveness.

The task of the WTO is not to achieve any goals or results, and establish the general principles of international trade.

The WTO works, as well as the GATT before it, is based on the basic principles, such as:

· Equal rights to all WTO members are obliged to make available to all other members of the most-favored-nation (NBT). NBT mode means that the preferences granted to a member of the WTO, is automatically extended to all other members of the organization;

· Reciprocity all concessions in easing bilateral trade restrictions must be mutual;

· Transparency: WTO members should fully publish its trade rules and have the authorities responsible for the provision of information to other members of the WTO.

In 1986, the Soviet Union sent a application for observer status in the Uruguay round of negotiations with a view to subsequent accession to the GATT. United States, however, rejected this claim, saying it that the Soviet Union is a country with a planned economy, which is incompatible with the principles of free trade. Only in 1990, the USSR was able to obtain observer status.

In 1993, Russia has sent an official application to join the GATT. In 1995, talks on Russia's accession to the WTO.

The most difficult negotiations were conducted with the United States, the European Union and China. Disagreements with the European Union failed to settle after Russia supported the Kyoto Protocol. The most difficult were the negotiations with the U.S., which were conducted for six years. The main differences related to issues of financial markets, the supply of agricultural products to the Russian Federation and the protection of intellectual property rights. Russia and the United States signed a protocol on Russia's accession to the WTO, November 20, 2006. The signing took place during the session of the Asia-Pacific Forum in Hanoi (Vietnam).

Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization is constantly delayed also because of the need to prepare for membership in the WTO, and reduce losses from the merger. Complicated the WTO accession and the beginning of the world financial crisis, which forced many countries to think not about free trade, but rather a strict regulation of their

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