[7] While the consortium includes a large number of international organizations,[3] GTAP itself is coordinated by the Center for Global Trade Analysis, located at Purdue University.

[2] A central element of GTAP is a large-scale database that is updated periodically by the consortium members, under coordination of the Center for Global Trade Analysis.

[9] The data are important, core structural inputs to a broad range of global economic policy models and related applications:[4] studies of climate change and resource use (including studies feeding into the IPCC process); regional economic integration; and the effects of globalization.

[10][11][5][12] For this reason, the consortium membership (those contributing to the database) includes prominent global governance and policy research institutions like the World Bank, European Commission, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

[3] There are currently three "Consortium Members At Large" – Joseph Francois, Mark Horridge,[13] and Brian O'Neill,[14] who represent the broader scientific community.