[14] The organization prohibits discrimination between trading partners, but provides exceptions for environmental protection, national security, and other important goals.

[33]) Despite attempts in the mid-1950s and 1960s to establish some form of institutional mechanism for international trade, the GATT continued to operate for almost half a century as a semi-institutionalized multilateral treaty régime on a provisional basis.

[35][36] In response to problems identified in the 1982 Ministerial Declaration (structural deficiencies, spill-over impacts of certain countries' policies on world trade which GATT could not manage, etc.

The fourth ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar in 2001 approved China's entry to the WTO and launched the Doha Development Round which was supplemented by the sixth WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong, which agreed to phase out agricultural export subsidies and to adopt the European Union's Everything but Arms initiative to phase out tariffs for goods from the least developed countries.

[46] The Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE on 26–29 February 2024,[47][48] and extended to Friday 1 March 2024 to complete deliberations.

[50] The initial agenda comprised both further trade liberalization and new rule-making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to developing countries.

Repeated attempts to revive the talks proved unsuccessful,[53] though the adoption of the Bali Ministerial Declaration in 2013[54] addressed bureaucratic barriers to commerce.

[56] The conflict between free trade on industrial goods and services but retention of protectionism on farm subsidies to domestic agricultural sectors (requested by developed countries) and the substantiation[jargon] of fair trade on agricultural products (requested by developing countries) remain the major obstacles.

As globalization proceeds in today's society, the necessity of an International Organization to manage the trading systems has been of vital importance.

Detailed reports on the WTO's budget and staffing highlight its commitment to transparency and accountability within the realm of global trade management.

[89] In 1994, the WTO members agreed on the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) annexed to the "Final Act" signed in Marrakesh in 1994.

[90] Dispute settlement is regarded by the WTO as the central pillar of the multilateral trading system, and as a "unique contribution to the stability of the global economy".

[91] WTO members have agreed that, if they believe fellow-members are violating trade rules, they will use the multilateral system of settling disputes instead of taking action unilaterally.

[104] In March 2020, the European Union and 15 other WTO members agreed to a Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA).

The shortest accession negotiation was that of the Kyrgyz Republic, while the longest was that of Russia, which, having first applied to join GATT in 1993, was approved for membership in December 2011 and became a WTO member on 22 August 2012.

[110] A 2017 study argues that "political ties rather than issue-area functional gains determine who joins" and shows "how geopolitical alignment shapes the demand and supply sides of membership".

[114] After all necessary background information has been acquired, the working party focuses on issues of discrepancy between the WTO rules and the applicant's international and domestic trade policies and laws.

[113] For instance, as a result of joining the WTO, Armenia offered a 15 per cent ceiling bound tariff rate on accessing its market for goods.

Armenia's economy was marked by low inflation, diminishing poverty, and essential progress in enhancing its macroeconomic steadiness in which trade in goods and services, which is the equivalent of 87% of GDP, played a growing role.

WTO members do not have to be fully independent states; they need only be a customs territory with full autonomy in the conduct of their external commercial relations.

[128] The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures—also known as the SPS Agreement—was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of GATT, and entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at the beginning of 1995.

Under the SPS agreement, the WTO sets constraints on members' policies relating to food safety (bacterial contaminants, pesticides, inspection, and labeling) as well as animal and plant health (imported pests and diseases).

The object ensures that technical negotiations and standards, as well as testing and certification procedures, do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade".

[136] WTO members made history on 15 February 2021 when the General Council agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization's seventh Director-General.

From the results of the study, WTO critics argue that trade liberalization does not guarantee economic growth and certainly not poverty alleviation.

On the other hand, Vietnam, which only began reforming its economy in the late 1980s, saw a great deal of success by deciding to follow China's economic model and liberalizing slowly along with implementing safeguards for domestic commerce.

Vietnam has largely succeeded in accelerating economic growth and reducing poverty without immediately removing substantial trade barriers.

Trade liberalization that is too early without any prominent domestic barriers is feared to trap the developing economies in the primary sector, which often does not require skilled labor.

[20][21][141][142] Research shows that in the absence of the WTO, the average country would face an increase in tariffs on their exports by 32 percentage points.

[144][145][146][147] According to a 2017 study in the Journal of International Economic Law, "nearly all recent preferential trade agreements (PTAs) reference the WTO explicitly, often dozens of times across multiple chapters.