The Emergence of WTO

After second world war the world was in a pretty dark place. At that time at the top of everyone's mind was world peace. The question rised in people's mind was how to create an economy that fosters world peace?

And they seized on the idea of economic interdependence. The idea was that if nation states were dependent on each other for their supply chains, then they couldn't go to war with each other. The modern era of free trade started in 1944 when all the great lights of liberal economics got together in a little place called Bretton Woods. As a result of this conference, World Bank and IMF came into existence. In October 1947, Geneva conference was held and 23 Nations participated in this. General Agreement for Tariff and Trade (GATT) was the result of this conference. In 1948, draft charter for International Trade organisation (ITO) was formed and finished charter was signed by 53 Nations. But, US Congress opposed ITO and GATT continued.

The Uruguay round negotiations which lasted for 8 years (1986-94) and there arised the concept of global efficiency. ie, to make the world's economy as efficient as possible. As a result of this negotiations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) came into existence on 1st January 1995 with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, that created extraordinarily powerful trade agreements.

Ms. Rajasree. V, Assistant Professor of Commerce, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor, Perinthalmanna