The WTO is an international intergovernmental organization dealing with the formulation and implementation of international trade rules. It also deals with the arbitration of trade disputes between its Members.
The WTO has the Objectives of raising the standards of living for Members, ensuring full employment, large and steadily growing volume of real income and effective demand, expanding the production of and trade in goods and services, while allowing for the optimal use of the world’s resources and seeks to both protect and preserve the environment and to enhance the means for doing so in a manner consistent with Members respective needs and concerns at different levels of economic development.
The business of the WTO is conducted through the Ministerial Conference, which is the highest decision making body of the organization. The Conference is held every two years. In between the Ministerial Conference, the affairs of the organization are managed by the WTO General Council.
The 10th WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Nairobi, Kenya from the 15th -18th December, 2015.
The World Trade Organization — the WTO — is the international organization whose primary purpose is to open trade for the benefit of all.
Over the past 60 years, the WTO, which was established in 1995, and its predecessor organization the GATT have helped to create a strong and prosperous international trading system, thereby contributing to unprecedented global economic growth.
The WTO currently has 160 members, of which 117 are developing countries or separate customs territories. WTO activities are supported by a Secretariat of some 700 staff, led by the WTO Director-General.
The Secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and has an annual budget of approximately CHF 200 million ($180 million, €130 million). The three official languages of the WTO are English, French and Spanish.