WTO Agreements

Introduction

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations. The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 . The region served by WTO is world wide. Main purpose is reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers. It has 164 members. Official languages are English, French and Spanish. Afghanistan is the nation to bag WTO membership most recently in 2016.

The agreement covers 5 issues

1. How basic principals of trade system and other agreements should be applied?

2. How to give protection to intellectual property rights?

3. How countries should enforce these rights in their own territories?

4. How to settle disputes on Intellectual Property Rights between members of the WTO?

5. How to launch Special transitional Arrangements during the period when new system is being introduced?

Agreement on Agriculture [AOA]

The WTO Agriculture Agreement provides a framework for the long-term reform of agricultural trade and domestic policies, with the aim of leading to fairer competition and a less distorted sector. 

The objective of the Agriculture Agreement is to reform trade in the sector and to make policies more market-oriented. This would improve predictability and security for importing and exporting countries.

The new rules covers:

• market access - Application of trade restrictions, such as tariffs on imports. 

• domestic support - Usage of subsidies and other support programmes that directly stimulate production and distort trade. 

• export subsidies - Usage of export subsidies and other government support programmes that subsidize exports. 

Trade related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) AGREEMENT

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the (WTO). It sets down minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of many forms of intellectual property as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations. TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is administered by the WTO. 

The areas of intellectual property that it covers are: copyright and related rights (i.e. the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations); trademarks including service marks; geographical indications including appellations of origin; industrial designs; patents including the protection of new varieties of plants; the layout-designs of integrated circuits; and undisclosed information including trade secrets and test data. 

Key Features:

1. The Agreement sets out the minimum standards of protection to be provided by each Member where each of the main elements of protection is defined, like the subject-matter to be protected, the rights to be conferred, permissible exceptions to those rights and the minimum duration of protection.

2. The Agreement lays down certain general principles applicable to all IPR enforcement procedures. It also contains provisions on civil and administrative procedures and remedies, provisional measures, special requirements related to border measures and criminal procedures, which specify, in a certain amount of detail, the procedures and remedies that must be available so that right holders can effectively enforce their rights. 

3.  The Agreement makes disputes between WTO Members about the respect of the TRIPS obligations subject to the WTO's dispute settlement procedures.