BACKGROUND: The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established on 1 January 1995 as the legal and institutional foundation of the multilateral trading system. It provides the principal contractual obligations determining how governments frame and implement domestic trade legislation and regulations. And it is the platform on which trade relations among countries evolve through collective debate, negotiation and adjudication. The WTO is the embodiment of the results of the Uruguay Round trade negotiations and the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Creation

The origin of the WTO can be traced back to the creation of the International Trade Organization at the 1944 Bretton Woods' Conference. While the terms of the ITO charter were being drafted and debated (a process which began in February of 1946 and lasted until their a final draft was produced in March 1948) and countries pondered whether they...