1. Establishment
The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote greater liberalization, fairness, and predictability in global trade. The WTO’s establishment in 1995, resulting from the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, was the biggest reform of the world trading system since the advent of the 1948 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
2. Marrakesh Agreement
In April 1994, the trade ministers of founding members met in Marrakesh, Morocco, to sign the Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, leading to the WTO’s official founding on January 1, 1995. The WTO helps regulate areas such as trade in goods (under GATT), trade in services (under the General Agreement on Trade in Services), and intellectual property rights (under the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS). The Dispute Settlement Body and the Trade Policy Review Mechanism further strengthen the WTO’s operations. Numerous plurilateral and multilateral agreements including the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, the Government Procurement Agreement, the Information Technology Agreement and the expansion thereof, and the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) also form part of the WTO system.
3. Organizational structure and members
The highest-level decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. The General Council is responsible for carrying out the functions of the WTO. Located in Geneva, Switzerland, the WTO Secretariat is headed by the Director-General. The incumbent is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria, whose term of office expires in 2029.
As of 2024, the WTO has 166 members. The Republic of China (Taiwan) acceded to the WTO in January 2002 under the name Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. Through its Permanent Mission to the WTO, Taiwan has actively participated in negotiations on topics such as fisheries subsidies, e-commerce, agriculture, development, dispute settlement, environmental protection, trade-related intellectual property rights, market access, rules, services, and trade facilitation. Taiwan has used the dispute settlement mechanism to protect its industries.
4. Key developments in recent years
The 14th WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from March 26 to 30, 2026. The conference yielded limited outcomes due to a deadlock over the proposal to permanently extend the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, which affected discussions on other agenda items. No Ministerial Declaration was adopted at the conclusion of the conference. Instead, in its capacity as host of the conference, Cameroon issued a chairperson’s summary. Key conclusions were as follows:
4.1.No consensus was reached on major issues, including WTO reform, electronic commerce, and agriculture. Only three Ministerial Decisions were adopted, namely:
4.1.1.continuing negotiations under the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies with a view to developing comprehensive disciplines;
4.1.2.enhancing support measures to integrate small economies into the multilateral trading system; and
4.1.3.strengthening the provisions on special and differential treatment under the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade to ensure that such provisions are precise, effective, and operational.
4.2.At the closing session, the chair announced that a set of documents referred to as the Yaoundé package would be circulated. The package will contain four draft Ministerial Decisions / Declarations on issues for which consensus had not been reached, namely:
4.2.1.WTO reform and work program;
4.2.2.electronic commesrce;
4.2.3.the expiration, without extension, of the moratorium on nonviolation and situation complaints under the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights; and
4.2.4.a package concerning the interests of least-developed countries.
These draft texts, together with the selection of the host of the 15th WTO Ministerial Conference, will continue to be discussed by members in Geneva.