A union of participating countries interested in liberalizing international trade, eliminating market barriers, and creating a favorable trade and political climate.

The WTO was established in 1995 and is the successor to the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, founded in 1947. The World Trade Organization pursues the goal of liberalizing world trade, regulating it using tariff methods by reducing existing barriers, restrictions, and import duties.

The WTO monitors the implementation of trade agreements between members of the organization, ensures negotiations between them, resolves disputes, and monitors the situation on the international market. The WTO head office is based in Geneva and employs more than 630 people.

Today, 164 countries are members of the WTO, 161 of them are recognized states. Russia joined the World Trade Organization on August 22, 2012, becoming the 156th member. Previously, other countries of the post-Soviet space were included in the list of participants - Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Armenia, Ukraine.

Principles and rules

The goal of the creation and functioning of the World Trade Organization is free trade at the international level. The work of the WTO is guided by the following principles:

• All participating countries have the same rights. Preferences established for one WTO member apply to other members;
• the activities of participants are transparent, countries must prepare and print reports to familiarize other WTO members with the rules they have established;
• Participants must comply with trade tariff obligations established by the organization, not those developed independently.

The WTO Agreement allows members of the organization to take measures aimed at preserving the animal and flora, health protection and environment. When establishing trade restrictions, the disadvantaged party may insist on commensurate compensation in another sector of the economy, for example, on special concessions.

Structure

The WTO has a ramified structure, determined by a number of problems that require solutions in the international market:

• The Ministerial Conference is the highest body of the association, convened at least once every 2 years.
• The General Council of the WTO plays a leadership role and controls the work of other departments.
• The GATT Council determines the relationships between participants in the field of trade in goods.
• Trade Services Council.
• Council on legal issues and protection of individual property.
• Dispute Resolution Body - Provides fair and impartial resolution of conflicts at the international level.

The WTO includes representative bodies of countries with developing economies, a committee on fiscal policy and information, which are subordinate to the General Council.

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization created with the aim of liberalizing international trade and regulating trade and political relations of member states. The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which has been in force since 1947.

The goals of the WTO are the liberalization of world trade by regulating it primarily by tariff methods with a consistent reduction in the level of import duties, as well as the elimination of various non-tariff barriers and quantitative restrictions.

The functions of the WTO are monitoring the implementation of trade agreements concluded between WTO members, organizing and ensuring trade negotiations among WTO members, monitoring the trade policies of WTO members, resolving trade disputes between members of the organization.

The fundamental principles and rules of the WTO are:

Reciprocal provision of most favored nation (MFN) treatment in trade;

Reciprocal provision of national treatment (NR) to goods and services of foreign origin;

Regulation of trade primarily by tariff methods;

Refusal to use quantitative and other restrictions;

Trade policy transparency;

Resolution of trade disputes through consultations and negotiations, etc.

As of May 2012, 155 states are members of the WTO. In 2007, Vietnam, the Kingdom of Tonga and Cape Verde joined the organization; in 2008 - Ukraine. In April and May 2012, Montenegro and Samoa became WTO members, respectively.

More than 30 states and more than 60 international organizations, including the UN, IMF and the World Bank, have observer status in the WTO.

Among the observer countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.

The vast majority of observer countries are at various stages of accession to the WTO.

The WTO accession procedure consists of several stages. This process takes on average 5-7 years.

At the first stage, within the framework of special Working Groups, a detailed consideration at the multilateral level of the economic mechanism and trade and political regime of the acceding country takes place for their compliance with the norms and rules of the WTO. After this, consultations and negotiations begin on the terms of membership of the applicant country in this organization. These consultations and negotiations are usually carried out at the bilateral level with all interested member countries of the Working Group.

First of all, the negotiations concern the “commercially significant” concessions that the acceding country will be willing to provide to WTO members on access to its markets.

In turn, the acceding country, as a rule, receives the rights that all other WTO members have, which will practically mean the end of its discrimination in foreign markets.

In accordance with the established procedure, the results of all negotiations on liberalization of market access and accession conditions are formalized in the following official documents:

The report of the Working Group, which sets out the entire package of rights and obligations that the applicant country will assume as a result of the negotiations;

List of commitments by tariff concessions in the area of ​​goods and by level of support Agriculture;

List of specific obligations for services and List of exceptions from the MFN (most favored nation treatment);

Protocol of Accession, legally formalizing the agreements reached at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

One of the main conditions for new countries to join the WTO is to bring their national legislation and practice of regulating foreign economic activity in accordance with the provisions of the package of agreements of the Uruguay Round.

On final stage Accession involves ratification by the national legislative body of the candidate country of the entire package of documents agreed upon within the Working Group and approved by the General Council. After this, these obligations become part of the legal package of WTO documents and national legislation, and the candidate country itself receives the status of a WTO member.

The highest governing body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference. It is convened at least once every two years, usually at the level of the ministers of trade or foreign affairs. The conference elects the head of the WTO.

The current management of the organization and monitoring the implementation of adopted agreements is carried out by the General Council. Its functions also include resolving trade disputes between WTO member countries and monitoring their trade policies. The General Council controls the activities of the Council for Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade in Services, and the Council for Intellectual Property.

Members of the General Council are ambassadors or heads of missions of WTO member countries.

The executive body of the organization is the WTO Secretariat.

The WTO includes working and expert groups and specialized committees, whose functions include establishing and monitoring compliance with competition rules, monitoring the operation of regional trade agreements and the investment climate in member countries, and admitting new members.

The WTO practices decision-making by consensus, although de jure voting is provided. The interpretation of the provisions of agreements on goods and services, as well as exemptions from accepted obligations, are adopted by 3/4 votes. Amendments that do not affect the rights and obligations of members, as well as the admission of new members, require a 2/3 vote (in practice, usually by consensus).

The working languages ​​of the WTO are English, French and Spanish.

The Director General of the WTO since September 1, 2005 is Pascal Lamy.

The organization's headquarters is located in Geneva.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)(World Trade Organization - WTO) - international economic organization governing the rules international trade according to the principles of liberalism.

The WTO has been operating since January 1, 1995, the decision to create it was made at the end of many years of negotiations within the framework of the Uruguay Round of GATT, which ended in December 1993. The WTO was officially formed at a conference in Marrakesh in April 1994, therefore the Agreement establishing the WTO is also called the Marrakesh Agreement.

While the GATT was concerned with regulating only trade in goods, the scope of the WTO is broader: in addition to trade in goods, it also regulates trade in services and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. The WTO has the legal status of a specialized agency of the UN system.

Initially, 77 countries joined the WTO, but by mid-2003, 146 countries – developed, developing and post-socialist – were already members. The “variegated” composition of the WTO member states is reflected in the very emblem of this organization.

Some ex-Soviet countries also joined the WTO: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan. An important event was accession to the WTO in December 2001 China, considered one of the most promising participants in world trade. The WTO member countries account for approximately 95% of world trade turnover - in essence, almost the entire world market without Russia. A number of other countries have officially expressed their desire to join this organization and have the status of observer states. In 2003 there were 29 such countries, including the Russian Federation and some other post-Soviet states ( Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan).

WTO tasks.

The main task of the WTO is to promote smooth international trade. Developed countries, on whose initiative the WTO was created, believe that it is economic freedom in international trade that contributes to economic growth and improving people's economic well-being.

It is currently believed that the world trading system should comply with the following five principles.

1). No discrimination in trade.

No state should disadvantage any other country by imposing restrictions on the export and import of goods. Ideally, in the domestic market of any country there should be no differences in the terms of sale between foreign products and national ones.

2). Reducing trade (protectionist) barriers.

Trade barriers are factors that reduce the possibility of foreign goods entering the domestic market of a country. These include, first of all, customs duties and import quotas (quantitative restrictions on imports). International trade is also affected by administrative barriers and foreign exchange rate policies.

3). Stability and predictability of trading conditions.

Foreign companies, investors and governments must be confident that trade conditions (tariff and non-tariff barriers) will not be changed suddenly and arbitrarily.

4). Stimulating competition in international trade.

For equal competition between firms from different countries, it is necessary to stop “unfair” methods of competition - such as export subsidies (state assistance to exporting firms), the use of dumping (deliberately low) prices to capture new markets.

5). Benefits in international trade for less developed countries.

This principle partly contradicts the previous ones, but it is necessary for drawing into the world economy the underdeveloped countries of the periphery, which obviously cannot compete with developed countries on equal terms at first. Therefore, it is considered “fair” to give special privileges to underdeveloped countries.

In general, the WTO promotes the ideas of free trade, fighting for the elimination of protectionist barriers.

For 18 long years, the Russian Federation has been seeking entry into the World Trade Organization. In 2012, our country nevertheless entered this union. Such a grandiose event gave rise to many disputes between politicians and public figures. And then in 2018, news appeared about Russia’s possible withdrawal from the organization. What could have happened? Why and when did Russia join the WTO? We will try to understand everything in our article.

The role of the WTO on the world stage

Before examining the question of why Russia joined the WTO, it is necessary to give brief description the organization itself. The World Trade Union (or organization) was created on January 1, 1995. It aimed to liberalize interstate trade and regulate the political relations of its member countries. The WTO was formed on the basis of GATT - the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The headquarters of the trade union is located in the capital of Switzerland. In total, the union consists of 164 states. The WTO is responsible for the formation and implementation of new trade agreements. It monitors compliance by its members with all ratified norms. The member countries of the union have relatively high level customs and tariff protection. The basic principles of the organization are reciprocity, equality and transparency.

Russia's accession to the WTO

The start date of negotiations can be called 1986. Even then, the leadership of the Soviet Union announced its intention to conclude an agreement with the GATT. The application was rejected at the insistence of the United States. The states motivated this by the fact that the USSR was implementing a planned economy that was incompatible with the free market. However, after 4 years Soviet Union nevertheless received observer status.

The USSR collapsed, a new state emerged - the Russian Federation. In 1993, the Constitution was adopted. At the same time, official negotiations on accession to the WTO began. They lasted an incredibly long time. Most of the problems for the Russian Federation were created by the European Union and the United States.

The question of when Russia will join the WTO was complicated by the Russian authorities themselves. 208 people out of 446 voted strongly opposed the participation of the Russian Federation in the international trade union. The law, however, was still ratified. It was approved by the Federation Council and the President. At the beginning of 2012, Russia was presented with a number of conditions, subject to which the country could enter the union.

Conditions for joining the WTO

The full text of the requirements put forward by WTO members to Russia can be found on the website of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. Most of the changes affected customs duties. Two lists of obligations were presented - for goods and services. Russia was temporarily limited in admitting foreigners from WTO members to the domestic market.

Two important principles came into force. The first is “about the national regime”. It means that tax, procedural and private law rules are equivalent for both Russians and foreign persons. The second principle is “the favored nation.” If Russia provides favorable treatment for some persons of one WTO member country, then such a treatment will automatically apply to all other persons of any other member of the organization.

When did Russia join the WTO? On July 21, 2012, the Russian President signed the Federal Law “On Russia’s accession to the Marrakech Agreement on the Establishment of the World Trade Union.”

Why did Russia join the WTO?

“The country has confidently stepped towards the West, and this will be reflected, first of all, in the quality of life of the Russians themselves.” It was precisely such speeches that could be heard from the domestic media when Russia joined the WTO. The authorities also began to assure the people of the importance and epochal significance of the event. Was it all true? Opinions on this issue disagree. You can form your own conclusion by looking at the main goals that Russia wanted to achieve in the WTO

The primary task of the state when entering the trade union was to modernize relations with the West in the form of opening domestic markets and reducing tariffs. Russia's goals in the WTO are as follows:

• participation in the formation of rules of interstate trade, taking into account national interests;
• improving Russia's image on the world stage;
• access to an interstate mechanism for resolving trade conflicts;
• receiving better conditions access of domestic products to the world market;
• expanding opportunities for Russian investors in WTO member states.

Pursuing these goals, the Russian authorities have developed an important principle for themselves: the country’s rights and obligations in the WTO should contribute to economic growth, but not vice versa.

Russia in the WTO: main advantages

Which positive points should have followed Russia's accession to the WTO? The first indisputable advantage that immediately comes to mind is the improvement of the country's image on the world stage. It is unlikely that anyone will dare to ignore the fact that Russia is a country that is incomprehensible to many and, in many ways, even dangerous. This is far from a European state, but there are not many oriental elements in it either. Russian authorities must try very hard to show how our country can be useful on the world stage. The long-awaited access to the WTO is a clear improvement in the image of Russian Federation.

When Russia joined the WTO, the Russian media tirelessly reported on the rapid decline in prices for most products. Allegedly, the cost of goods will fall within a couple of years after joining the trade union. Prices have really dropped. But the decrease was insignificant and it did not affect all goods. Free access to established trade schemes bore fruit, which was undoubtedly a great advantage for Russia at that time. However, the joy did not last long. Two years later, the United States and the European Union applied the first package of sanctions against our country.

Economic growth

Russia joined the WTO in a year of optimal economic development. 2012 was marked by presidential elections and new reforms. Numerous sanctions have not yet denigrated the economic and political situation in the country. Thanks to the alliance with the WTO, competition in Russia has increased. The result was the modernization of the domestic economy.

The lending rate was lowered - both for the ordinary population and for small and large businesses. Some domestic manufacturers were able to enter the world market. This made them pay attention to the quality of their products. The consequence of this was increased competition.

Some import duties have been significantly reduced. Medicines, clothing, IT products and other goods have become more accessible to the population. Finally, the principle of transparency of WTO trade legislation made it possible to build complex and high-quality relationships between the parties.

So why did Russia join the WTO? Looking at the listed advantages, answering this question becomes not at all difficult. The country could experience a real economic recovery. Unfortunately, this did not happen due to the Ukrainian conflict, in which Russia intervened. Sanctions were imposed on the country, and some deputies seriously thought about leaving the WTO. In their bill, they provided a list of disadvantages that membership in a trade union gives Russia.

Russia in the WTO: main disadvantages

The possibility of unemployment in the domestic market is the first and main disadvantage. Russian enterprises may simply not be able to withstand competition with foreign manufacturers. The situation may worsen in the so-called “factory” cities - where most of population is involved in production.

Import duties were reduced. This led to the fact that a number of goods became unprofitable to produce in Russia. These are agricultural products, and most importantly - the automobile industry. Thus, the customs duty on the import of used cars fell 4 times. The authorities are already actively fighting this phenomenon. She diligently, although not very successfully, promotes the policy of “import substitution.”

In addition to import duties, export duties may also be reduced. Because of this, the country's budget may be at a loss. However, there is no need to be afraid of an increase in public debt for now: the government has created many other problems for itself.

Consequences of Russia's accession to the WTO

Experts are confident that joining the trade union will entail a reduction in duties on many goods. Thus, by 2019, the duty on cars should fall from 30 to 15 percent. Following the auto industry, alcohol will become cheaper, Appliances, clothes and much more.

Russia's participation in the WTO is expected to generate an additional $2 billion per year. The Russian economy will grow due to foreign investment. The external environment will change. Competition will increase, tariff barriers will decrease, and the government will reduce a number of protectionist measures.

Criticism of Russia's participation in the WTO

The question of whether Russia has joined the WTO has worried many political scientists and economists. Experts were worried that the losses from joining the union would be much higher than the possible benefits. Back in 2006, experts calculated that the benefits of domestic enterprises after joining the WTO would amount to $23 billion, and losses - $90 billion. However, everything turned out a little differently. Russia entered the union on preferential terms, which allowed it not to change its customs policy at all during the first three years.

In 2012, Vladimir Putin did not side with WTO critics. He said that modernizing the Russian economy would be simply impossible if the government decided to ignore the issue of joining the union. When Russia joined the WTO (the date and year are indicated above), the main critics of this step were members of the Communist Party faction.

The question of Russia's withdrawal from the WTO

Deputies from the Communist Party faction have already developed a bill aimed at the systematic withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the World Trade Union. The document talks about the year in which Russia joined the WTO and what followed. 900 billion rubles were lost over five years of membership, and by 2020 the amount of damage will amount to 12-14 trillion rubles

What threatens Russia's exit from the WTO? Unfortunately, no one knows. According to international agreement, there is a right to withdraw, but no one has used it. Russia can set a precedent. With a high degree of probability, it will entail the imposition of severe sanctions on the offending party.

Each of us regularly hears about the WTO in the news. Information about this organization can also be found in textbooks on geography and economics. Its activities are very important for European countries, but our compatriots know little about it. Recently, such a topic as “Russia and the WTO” has been very actively discussed. And in the wake of increased interest, let's try to understand this complex economic and political issue.

Structure and organization

So, WTO - what is it? as a "world trade organization". It was founded in 1995 to expand freedom of trade relations throughout the world, as well as between countries that have joined the WTO. The basis was the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, created in 1947.

The headquarters of the organization is located in Switzerland (Geneva). Currently, the general director of the structure is Pascal Lamy, and as of mid-2013 it included 159 countries. to CEO subordinate to the General Council or Secretariat, which in turn manages several commissions.

The main official body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference. It meets at least once every two years. Over the entire history of the structure’s existence, six such conferences were organized, and almost each of them was accompanied by a number of protest actions by enemies of globalization. We think we have answered the question: “WTO, what is it?” Now let's move on to consider the goals of this organization.

Three main goals

1. Unimpeded facilitation of international trade and the removal of barriers that impede this. The WTO organization does not allow negative consequences and various abuses. For individual entrepreneurs, enterprises and departmental organizations, international trade standards do not change without warning. Their meaning is clear and understandable, and their application is consistent.

2. Since many countries are involved in signing the texts of agreements, debates constantly arise between them. The WTO acts as a mediator in negotiations, introducing a number of regulatory restrictions and creating reliability that helps avoid conflicts.

3. The third important aspect of the organization's work is dispute resolution. After all, the parties involved in negotiations usually have different goals. Contracts and agreements brokered by the WTO often require further interpretation. It is better to resolve all controversial issues in the manner established by the organization, based on mutually agreed upon legal aspects that provide the parties with equal opportunities and rights. That is why all agreements signed within the organization include a clause on the terms of dispute resolution.

Five principles

Currently, there are five principles that the world trading system must comply with.

1. No discrimination

No state has the right to infringe on another by imposing restrictions on goods. Ideally, national and foreign products should be sold in the country's domestic market under the same conditions.

2. Reducing protectionist (trade) barriers

Trade barriers are factors that prevent the entry of foreign goods into the domestic market of a country. First of all, these include customs duties. Also influenced by the policy of establishing exchange rates and administrative obstacles.

3. Predictability and stability of trading conditions

Governments, investors and foreign companies must have confidence that trade conditions (tariff and non-tariff barriers) will not change in a sudden and arbitrary manner.

4. Stimulating the competitive component

So that competition between firms different countries was equal, it is necessary to stop unfair methods of struggle - export subsidies ( governmental support exporting firms) and the use of dumping (specially reduced) prices to enter new export markets.

5. Benefits for countries with low levels of development

As a rule, WTO countries have strong economies, but there are also underdeveloped countries to which the organization provides special privileges. This principle conflicts with others, but it is needed to draw countries with low level development.

Functions

• monitoring compliance with the terms of the basic WTO agreements;
• settlement of disputes on foreign trade issues;
• assistance to both developing and underdeveloped countries;
• cooperation with various ;
• creating favorable conditions for negotiations between WTO members;
• control of countries' policies in the field of international trade.

Joining procedure

We have practically solved the question “WTO - what is it?” It remains to consider its most important part - the accession procedure, worked out over the many years of the organization’s existence. Judging by the experience of applicant countries, the process takes approximately 5-7 years.

At the first stage, special working groups conduct a multilateral analysis of the trade and political regime and economic mechanism of the acceding state for their compliance with the rules and regulations of the WTO. Then negotiations begin on the terms of entry into the organization of the candidate country. Moreover, interested states included in the working groups can also participate in them.

The main topic of the negotiations is “commercially significant” concessions that WTO countries will receive on access to its markets after the candidate state officially joins the organization. An equally important issue for discussion is the timing of accepting obligations arising from membership.

In turn, the acceding state will receive the rights that other WTO members have. This will stop discrimination against it in foreign markets. If any member of the organization commits illegal acts, any country can file a complaint with the DSB (Dispute Resolution Authority). At the national level, each WTO participant is obliged to implement its decisions.

The final stage consists of ratification by the legislative body of the candidate state of all documents agreed upon by the Working Group and approved by the General Council. After this procedure, the candidate country receives the appropriate status.

Russia and the WTO

Since the economy of our country (since the collapse of the USSR) has become increasingly integrated into international trade, the need to enter the world stage began to arise. For the first time, accession to the WTO was discussed by the Russian leadership back in 1995, and negotiations were held at the same time. There will be many benefits for a country to join this organization. And given the pace of globalization, obtaining them becomes a strategic priority. Bonuses that Russia will receive after joining the WTO:

In 2012, the 16-year negotiation process on Russia’s accession to the WTO ended. An international treaty was sent to the Constitutional Court to verify its compliance with Russian legislation. In July 2012, the court recognized the terms of the WTO agreement spelled out in the agreement as legal, as well as the entire agreement. After 11 days, President Putin V.V. signed a corresponding decree on Russia's entry into this organization.

Criticism

We hope that we have described this organization in sufficient detail, and you will no longer have the question: “WTO - what is it?” In conclusion, a few words about criticism.

Many people disagree with the WTO's principles; they believe that rather than creating a more prosperous life for the majority of citizens, these principles only lead to the enrichment of already wealthy countries (and individuals). WTO treaties have also been accused of giving unfair priority to wealthy states and multinational corporations.

Critics believe that small WTO member countries have no influence in the organization, while developed ones concentrate exclusively on their own commercial interests. Also, according to experts, environmental protection and health issues are always relegated to the background in favor of additional benefits for business.