WORLD TRADE

ORGANISATION & WORLD

TRADE AGREEMENTS

RELATED TO FOOD

SUBMITTED BY :

ANJUM AYOUB

WHAT IS WTO ?

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global

international organization dealing with the rules of trade

between nations

At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated & signed

by the bulk of the world’s trading nations & ratified in their

parliaments

The goal is to help producers of goods & services,

exporters & importers conduct their business.

HISTORY OF WTO & ITS ESTABLISHMENT

1944 - Bretten Wood conference established World bank,International Monetary Fund & International Trade Organization

1947 - General Agreement on Trade & Tariffs (GATT) wasestablished

1947–1993 - Contracting parties of GATT held 8 rounds of tradenegotiations-reduction of tariff barriers

1986-1993 - Uruguay round held - resulted in conversion ofGATT to WTO.

1991 - Dunkel Draft issued by DG of GATT included issues onAgreement on application of Sanitary & Phytosanitary Measures(SPS)

1994 - Marrakech round on Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)

1995 - Establishment of WTO

2 specific WTO agreements – SPS & TBT- food safety & animal& plant health & safety

The GATT had been organizing international trade negotiation to

define the regulation for & strengthening multilateral trading

system over the years

The latest round of international trade regulation was conducted

under auspices of GATT from 1986 to 1993

It was on 15 December that the latest round of international trade

negotiation among 117 countries was conducted at Uruguay

The agreement so conducted were signed on April 16,1994 by

123 countries. The agreement has come to known as a Uruguay

round or the GATT 94

One of the agreements during the Uruguay round was regarding

renaming of GATT as World Trade Organization (WTO)

The GATT 1994 is being implemented with effect from 1st of

January 1995, when the very first agreement regarding the

establishment of WTO was established

Thus WTO held its last round of international trade negotiation at

Doha in July 2006

At present 151 countries are member of WTO

OBJECTIVES OF WTO

To ensure the conduct of international trade on

non-discrimination basis

To raise standard of living & income, ensuring full

employment

To ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably

& freely as possible

To expand production & trade

To expand & utilize world resources to the best

Protecting environment

Ensuring better share for developing countries

To enhance competitiveness among all trading

partners so as to benefit consumers & help in

global integration

FUNCTIONS OF WTO

Oversees the implementation, administration &

operation of the covered WTO trade agreements

Provides a forum for the trade negotiations

Handling trade disputes

Monitoring national trade policy review mechanism

Technical assistance training for developing

countries

With a view to achieve greater coherence in global

economic policy making, Co-operation with other

international organization (like help from World Bank

& the IMF - International Monetary Fund )

WORLD TRADE AGREEMENTS RELATED TO FOOD

AoA - Agreement on Agriculture

SPS Agreement - Agreement on the Application of Sanitary & Phytosanitary Measures

TBT Agreement - Agreement on Technical Barrier to Trade

TRIPS Agreement - Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights

All agreements increased both the scope & the specificity of disciplines on the application of safety & quality regulations

AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE

came into effect with the establishment of WTO at

the beginning of 1995

has three central concepts or "pillars“ :

domestic support

market access

export subsidies

SPS AGREEMENT

Agreement on the Application of Sanitary &

Phytosanitary Measures

It was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of

GATT & entered into force with the establishment

of the WTO at the beginning of 1995

Under the SPS agreement, the WTO sets

constraints on members' policies relating to :

1. food safety (bacterial contaminants, pesticides,

inspection & labelling)

2. animal & plant health (imported pests &

diseases)

Concerns with measures applied to protect human, animal& plant health.

Allows countries to set their own standards

Should not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate betweencountries

Encouraged to use international standards, guidelines &recommendations

Allow use of different standards/methods of Inspection

To protect animal or plant life or health from risks arisingfrom pest, disease, disease-carrying organisms or disease-causing organisms

To protect human or animal life or health from risks arisingfrom additives, pesticide residues, contaminants, toxins ordisease causing organisms

To protect human life or health from risks arising fromdiseases carried by animals, plants or pests

Agreement covers all relevant laws, regulations; testing,

inspection, certification & approval procedures; & packaging &

labelling requirements directly related to food safety

Member States are asked to apply only those measures for

protection that are based on scientific principles, only to the

extent necessary & not in a manner which may constitute a

disguised restriction on international trade

The Agreement encourages use of international standards,

guidelines or recommendations where they exist & identifies

those from Codex (relating to food additives, veterinary drugs &

pesticide residues, contaminants, methods of analysis &

sampling, & codes & guidelines of hygienic practices), to be

consistent with provisions of SPS

Thus, the Codex standards serve as a benchmark for

comparison of national sanitary & phytosanitary measures

While it is not compulsory for Member States to apply Codex

Standards, it is in their best interests to harmonize their national

food standards with those elaborated by Codex

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

HARMONIZATION – encourages the adoption ofmeasures that conform to international standards,guidelines, and / or recommendations of internationalagencies.

EQUIVALENCE – mutual recognition of different butequivalent measures to achieve international standards

NON-DISCRIMINATION – treating imports no differentlythan domestic produce.

TRANSPARENCY – notifying trading partners of changesin their SPS measures, especially when the measuresdiffer from international standards.

REGIONALIZATION – allows continued exports fromdisease-free areas of affected countries

TBT AGREEMENT

Agreement on Technical Barrier to Trade is an internationaltreaty of the WTO

It was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of GATT &entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at theend of 1994

TBT refers to technical regulations & conformityassessment procedures & applies to all commodities & notjust food

Tries to ensure that regulations, standards, testing &certification procedures do not create unnecessaryobstacles to trade

Discourages any methods that would give domestically produced goods an unfair advantage

encourages use of international standards eg. BIS –National Enquiry Point in India

TRIPS AGREEMENT

Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights

Include provisions protecting the use of geographical

indicators which are frequently used to differentiate

agricultural products in the marketplace

Set out rules for the use of standards & labelling in the

regulation of other quality attributes including nutritional,

sensory, functional & process characteristics

REFERENCES

Agriculture in WTO – The role product attributes in the

agricultural negotiations : Commissioned Paper Number 17;

The International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium ;

May 2001

Assuring Food Safety & Quality : Guidelines For

Strengthening National Food Control Systems ; Joint

FAO/WHO Publication

World Trade Organisation (Wikipedia)

www.google.com

THANKYOU