The rules of the Multilateral Trading System

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. The WTO was established in 1995, succeeding the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was established after the Second World War. Brazil joined GATT in 1948 and has been a member of the WTO since its creation.

The WTO’s decisions are normally taken by consensus among its members. Disputes are submitted to the WTO dispute settlement system, where priority is given to the interpretation of agreements and commitments and to how to ensure that trade policies of its members are in line with these agreements and commitments. At the core of the multilateral trading system are WTO agreements, which are negotiated and signed by the majority of countries. These agreements are the legal foundation ruling international trade, thus granting WTO’s members important trading rights. The WTO agreements also require governments to keep their trade policies transparent and predictable.

The multilateral trading system was developed following a series of negotiations, or rounds, held under GATT. The first rounds focused on lowering tariffs whereas subsequent rounds covered other areas such as anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The main outcome of the Uruguay Round (1986-1994) was the establishment of the WTO.

Several multilateral agreements were added to GATT by the end of the Uruguay Round, including agreements on agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, textiles, technical barriers to trade, rules of origin, services, intellectual property, dispute settlement, trade policy review mechanism, among others.

Following the Uruguay Round and the creation of the WTO, new rounds of negotiations have resulted in updates to the Book of Rules in recent years. In 2013, a Trade Facilitation Agreement was concluded during the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali. It was the first multilateral agreement under the WTO legal framework, which aims at expediting the release and clearance of goods across borders and cutting red tape. In 2015, at the Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, members reached an important agreement on the elimination of agricultural export subsidies.

In addition, some agreements negotiated at the WTO are plurilateral, meaning that not all WTO members are parties to them. A recent example is the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), which at present has 48 WTO members. Brazil was the first country in Latin America to request accession to the GPA, on May 18, 2020.

Further information on Brazil’ participation in the WTO is available  on the Organization’s website: https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/brazil_e.htm.