The WTO is a place where member governments go, to try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other. The first step is to talk. The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The bulk of the WTO’s current work comes from the 1986-94 negotiations called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the “Doha Development Agenda” launched in 2001.
| ACP | African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (Lomé Convention and Cotonu Agreement) |
| AD, A-D | Anti-dumping measures |
| AFTA | ASEAN Free Trade Area |
| AMS | Aggregate measurement of support (agriculture) |
| APEC | Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation |
| ASEAN | Association of Southeast Asian Nations |
| ATC | Agreement on Textiles and Clothing |
| CBD | Convention on Biological Diversity |
| CCC | (former) Customs Co-operation Council (now WCO) |
| CER | [Australia New Zealand] Closer Economic Relations [Trade Agreement] (also ANCERTA) |
| COMESA | Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa |
| CTD | Committee on Trade and Development |
| CTE | Committee on Trade and Environment |
| CVD | Countervailing duty (subsidies) |
| DDA | Doha Development Agenda |
| DSB | Dispute Settlement Body |
| DSU | Dispute Settlement Understanding |
| EC | European Communities |
| EFTA | European Free Trade Association |
| EU | European Union |
| FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization |
| GATS | General Agreement on Trade in Services |
| GATT | General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade |
| GSP | Generalized System of Preferences |
| HS | Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System |
| ICITO | Interim Commission for the International Trade Organization |
| ILO | International Labour Organization |
| IMF | International Monetary Fund |
| ITC | International Trade Centre |
| ITO | International Trade Organization |
| MEA | Multilateral environmental agreement |
| MERCOSUR | Southern Common Market |
| MFA | Multifibre Arrangement (replaced by ATC) |
| MFN | Most-favoured-nation |
| MTN | Multilateral trade negotiations |
| NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement |
| PSE | Producer subsidy equivalent (agriculture) |
| PSI | Pre-shipment inspection |
| S&D, SDT | Special and differential treatment (for developing countries) |
| SAARC | South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation |
| SDR | Special Drawing Rights (IMF) |
| SELA | Latin American Economic System |
| SPS | Sanitary and phytosanitary measures |
| TBT | Technical barriers to trade |
| TMB | Textiles Monitoring Body |
| TNC | Trade Negotiations Committee |
| TPRB | Trade Policy Review Body |
| TPRM | Trade Policy Review Mechanism |
| TRIMs | Trade-related investment measures |
| TRIPS | Trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights |
| UN | United Nations |
| UNCTAD | UN Conference on Trade and Development |
| UNDP | UN Development Programme |
| UNEP | UN Environment Programme |
| UPOV | International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants |
| UR | Uruguay Round |
| VER | Voluntary export restraint |
| VRA | Voluntary restraint agreement |
| WCO | World Customs Organization |
| WIPO | World Intellectual Property Organization |
| WTO | World Trade Organization |
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The basic structure of the WTO agreements: how the six main areas fit together — the umbrella WTO Agreement, goods, services, intellectual property, disputes and trade policy reviews. |
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Umbrella |
AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING WTO |
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Goods |
Services |
Intellectual property |
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Basic principles |
GATT |
GATS |
TRIPS |
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Additional details |
Other goods agreements and annexes |
Services annexes |
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Market access commitments |
Countries’ schedules of commitments |
Countries’ schedules of commitments(and MFN exemptions) |
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Dispute settlement |
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT |
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Transparency |
TRADE POLICY REVIEWS |
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