WTO - World Trade Organization

Japanese: WTO - だぶりゅてぃーおー/WTO（英語表記）World Trade Organization

The WTO is an international trade organization that was agreed upon in the Uruguay Round, which ended in 1994 as a multilateral negotiation of the GATT, and was launched in January 1995 after ratification by each country. The main features of the WTO system are (1) the establishment of international rules not only for trade in goods, but also for a wide range of fields such as trade in services and intellectual property rights, (2) promotion of liberalization in the agricultural sector, such as tariffication and reduction of export subsidies, and (3) significant strengthening of dispute settlement procedures. It also set out a direction to avoid arbitrary application of the anti-dumping agreement. Furthermore, provisions such as the imposition of safeguards became more realistic, and grey area measures such as voluntary export restraints were prohibited. In this way, the WTO agreement was comprehensive and groundbreaking, and it can be said that new rules have been applied to international trade since 1995. With the accession of Saudi Arabia in December 2005, as of July 2006, 149 countries and regions are members. In November 2001, a declaration was adopted to launch new multilateral trade negotiations (the Doha Round) at the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha (Qatar), and the Doha Round began at the Trade Negotiations Committee on February 1, 2002. Initially, the negotiations were scheduled to last for three years, with a target of completion by January 1, 2005. In addition to agriculture and services, which had already been decided in the Uruguay Round, the negotiations covered eight areas: market access for non-agricultural products (industrial and forestry products), rules (anti-dumping agreements, subsidy agreements, regional trade agreements), the TRIPS Agreement, trade and the environment, revision of the Dispute Settlement Understanding, and trade and development. The Doha Round was faced with a host of issues, including China's accession to the WTO, conflicts over agricultural issues, the increasing number of anti-dumping and safeguard measures, and the increasing trend of FTAs (free trade agreements), and the negotiations were scheduled to be concluded by the end of 2006. However, the gap in the negotiations could not be bridged, and the overall negotiations were frozen in late July 2006.

(Masahiro Nagata, Professor at Saitama University / Hiroshi Matsuo, Vice Director of Mitsui Global Strategic Studies Institute / 2007)

WTO

Please see the World Tourism Organization page.

Source : "Chiezo" published by Asahi Shimbun Publications Co., Ltd. About Chiezo

Japanese:

ガットの多角的交渉として1994年に終結したウルグアイ・ラウンドで合意され、各国の批准を経て95年1月に発足した、貿易に関する国際機関。WTO体制の大きな特徴として、(1)モノの貿易ルールだけでなく、サービス貿易、知的財産権などの広範な分野における国際的ルールの確立、(2)農業分野における関税化、輸出補助金の削減などの自由化の促進、(3)紛争解決手続きの大幅な強化、などが挙げられる。また、アンチ・ダンピング協定に関しても、その恣意的運用を避ける方向を打ち出した。さらに、セーフガードの発動などの規定がより現実的になり、輸出自主規制などの灰色措置が禁止された。このように、WTO合意は包括的かつ画期的なものであり、95年以降、新たなルールが国際貿易に適用されたと評価することができる。2005年12月のサウジアラビア加盟により、06年7月現在、149の国・地域がメンバーである。また01年11月、ドーハ(カタール)での第4回WTO閣僚会議で新たな多角的貿易交渉(ドーハ・ラウンド)を開始する宣言が採択され、02年2月1日の貿易交渉委員会でドーハ・ラウンドがスタートした。当初、交渉期間は3年間、05年1月1日までの終了を目標としていた。交渉対象はウルグアイ・ラウンドで既決であった農業とサービスに加えて、非農産品(鉱工業品と林水産品)市場アクセス、ルール(アンチ・ダンピング協定、補助金協定、地域貿易協定)、TRIPS協定、貿易と環境、紛争解決了解の改正、貿易と発展、の8分野。ドーハ・ラウンドを巡る状況は、中国のWTO加盟、農業問題での対立、増加するアンチ・ダンピングやセーフガードの発動、FTA(自由貿易協定)の増加傾向など、諸問題が目白押しであり、06年中の交渉終結が目指されていた。しかし、交渉の溝が埋まらず06年7月下旬に全体交渉は凍結となった。

(永田雅啓埼玉大学教授／松尾寛（株）三井物産戦略研究所副所長／ 2007年)