The World Trade Organisation was founded in 1995 as the successor organization to the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff which was established in 1948.
The main objectives of WTO are as follows:
- To establish a rule based trading system in which nations cannot place arbitrary restrictions on trade.
- To enlarge production and trade of services.
- To ensure optimum utilisation of world resources.
- To protect the environment.
The various WTO agreements cover trade in goods and services to facilitate international trade i.e., both bilateral and multilateral, through removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers and providing greater market access to all the member countries.
India, being a founder member, has been in the main frame in framing fair global rules, regulations and safeguards and advocating the interests of the developing world. India has kept its commitments towards liberalization of trade, made in the WTO, by removing quantitative restrictions on imports and reducing tariff rates.
But, some economists argue that the usefulness of WTO to India is not much when compared to developed countries. The major portions of benefits are enjoyed by the rich countries. They also say that while developed countries file complaints over agricultural subsidies given in their countries, developing countries feel cheated as they are forced to open up their markets for developed countries but are not allowed to access the markets of developed countries, which is totally unfair to Indian producers.
