The World Trade Organization (WTO)发表评论(0)编辑词条

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on 1 January 1995, under the Marrakesh Agreement, succeeding the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
The World Trade Organization deals with regulation of trade between participating countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalising trade agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to WTO agreements which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (1986-1994). The organization is currently endeavouring to persist with a trade negotiation called the Doha Development Agenda (or Doha Round), which was launched in 2001 to enhance equitable participation of poorer countries which represent a majority of the world's population. However, the negotiation has been dogged by "disagreement between exporters of agricultural bulk commodities and countries with large numbers of subsistence farmers on the precise terms of a 'special safeguard measure' to protect farmers from surges in imports. At this time, the future of the Doha Round is uncertain."
The WTO has 153 members, representing more than 95% of total world trade and 30 observers, most seeking membership. The WTO is governed by a ministerial conference, meeting every two years; a general council, which implements the conference's policy decisions and is responsible for day-to-day administration; and a director-general, who is appointed by the ministerial conference. The WTO's headquarters is at the Centre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland.
History
See also: Chronology of the World Trade Organization
ITO and GATT 1947
For more details on this topic, see International Trade Organization.
 
Harry Dexter White  and John Maynard Keynes at the Bretton Woods Conference – Both economists had been strong advocates of a liberal international trade environment, and recommended the establishment of three institutions: the IMF (fiscal and monetary issues), the World Bank (financial and structural issues), and the ITO (international economic cooperation).The WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established after World War II in the wake of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation - notably the Bretton Woods institutions known as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. A comparable international institution for trade, named the International Trade Organization was successfully negotiated. The ITO was to be a United Nations specialized agency and would address not only trade barriers but other issues indirectly related to trade, including employment, investment, restrictive business practices, and commodity agreements. But the ITO treaty was not approved by the United States and a few other signatories and never went into effect.
In the absence of an international organization for trade, the GATT would over the years "transform itself" into a de facto international organization.

 GATT rounds of negotiations
See also: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The GATT was the only multilateral instrument governing international trade from 1948 until the WTO was established in 1995.Despite attempts in the mid 1950s and 1960s to create some form of institutional mechanism for international trade, the GATT continued to operate for almost half a century as a semi-institutionalized multilateral treaty regime on a provisional basis.

From Geneva to Tokyo
Seven rounds of negotiations occurred under the GATT. The first GATT trade rounds concentrated on further reducing tariffs. Then, the Kennedy Round in the mid-sixties brought about a GATT anti-dumping Agreement and a section on development. The Tokyo Round during the seventies was the first major attempt to tackle trade barriers that do not take the form of tariffs, and to improve the system, adopting a series of agreements on non-tariff barriers, which in some cases interpreted existing GATT rules, and in others broke entirely new ground. Because these plurilateral agreements were not accepted by the full GATT membership, they were often informally called "codes". Several of these codes were amended in the Uruguay Round, and turned into multilateral commitments accepted by all WTO members. Only four remained plurilateral (those on government procurement, bovine meat, civil aircraft and dairy products), but in 1997 WTO members agreed to terminate the bovine meat and dairy agreements, leaving only two.[14]

[edit] Uruguay Round
 
During the Doha Round, the US government blamed Brazil and India for being inflexible, and the EU for impeding agricultural imports.[16] The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, responded to the criticisms by arguing that progress would only be achieved if the richest countries (especially the US and countries in the EU) make deeper cuts in their agricultural subsidies, and further open their markets for agricultural goods.[17]For more details on this topic, see Uruguay Round.
Well before GATT's 40th anniversary, its members concluded that the GATT system was straining to adapt to a new globalizing world economy.[18][19] In response to the problems identified in the 1982 Ministerial Declaration (structural deficiencies, spill-over impacts of certain countries' policies on world trade GATT could not manage etc.), the eighth GATT round — known as the Uruguay Round — was launched in September 1986, in Punta del Este, Uruguay.[18] It was the biggest negotiating mandate on trade ever agreed: the talks were going to extend the trading system into several new areas, notably trade in services and intellectual property, and to reform trade in the sensitive sectors of agriculture and textiles; all the original GATT articles were up for review.[19] The Final Act concluding the Uruguay Round and officially establishing the WTO regime was signed during the April 1994 ministerial meeting at Marrakesh, Morroco, and hence is known as the Marrakesh Agreement.[20]
The GATT still exists as the WTO's umbrella treaty for trade in goods, updated as a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations (a distinction is made between GATT 1994, the updated parts of GATT, and GATT 1947, the original agreement which is still the heart of GATT 1994).[18] GATT 1994 is not however the only legally binding agreement included via the Final Act at Marrakesh; a long list of about 60 agreements, annexes, decisions and understandings was adopted. The agreements fall into a structure with six main parts:
The Agreement Establishing the WTO
Goods and investment — the Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods including the GATT 1994 and the Trade Related Investment Measures
Services — the General Agreement on Trade in Services
Intellectual property — the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
Dispute settlement (DSU)
Reviews of governments' trade policies (TPRM)
Ministerial conferences
First ministerial conference
Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 1996
The inaugural ministerial conference was held in Singapore in 1996. Disagreements between largely developed and developing economies emerged during this conference over four issues initiated by this conference, which led to them being collectively referred to as the "Singapore issues".
Second ministerial conference
Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 1998
Was held in Geneva in Switzerland.
Third ministerial conference
Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999
The third conference in Seattle, Washington ended in failure, with massive demonstrations and police and National Guard crowd control efforts drawing worldwide attention.
Fourth ministerial conference
Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 2001
Was held in Doha In Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. The Doha Development Round was launched at the conference. The conference also approved the joining of China, which became the 143rd member to join.
Fifth ministerial conference
Main article: WTO Ministerial Conference of 2003
The ministerial conference was held in Cancún, Mexico, aiming at forging agreement on the Doha round. An alliance of 22 southern states, the G20 developing nations (led by India, China and Brazil), resisted demands from the North for agreements on the so-called "Singapore issues" and called for an end to agricultural subsidies within the EU and the US. The talks broke down without progress.
Sixth ministerial conference
For more details on this topic, see WTO Ministerial Conference of 2005.
The sixth WTO ministerial conference was held in Hong Kong from 13 December – 18 December 2005. It was considered vital if the four-year-old Doha Development Agenda negotiations were to move forward sufficiently to conclude the round in 2006. In this meeting, countries agreed to phase out all their agricultural export subsidies by the end of 2013, and terminate any cotton export subsidies by the end of 2006. Further concessions to developing countries included an agreement to introduce duty free, tariff free access for goods from the Least Developed Countries, following the Everything But Arms initiative of the European Union — but with up to 3% of tariff lines exempted. Other major issues were left for further negotiation to be completed by the end of 2010
Seventh ministerial conference
The WTO General Council, on 26 May 2009, agreed to hold a seventh WTO ministerial conference session in Geneva from 30 November–December 2009. A statement by chairman Amb. Mario Matus acknowledged that the prime purpose was to remedy a breach of protocol requiring two-yearly "regular" meetings, which had lapsed with the Doha Round failure in 2005, and that the "scaled-down" meeting would not be a negotiating session, but "emphasis will be on transparency and open discussion rather than on small group processes and informal negotiating structures".
Doha Round
The Doha Development Round started in 2001 and continues today.The WTO launched the current round of negotiations, the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) or Doha Round, at the fourth ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. The Doha round was to be an ambitious effort to make globalization more inclusive and help the world's poor, particularly by slashing barriers and subsidies in farming.The initial agenda comprised both further trade liberalization and new rule-making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to developing countries.
The negotiations have been highly contentious and agreement has not been reached, despite the intense negotiations at several ministerial conferences and at other sessions. Disagreements still continue over several key areas including agriculture subsidies.
Functions
Among the various functions of the WTO, these are regarded by analysts as the most important:
It oversees the implementation, administration and operation of the covered agreements.
It provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes.Additionally, it is the WTO's duty to review and propagate the national trade policies, and to ensure the coherence and transparency of trade policies through surveillance in global economic policy-making.Another priority of the WTO is the assistance of developing, least-developed and low-income countries in transition to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines through technical cooperation and training. The WTO is also a center of economic research and analysis: regular assessments of the global trade picture in its annual publications and research reports on specific topics are produced by the organization. Finally, the WTO cooperates closely with the two other components of the Bretton Woods system, the IMF and the World Bank.
Principles of the trading system
The WTO establishes a framework for trade policies; it does not define or specify outcomes. That is, it is concerned with setting the rules of the trade policy games. Five principles are of particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO:
Non-Discrimination. It has two major components: the most favoured nation (MFN) rule, and the national treatment policy. Both are embedded in the main WTO rules on goods, services, and intellectual property, but their precise scope and nature differ across these areas. The MFN rule requires that a WTO member must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members, i.e. a WTO member has to grant the most favorable conditions under which it allows trade in a certain product type to all other WTO members. "Grant someone a special favour and you have to do the same for all other WTO members." National treatment means that imported and locally-produced goods should be treated equally (at least after the foreign goods have entered the market) and was introduced to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade (e.g. technical standards, security standards et al. discriminating against imported goods).Reciprocity. It reflects both a desire to limit the scope of free-riding that may arise because of the MFN rule, and a desire to obtain better access to foreign markets. A related point is that for a nation to negotiate, it is necessary that the gain from doing so be greater than the gain available from unilateral liberalization; reciprocal concessions intend to ensure that such gains will materialise.
Binding and enforceable commitments. The tariff commitments made by WTO members in a multilateral trade negotiation and on accession are enumerated in a schedule (list) of concessions. These schedules establish "ceiling bindings": a country can change its bindings, but only after negotiating with its trading partners, which could mean compensating them for loss of trade. If satisfaction is not obtained, the complaining country may invoke the WTO dispute settlement procedures.
Transparency. The WTO members are required to publish their trade regulations, to maintain institutions allowing for the review of administrative decisions affecting trade, to respond to requests for information by other members, and to notify changes in trade policies to the WTO. These internal transparency requirements are supplemented and facilitated by periodic country-specific reports (trade policy reviews) through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM). The WTO system tries also to improve predictability and stability, discouraging the use of quotas and other measures used to set limits on quantities of imports.
Safety valves. In specific circumstances, governments are able to restrict trade. There are three types of provisions in this direction: articles allowing for the use of trade measures to attain noneconomic objectives; articles aimed at ensuring "fair competition"; and provisions permitting intervention in trade for economic reasons.
There are 11 committees under the jurisdiction of the Goods Council each with a specific task. All members of the WTO participate in the committees. The Textiles Monitoring Body is separate from the other committees but still under the jurisdiction of Goods Council. The body has its own chairman and only ten members. The body also has several groups relating to textiles.
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
Information on intellectual property in the WTO, news and official records of the activities of the TRIPS Council, and details of the WTO’s work with other international organizations in the field.
Council for Trade in Services
The Council for Trade in Services operates under the guidance of the General Council and is responsible for overseeing the functioning of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It is open to all WTO members, and can create subsidiary bodies as required.
The Service Council has three subsidiary bodies: financial services, domestic regulations, GATS rules and specific commitments.
Other committees
The General council has several different committees, working groups, and working parties.
Committees on
Trade and Environment
Trade and Development (Subcommittee on Least-Developed Countries)
Regional Trade Agreements
Balance of Payments Restrictions
Budget, Finance and Administration
Working parties on
Accession
Working groups on
Trade, debt and finance
Trade and technology transfer
Trade Negotiations Committee
The Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) is the committee that deals with the current trade talks round. The chair is WTO’s director-general. The committee is currently tasked with the Doha Development Round.
Voting system
The WTO operates on a one country, one vote system, but actual votes have never been taken. Decision making is generally by consensus, and relative market size is the primary source of bargaining power. The advantage of consensus decision-making is that it encourages efforts to find the most widely acceptable decision. Main disadvantages include large time requirements and many rounds of negotiation to develop a consensus decision, and the tendency for final agreements to use ambiguous language on contentious points that makes future interpretation of treaties difficult.[citation needed]
In reality, WTO negotiations proceed not by consensus of all members, but by a process of informal negotiations between small groups of countries. Such negotiations are often called "Green Room" negotiations (after the colour of the WTO Director-General's Office in Geneva), or "Mini-Ministerials", when they occur in other countries. These processes have been regularly criticised by many of the WTO's developing country members which are often totally excluded from the negotiations.[citation needed]
Richard Steinberg (2002) argues that although the WTO's consensus governance model provides law-based initial bargaining, trading rounds close through power-based bargaining favouring Europe and the United States, and may not lead to Pareto improvement.[43]
Dispute settlement
Main article: Dispute settlement in the WTO
In 1994, the WTO members agreed on the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) annexed to the "Final Act" signed in Marrakesh in 1994. Dispute settlement is regarded by the WTO as the central pillar of the multilateral trading system, and as a "unique contribution to the stability of the global economy". WTO members have agreed that, if they believe fellow-members are violating trade rules, they will use the multilateral system of settling disputes instead of taking action unilaterally.
The operation of the WTO dispute settlement process involves the DSB panels, the Appellate Body, the WTO Secretariat, arbitrators, independent experts and several specialized institutions.
世界贸易组织(简称世贸组织或世贸;英语:World Trade Organization,简写为WTO,法语:Organisation Mondiale du Commerce,简写为OMC,西班牙语: Organización Mundial del Comercio,简写为OMC)是负责监督成员经济体之间各种贸易协议得到执行的一个国际组织,前身是1948年开始实施的关税及贸易总协定的秘书处。世贸总部位于瑞士日内瓦,现任总干事是帕斯卡尔•拉米(Pascal Lamy)。截至2008年5月16日,世界贸易组织共有152个成员。自1990年代后期,世界贸易组织成为反全球化运动人士的主要反对目标。
　　建立世贸组织的设想是在1944年7月举行的布雷顿森林会议上提出的,当时设想在成立世界银行和国际货币基金组织的同时,成立一个国际性贸易组织,从而使它们成为二次大战后左右世界经济的“货币-金融-贸易”三位一体的机构。1947年联合国贸易及就业会议签署的《哈瓦那宪章》同意成立世贸组织,后来由于美国的反对,世贸组织未能成立。同年,美国发起拟订了关贸总协定,作为推行贸易自由化的临时契约。1986年关贸总协定乌拉圭回合谈判启动后,欧共体和加拿大于1990年分别正式提出成立世贸组织的议案,1994年4月在摩洛哥马拉喀什举行的关贸总协定部长级会议才正式决定成立世贸组织。
　　1994年4月15日在摩洛哥的马拉喀什市举行的关贸总协定乌拉圭回合部长会议决定成立更具全球性的世界贸易组织(简称“世贸组织”,World Trade Organization -- WTO) ,以取代成立于1947年的关贸总协定(GATT)。
　　世贸组织是一个独立于联合国的永久性国际组织。1995年1月1日正式开始运作,负责管理世界经济和贸易秩序,总部设在瑞士日内瓦莱蒙湖畔。1996年1月1日,它正式取代关贸总协定临时机构。世贸组织是具有法人地位的国际组织,在调解成员争端方面具有更高的权威性。它的前身是1947年订立的关税及贸易总协定。与关贸总协定相比,世贸组织涵盖货物贸易、服务贸易以及知识产权贸易,而关贸总协定只适用于商品货物贸易。世贸组织与世界银行、国际货币基金组织一起,并称为当今世界经济体制的“三大支柱”。目前,世贸组织的贸易量已占世界贸易的95%以上。现任总干事是欧盟前贸易委员帕斯卡尔•拉米 (法国人),2005年9月任职。
世界贸易组织 
(World Trade Organization,WTO)  
 
世界贸易组织的会员
 
成立时间 1995年1月1日 
总部 瑞士日内瓦 
成员 152个成员 
官方语言 英语、法语、西班牙语 
预算 175,000,000 瑞士法郎 
网站 http://www.wto.int/ 
　　1995年7月11日,世贸组织总理事会会议决定接纳中国为该组织的观察员,并于2001年11月加入该组织。
　　世贸组织成员分四类:发达成员、发展中成员、转轨经济体成员和最不发达成员。2007年1月,越南成为世贸组织第150个正式成员。
世贸组织被认为是多边贸易体制的代表,其核心是世贸组织的各项协定。这些协定是由世界上绝大多数国家和地区通过谈判达成并签署的,已经各成员立法机构的批准。这些协定包含了国际贸易通行的法律规则,一方面保证各成员的重要贸易权利,另一方面对各成员政府起到约束作用,使它们的贸易政策保持在各方议定且符合各方利益的限度之内,这样做是为了向产品制造者和服务提供者提供帮助,并便利进出口业务的开展。
　　世贸组织的首要目标是帮助开展平稳、自由、公平的贸易。实现这些目标的途径包括:管理世贸组织协定、处理贸易争端、监督各国贸易政策、为发展中国家提供技术援助和培训、与其他国际组织开展合作等。
世贸组织的宗旨
　　在提高生活水平和保证充分就业的前提下,扩大货物和服务的生产与贸易,按照可持续发展的原则实现全球资源的最佳配置;努力确保发展中国家,尤其是最不发达国家在国际贸易增长中的份额与其经济需要相称;保护和维护环境。
[编辑]世界贸易组织的目标
　　建立一个完整的、更具有活力的和永久性的多边贸易体制。与关贸总协定相比,世界贸易组织管辖的范围除传统的和乌拉圭回合确定的货物贸易外,还包括长期游离于关贸总协定外的知识产权、投资措施和非货物贸易(服务贸易)等领域。世界贸易组织具有法人地位,它在调解成员争端方面具有更高的权威性和有效性。
世界贸易组织的基本原则
　　非歧视贸易原则,包括最惠国待遇和国民待遇条款;可预见的和不断扩大的市场准入程度,主要是对关税的规定;促进公平竞争,致力于建立开放、公平、无扭曲竞争的“自由贸易”环境和规则;鼓励发展与经济改革。
[编辑]世贸组织的基本职能
管理和执行共同构成世贸组织的多边及诸边贸易协定;作为多边贸易谈判的讲坛;寻求解决贸易争端;监督各成员贸易政策,并与其它同制订全球经济政策有关的国际机构进行合作。世贸组织的目标是建立一个完整的、更具有活力的和永久性的多边贸易体制。与关贸总协定相比,世贸组织管辖的范围除传统的和乌拉圭回合确定的货物贸易外,还包括长期游离于关贸总协定外的知识产权、投资措施和非货物贸易(服务贸易)等领域。世贸组织具有法人地位,它在调解成员争端方面具有更高的权威性和有效性。
　　2001年12月11日,中国正式加入世界贸易组织,成为其第143个成员。图为2001年11月11日,中国外经贸部部长石广生在卡塔尔首都多哈举行的中国加入世贸组织议定书签字仪式上举杯庆贺。
　　部长级会议是世贸组织的最高决策权力机构,一般两年举行一次会议,讨论和决定涉及世贸组织职能的所有重要问题,并采取行动。部长级会议的主要职能是:任命世贸组织总干事并制定有关规则;确定总干事的权力、职责、任职条件和任期以及秘书处工作人员的职责及任职条件;对世贸组织协定和多边贸易协定做出解释;豁免某成员对世贸组织协定和其它多边贸易协定所承担的义务;审议其成员对世贸组织协定或多边贸易协定提出修改的动议;决定是否接纳申请加入世贸组织的国家或地区为世贸组织成员;决定世贸组织协定及多边贸易协定生效的日期等。下设总理事会和秘书处,负责世贸组织日常会议和工作。世贸组织成员资格有创始成员和新加入成员之分,创始成员必须是关贸总协定的缔约方,新成员必须由其决策机构——部长会议以三分之二多数票通过方可加入。
　　1997年10月9日,世贸组织启用新的标识。该标识由六道向上弯曲的弧线组成,上三道和下三道分别为红、蓝、绿三种颜色。标识意味着充满活力的世贸组织在持久和有序地扩大世界贸易方面将发挥关键作用。六道弧线组成的球形表示世贸组织是不同成员组成的国际机构。标识久看有动感,象征世贸组织充满活力。标识的设计者是新加坡的杨淑女士,她的设计采用了中国传统书法的笔势,六道弧线带有毛笔书法起笔和收笔的韵味。
　　2003年8月39日,世贸组织总理事会一致通过了关于实施专利药品强制许可制度的最后文件。根据这份文件的规定,发展中成员和最不发达成员因艾滋病、疟疾、肺结核及其它流行疾病而发生公共健康危机时,可在未经专利权人许可的情况下,在其内部通过实施专利强制许可制度,生产、使用和销售有关治疗导致公共健康危机疾病的专利药品。这不仅将大大降低相关专利药品的市场价格,而且将有利于更迅速和有效地控制、缓解公共健康危机,确保生命健康基本权利得到尊重和保护。
　　同年12月13日至18日,世贸组织第六次部长级会议在中国香港举行,会议通过了《部长宣言》,规定发达成员和部分发展中成员2008年前向最不发达国家所有产品提供免关税、免配额的市场准入;发达成员2006年取消棉花的出口补贴,2013年年底前取消所有形式农产品出口补贴。
世界贸易组织的决策机制
　　虽然大多数国际组织依照一个成员国一票或加权投票的方法来做出决定,但世贸组织的很多决定是通过达成共识的方法来做出的。投票只是在不得已或某些特殊情况下使用。批评指这种方法使得世贸组织中第一世界国家的权力更大,较强大的第一世界国家可以否决任何他们反对的提议,而又防止其他成员国对一些他们支持的提议提出反对。共识机制的优势在于能够令贸易法律很快获得执行,采用其他任何机制都会需要更长的时间来做出某项决定。但同时那些在讨论中拥有更多畴码的成员国会占得优势,而且决定一旦作出便很难更改。
　　与其他国际组织不同,世界贸易组织有很大的权限来执行其所做出的决定。通过世贸组织的争端解决机制,世贸可以授权对不遵守贸易协议的成员国施行贸易制裁。
世界贸易组织发展历史
1990年12月:关税暨贸易总协定|关贸总协定的乌拉圭回合谈判布鲁塞尔部长会议责成关贸总协定体制职能小组负责"多边贸易组织协定"的谈判。
1993年11月:乌拉圭回合结束前,原则上形成了“多边贸易组织协定”。在美国的提议下,“多边贸易组织”易名为“世界贸易组织”。
1994年4月15日:乌拉圭回合各项议题的协议在部长级会议上均获通过,由104个国家代表签署。
1995年1月1日:世界贸易组织正式成立,与关贸总协定共存一年至1995年12月31日。
1995年5月1日:雷纳托•鲁杰罗成为首任总干事,任期4年。
1996年2月22日:贝宁正式成为成员[1]。
1996年10月19日:乍德正式成为成员[1]。
1996年12月9日至12月13日,世界贸易组织第一次部长级会议在新加坡举行。
1996年1月29日:蒙古国正式成为成员[1]。
1997年1月1日:刚果民主共和国正式成为成员[1]。
1997年3月27日:刚果共和国正式成为成员[1]。
1998年5月18日至5月20日,世界贸易组织第二次部长级会议在瑞士日内瓦举行。
1999年2月10日:拉脱维亚正式成为成员[1]。
1999年9月1日:迈克尔•肯尼思•穆尔成为总干事;这次总干事人选意见分歧严重,最终决定由迈克尔•肯尼思•穆尔和素帕猜•帕尼帕迪各担任半任的总干事职务,每人任期3年。
1999年11月13日:爱沙尼亚正式成为成员[1]。
1999年11月30日:在美国西雅图召开世界贸易组织第三次部长级会议,会议外遭到大批反全球化人士示威抗议,而会议本身也没有达成任何共识。
2000年4月11日:约旦正式成为成员[1]。
2000年6月14日:格鲁吉亚正式成为成员[1]。
2000年9月8日:阿尔巴尼亚正式成为成员[1]。
2000年11月9日:阿曼正式成为成员[1]。
2000年11月30日:克罗地亚正式成为成员[1]。
2001年5月31日:立陶宛正式成为成员[1]。
2001年7月26日:摩尔多瓦正式成为成员[1]。
2001年11月9日至11月13日:在卡塔尔多哈举行世界贸易组织第四次部长级会议,发表《多哈宣言》,并成功启动多哈回合贸易谈判。
2001年12月11日:中华人民共和国经过15年的谈判正式加入,这是关贸总协定/世贸历史上谈判时间最长的一次。 香港和澳门则在1995年1月1日世贸正式成立时加入,两地分别主权移交到中华人民共和国后,其在世贸的名称也换为中国香港和中国澳门。
2002年1月1日: 台澎金马个别关税领域(简称为“台湾”)正式加入。由于政治的干扰,直到中华人民共和国加入后才获准加入。
2002年9月1日:素帕猜•帕尼帕迪成为世界贸易组织总干事。
2003年2月5日:亚美尼亚正式成为成员[1]。
2003年9月10日至9月14日:在墨西哥坎昆举行世界贸易组织第五次部长级会议。在这次会议上,由印度、中华人民共和国与巴西领导的22个南方集团(发展中国家)反对北方集团(发达国家)所提出的 “新加坡议题”协议:投资保护、市场竞争政策、政府体制透明化等。南方集团还要求欧盟与美国放弃农业补贴,但同样未果。这次会议未能实现任何进展。
2004年4月23日:尼泊尔正式成为成员[1]。
2004年10月13日:柬埔寨正式成为成员[1]。
2005年11月11日:接纳沙特阿拉伯为成员[1]。
2005年12月13日至12月18日:第六次世贸部长级会议于香港|中国香港举行。
2007年1月11日:越南成为第150个正式成员。