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WTO

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Dictionary of Global Bioethics

Abstract

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in 1995 and was the outcome of the Uruguay Development Round of trade negotiations replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is based in Geneva (Switzerland) and consists of 164 member countries (www.wto.org). The WTO is the global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. It is the only forum that can create binding and enforceable international trade rules. All major decisions are made by the membership as a whole with each member having an equal voice. In practice, however, emphasis is on consensus decision-making. The highest decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference that meets at least once every 2 years. The goal of the WTO is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible.

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Correspondence to Henk ten Have .

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ten Have, H., Patrão Neves, M. (2021). WTO. In: Dictionary of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54161-3_17

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