Eritrea, Somalia, Turkmenistan, North Korea, Monaco, San Marino, East Timor, Nauru, Tuvalu, Palau, Kiribati, Micronesia and Marshall Islands are currently observers: Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Vatican, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Laos. Libya, Montenegro, Russia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Yemen.
1. The World Trade Organization is a permanent international organization independent of the United Nations. The headquarters of the WTO is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and the current chairman of the General Council is Ambassador David Walker.
The function of WTO is to mediate disputes. Joining the WTO is not a multilateral trade agreement. It is the organization and legal basis of the trade system, the manager of many trade agreements, the supervisor of trade legislation of member countries, and the place for resolving trade disputes and negotiations. The organization is one of the most important international economic organizations in contemporary times, and the trade volume among its members accounts for the vast majority of the world, so it is called "Economic United Nations".
3. The predecessor of the World Trade Organization was 19471General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade signed on October 30th. 1 99565438+1October1,the World Trade Organization officially started to operate. 1 996 65438+1October1,the World Trade Organization officially replaced the temporary organization of GATT; 200165438+February 1 1, China formally joined the World Trade Organization. On August 30th, 2003, the General Council of WTO unanimously adopted the Final Document on Implementing the Compulsory Licensing System for Patented Drugs.
4. WTO goal: improve people's living standards, achieve full employment, and substantially and steadily increase real income and effective demand; Expand the production and trade of goods and services; Members should adhere to the road of sustainable development, promote the optimal utilization of world resources, protect and maintain the environment, and strengthen various corresponding measures to meet the needs of members with different levels of economic development; Efforts should be made to ensure that developing countries, especially the least developed countries, get shares and benefits commensurate with their economic development level in the growth of international trade; Establish a complete multilateral trading system; Establish a complete, more dynamic and lasting multilateral trading system through measures such as substantially reducing tariffs.