What are the main agreements signed by all member countries under the WTO?
The WTO agreements are trading rules dealing with trade in physical goods, services and intellectual property. These rules include individual countries’ commitments to: • lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers • open local markets to outside manufacturing and service industries. The agreements require governments to make all their trade policies open and transparent by making all laws and policies available to the WTO, hence other countries. The agreements also contain procedures for settling disputes and prescribe special treatment for developing countries. These agreements are: • The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) for general goods • The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) for services and service-based industries • Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for intellectual property. Within these big agreements are specifics dealing with individual products or sectors such as textiles or agriculture. There are some agr
