Guides: International Trade Law Research Guide: WTO Organization & Decision Making

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WTO Organizational Structure & Decision Making

Overview

The WTO administers the multilateral trade deals annexed to the Marrakesh Agreement, monitors the trade policies of its members, provides a mechanism for settling trade-related disputes, and serves as a forum for multilateral trade negotiations.

Like its predecessor, the GATT, the WTO operates as a rules-based, member driven organization. All major decisions are made by the membership as a whole, with each member having an equal voice. Ordinarily, decisions are made by consensus. A consensus is reached if no member formally objects to a decision. In a limited range of circumstances, the WTO agreements allow for decisions to be made by voting, usually by a supermajority.

For further information about the WTO's organizational structure and governance, visit the Understanding the WTO section of the WTO's website or consult the secondary sources listed in the column to the right.

WTO Organizational Chart

Source: WTO Website

Decision Making Bodies

The WTO's two most important decision-making bodies, the Ministerial Conference and the General Council, are described below, as are some of its subordinate decision-making bodies. Consult the organizational chart above for a visual representation of the WTO's decision-making hierarchy.

Ministerial Conference
The Ministerial Conference is the WTO’s highest decision-making body and includes all WTO members, represented by their respective trade ministers. It meets at least once every two years and may make decisions on all matters with respect to any of the WTO’s multilateral agreements. Visit this gateway page on the WTO's website to access declarations made and decisions taken at past Ministerial Conferences.

General Council
The General Council, which also includes all WTO members, is responsible for the WTO’s day-to-day decision-making in between ministerial conferences. Most WTO members appoint a permanent representative or ambassador to serve on the council. The General Council meets in three different capacities:

as the Dispute Settlement Body
as the Trade Policy Review Body
as the General Council (all matters not related to disputes or trade policy)

Bodies That Report to the General Council
Three subordinate councils, each responsible for a broad area of trade, report to the General Council:

The Council for Trade in Goods (Goods Council)
The Council for Trade in Services (Services Council)
The Council for Trade-Related Aspects of IP Rights (TRIPS Council)

Six committees with narrower responsibilities (ranging from trade negotiations to trade and development), as well as various working groups, also report to the General Council. Many of these subordinate bodies, in turn, have their own sub-committees and working groups.

WTO Administration

Director-General
The Director-General supervises the WTO’s professional staff, known as the Secretariat, and also serves as the WTO’s public face and spokesperson.

Secretariat
Based in Geneva, the Secretariat includes more than 600 professional staff members. The Secretariat organizes the WTO's ministerial conferences and provides technical expertise and support to the WTO’s various councils and committees. It also provides technical assistance to developing countries and advises governments seeking WTO membership.

Secondary Sources on WTO Governance

The Governance of World Trade: International Civil Servants & the GATT/WTO
Call Number: HF1383 .X8 2004
This book uses case studies to examine the critical role played by the international civil servants who have staffed the GATT/WTO Secretariat.
Governing the World Trade Organization: Past, Present, and Beyond Doha
Call Number: K4610 .G68 2011
This collection of essays critically examines the functioning of the WTO’s governing structure, contrasting its success in the realm of dispute settlement with the failure of its negotiating arm to produce any substantial agreements since the late 1990s.
Redesigning the World Trade Organization for the Twenty-First Century
Call Number: HF1385 .R43 2010
Explains why institutional reform of the WTO is needed and provides concrete proposals for modernization, focusing on five critical areas: transparency, decision- and rule-making procedures, internal management structures, participation by NGOs and civil society, and relationships with regional trade agreements.
The Reform of International Economic Governance
Call Number: KZ1252 .R44 2016
This volume brings together contributions from eminent academics and economists in the fields of trade law, financial law, and investment law to consider proposals for reforming international economic governance in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
World Trade Governance and Developing Countries: the GATT/WTO Code Committee System
Call Number: HF1385 .O84 2004
Provides critical insights into the role played by developing countries in the GATT/WTO committees, challenging established assumptions about how developing countries have engaged with developed countries and with one another under the umbrella of the multilateral trading system.
The World Trade Organization: Institutional Development & Reform
Call Number: HF1385 .B64 2010
Analyzes and evaluates how the WTO functions as a public organization from a public administration perspective, which is largely absent from the current debate on WTO reforms dominated by the traditional view that only nation states matter, not international organizations.

International Trade Law Research Guide

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