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World Trade Organization (WTO)
WTO is an international organization which helps
in trade between the nations. It is established to
operate international trade in a systematic and
simple way. It is a main control mechanism of
multinational trading system. It manages, regulates
and simplifies the international business through
maintaining trade discipline, reducing tariffs and
setting standards. WTO has adopted liberal trade WTO Building
policy. Any sovereign country and regional trade
organisation can be the members of the WTO. It is a forum of governments of different
countries to negotiable trade agreements and to settle the trade disputes.
WTO is the successor to the
GATT (General Agreement on Brief Information about WTO
Tariffs and Trade). WTO was Formation : 1 January, 1995
st
established on 1 January, 1995. Headquarters : Geneva, Switzerland
st
Any sovereign country and
regional trade organization can Membership : 153 member countries
be the members of the WTO. Official languages : English, French, Spanish
Nepal got the membership of Website : www.wto.int
WTO as the 147 member on 23
th
April, 2004 A.D. (2060 B.S.). Nowadays, more than 50% foreign trade is performed based
on the principle of WTO. The headquarter of WTO is in Geneva of Switzerland.

Functions of WTO
i. To administer and implement the trade agreements related with WTO.
ii. To provide forum for further negotiations on the multi-lateral trade agreements.
iii. To settle trade disputes and misunderstanding between the member countries.
iv. To monitor and evaluate the trade policies adopted by its member countries.
v. To provide technical help and training to the developing countries.
vi. To cooperate with other international institutions involved in global economic
policy making.
vii. To act as a watchdog of international trade by examining the trade rules of member
countries.
viii. To act as a management consultant for international trade.
ix. To maintain trade related date base.

South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA)

SAFTA is an agreement made between the South Asian
Countries (SAARC) for the development of trade and
industry of its member countries. Free Trade Area is
agreement among the member countries to remove all
tariffs among them. SAFTA/SAARC Building
The 7 SAARC summit of 1993 held in Dhaka, Bangladesh formally adopted SAPTA
th
(South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement) to uplift the living standard of the people

58 Aakar’s Office Practice and Accountancy - 10 Trade 59