Part IV Activities of Organizations, Ch.16 Trade

Subject(s):

Collective security — Humanitarian intervention — Membership of international organizations — International organizations, practice and procedure

This chapter discusses the functions of international organizations for trade and the corresponding structures. It focuses on the structure of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It begins by describing the functions of the law of international trade, and explains how international organizations may be designed to advance these functions. It then explains the organizational structure of the WTO, which responds to its functions as a facilitator of trade liberalization negotiations; as an occasional forum for secondary law-making through consensus decision-making or amendments to its treaty; as a monitor of national openness to trade; and as a forum for mandatory dispute settlement. The remainder of the briefly addresses the issue of overlap between the concerns of the WTO and those of other international organizations and explains the functions and structure of free trade areas and customs unions.