Features of WTO – World Trade Organization

The distinctive features of WTO – World Trade Organization are :

1. Unlike the GATT, it is a legal entity.
2. Unlike International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank it is not an agent of the United Nations.
3. Unlike the IMF and the World Bank there is no weighted voting, but all the WTO members have equal rights.
4. Unlike the GATT, the agreements under the WTO are permanent and binding to the member countries.
5. Unlike the GATT, the WTO dispute settlement system is based on dilatory but automatic mechanism it is also quicker and biding on the members. As such the WTO is a powerful body. Unlike the GATT, the WTO’s approach is rule based and time bound.
6. Unlike the GATT, the WTO has a wider coverage. It covers trade in goods as well as services.
7. Unlike the GATT, the WTO has a focus on trade related aspects of intellectual property rights and several other issues of agreements.
8. Above all the WTO is huge organizational body with a large secretariat.